IF by tomorrow Nigerians wake up to another revelation of how former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki allegedly allocated part of the $2.1billion arms fund, the revelation would likely not raise too much eyebrow. Most people have learnt to take most of the revelations in their stride and like someone said, Nigerians are becoming inured to the different ‘revelations’or to put it simply, It is becoming jaded. I have tried to put myself in the shoes of the former NSA since his incarceration, what goes on in his mind as the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) come up with all the cases against him? While not in support of people corruptly enriching themselves at the expense of all of us, it is essential to draw the line when prosecution becomes persecution, which the Dasuki case is tilting towards. In all I have heard concerning the disbursement or should I say allocation of the arms fund, a case of the former NSA diverting the money into his private pocket has not been established. It has always been that Dasuki gave the money to this or that person. It has not been said the money went into his personal pocket. That brings me to the question; Was Dasuki acting on his own or was he acting on instruction? As NSA, he was answerable to the president, but the disbursement of the money by Dasuki could not have been the decision of the president alone. Members and different chieftains of the former ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) must have sat to determine who gets what and to what purpose before instruction gets to Dasuki to disburse. Are we saying Dasuki took the decision to divert the money without recourse to a higher authority? That is clearly impossible. Another issue is whether those who got the money actually executed the project for which the money was given and whether the money was way above the project it was meant for. But that is another issue entirely. Pray, would Dasuki have disobeyed the command of the president to disburse money? Would he have been able to disobey the order of his superior? I doubt. Now if money was found in Dasuki’ possession, as the DSS claimed when his house was raided, should that be a surprise, who among our leaders do not have huge sum of money in their houses at different times for the purpose of patronage peculiar to politicians and public office holders? The above is just the least of my concern here. My main concern is whether in the bid to nail the former NSA, his fundamental human rights is not being trampled upon. Most of us have continued to hang the guilty verdict on him already since he had been taken to the court of public opinion. If Nigeria’s judiciary is such that the case had to go to a body of jurors, it would have been difficult to get untainted jurors or a prospective juror that had not heard about the matter. Indeed, empaneling impartial jurors would have constituted a problem because the former NSA had been put on public trial for a long time and had been pronounced guilty before his trial. On several occasions, the courts had granted him bail only for him to be re-arrested. When one looks at the way the two agencies of government have gone after Dasuki, one wonders whether there was no other motive behind all that is happening. Has Dasuki been found guilty of misappropriation of public funds by a court of competent jurisdiction? No. In any criminal case, an accused person also has his rights under the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is, he’s innocent until proven guilty. It is however curious to note that not only is Sambo Dasiki being treated like a common criminal, his case is being tossed from one security agency to the other while the court orders for bail have been denied (thrice he had been granted bail and thrice, he had been denied freedom. His request for medical check has been largely ignored because as one government agent is ordered to release him , the other is picking him up. That’s why I asked, what really is Dasuki worth? Do we want him alive or dead? Would his death be of any benefit to anybody? Definitely not. That is why he should be availed the opportunity of medical attention. His request for medical attention should not be ignored. Let’s assume he is a criminal, is a criminal not entitled to medical attention? President Buhari is strict, he is upright all which we know, on the other hand nobody has ever said he is an unfair leader. Dasuki should be treated fairly like all other people involved in this saga.

Time shall tell.

This money laundering thing has developed wings oo