THROWBACK THURSDAY – WHISTLE BLOWER POLICY

by IJOSWIL 23-Nov-201724-Feb-2020

When the President Muhammad Buhari led Federal Government announced the whistle blower policy, with a reward of 2.5-5% of money recovered given to the informant as a cash reward, it was greeted with both glee and skepticism from different sections of the nation.
With the way money was being found and rumored to have been found, I was expecting people to be running from street to street, peeping through doors and windows, whistle in hands, ready to squeal. I haven’t been too disappointed with its outing so far. Except of course, for what many considered to be a major influencing factor for being a whistle blower.
Let’s get this straight, “snitches get stitches” isn’t exactly a common saying in Nigeria. But then the risk factor associated with “outing” a criminal is quite high. Especially with a judicial system riddled with allegations of corruption of mythical and ridiculously large proportion.
A three percent share of ten billion Naira recovered is enough motivation to expose a thief; more so if the whistle blower would have his identity protected to prevent backlash from cronies of the affected criminals. The anonymity clause in the whistle blower policy would also help prevent “well-wishers” whose only wish is to help the whistle blower who has just “hammered” expedite the “blowing away” of his “largess” from the “national cake”.
Fast forward to just a couple of months after the whistleblowing that led to a new chapter in our history which we have infamously termed “Ikoyi-Gate” and resulted in the sack of the DG of NIA. It sad to know that the whistle blower is yet to be paid his “finder’s fee”. Sadder still is the fact that his quest to get his deserved money has led to his cover being blown.
What I find saddest about his ordeal is that the EFCC has rightly or wrongly declared him mentally unstable. This I doubt, cos I know I’ll go crazy on you if you are refusing to pay me my 2.5-5 percent share of 13 billion Naira.
Maybe he should have removed his reward from the money, before proceeding with the whistle blowing.