Individual freedom, rights, and human dignity are fundamentally sacred. All the rules of law, moral codes, religions, and written constitutions were conceived to secure and protect these rights.
Hatred, strife, conflict, animosity, and even war often arise when these values are violated. History shows that people will go to any lengths spending their last ounce of energy and their last coin to protect or reclaim their freedom, rights, and dignity when they are threatened.
It is ironic how easily some people disregard the rights and dignity of elected office holders. They feel that once they have voted for you, all your human entitlements can be trampled, shredded, and flushed away. This attitude has unfortunately come to characterise our political space, where individuals with little or no moral uprightness attack leaders and circulate unverified and bogus information on social media without any sense of responsibility or journalistic integrity.
They feel no accountability to the person they attack or to the people they mislead. Sadly, they are emboldened by a skewed sense of moral judgement, often fuelled by reckless political foot soldiers.
Recently, social media platforms in Bauchi State were set ablaze over an issue related to Shamsuddeen Bala Muhammad, a law-abiding citizen and incidentally, the biological son of the incumbent Governor of Bauchi State. One of his antagonists crossed every moral boundary, spreading slander and dragging judges and the Chief Judge of Bauchi State into the matter thereby undermining citizens’ moral, Islamic, and constitutional rights.
The motive behind these attacks seems deeply rooted in personal hatred and a desperate quest for relevance. But let it be clear: Shamsuddeen, like every other citizen, has the right to own or sell property, the right to vote and be voted for, and the right to defend his freedom, rights, and dignity against any real or perceived violation.
As a social commentator, I cannot in good conscience make statements without digging into the facts. What I have found at the heart of this controversy is simply an attempt to deprive Shamsuddeen of his rights and dignity.
How can anyone shamelessly pry into another man’s private life and post his private affairs for public consumption on social media? No sane society should tolerate such behaviour.
This controversy was triggered when Dr Abubakar Ahmad posted a video which Shamsuddeen had explicitly objected to being used in public. He did what any responsible citizen would do he asked his legal counsel to formally request that the video be removed. When DrAbubakar refused, legal action followed. But instead of addressing the core issue, some people eager to settle personal scores twisted and inflated the matter, dragging in unrelated issues to score cheap points.
It is even more surprising that one of the writers went as far as to drag his mother into it, and also made mention of Justice Rabi Talatu Umar’s name in another matter related to land allocations during former Governor Barr. M. A. Abubakar’s tenure.
I am not here merely to defend Shamsuddeen or his Mother. I am here to stand up for the right of every citizen whose sacred rights and dignity are trampled upon by those who think they can play politics with people’s lives and reputations.
Every citizen has the right to defend their freedom, rights, and dignity and to seek legal redress when these are violated. This must never be negotiable.
Salahuddin Yakubu Gwani GCNS is reachable via [email protected]
