Last week, Chairman of Senate Committee on Navy and member of the Senate Committee on Police, Mohammed Isah Hamma Misau, dominated the limelight for exposing what he referred to as large-scale corruption in the Nigeria Police Force.
His allegations that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris is collecting bribes ranging from N10m to N15m from Commissioners of Police, State Mobile Commanders and State Protection Units (SPU) Commanders, for favorable postings made Nigerians breathless and speechless.
Misau who left the Force as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) also alleged that the Police makes up to N10bn monthly from oil companies, banks and private individuals who enjoy special protection from the security agency.
While Senator Misau’s allegations have sparked renewed calls for the cleansing of the nation’s Police Force, questions are also being asked not only as to the veracity of the Senator’s claims but on whether such claims would pass the public interest test.
Again, while speaking on Sunday Politics on Channels Television on Sunday, August 27, 2017, the Senator confessed that for many years, he partook in the business of receiving millions of Naira from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on behalf of the Nigeria Police Force while he provided security cover for the oil company. One is then tempted to ask: While DSP Misau was enjoying his own share of the booty, which he didn’t deny; did it not occur to him that wrong doings were being perpetrated by the Police against the Nigerian public?
Therefore, is Misau a whistle blower or a rabble rouser? A whistle blower is not motivated by personal reasons or selfish interests. Whistle blowers are primarily influenced by public interest; they are not driven by reasons of revenge because they failed to secure juicy postings for their friends. Whistle blowers are persons with a strong character who can die for the public interest.
Conversely, a rabble rouser is a person who speaks with the intension of inflaming the emotions of a crowd of people, typically for political reasons. They are usually NOT driven by any ethical duty to expose evil against the public interest, and therefore, private motivation, such as the one being displayed by Senator Misau is a basic attribute of rabble rousers!
To drive home my point, a whistle blower is motivated by a principle, but a rabble rouser is not. This difference is, therefore, important in determining where Senator Misau belongs.
In fact, whistle blowing is recognized as a sacred public duty that those involved are protected by law from reprisals. Does Misau fall into this category, in all honesty? The answer is NO, and this explains why the case is losing momentum.
So far the lawmaker has not shown that he has any tissue of evidence to substantiate his claims. When he appeared on Channels Television last Sunday, Nigerians stayed glued to their TV sets with the hope that the man would prove his allegations and shame the devil!
Nigerians waited with bated breath to see him appear on the popular Sunday Politics to defend his allegations against the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission (PSC), but their hopes were dashed.
Disappointingly, Misau started stammering, while trying to put the burden of proof on some anonymous sources who told him that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris was collecting bribes ranging from N10m to N15m from Commissioners of Police, State Mobile Commanders and State Protection Units (SPU) Commanders, for favorable postings.
With so many questions begging for answers from Senator Hamma Misau, only time will tell if indeed the federal lawmaker is a hero or a villain, a whistle blower or a rabble rouser.
Adekola Rahman, Abuja
