Beyond ‘Insanity’: Dalhatu As A Hero

Beyond the assertion that Nura Dalhatu has been confirmed mentally ill, certain aspects of his drama still beggars belief and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) remains far from unraveling the mystery which transpired at the Customs headquarters in Abuja, recently.

Dalhatu, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC1), Nura Dalhatu, promoted himself to the rank of Deputy Comptroller General(DCG) and marched to invade the office of the Controller General of Customs (CGC) Col. Hammed Ali (Rtd).

According to the National Public Relations Officer of Customs, Mr. Joseph Attah, the officer is still under medication and he has been referred for further medical attention.

The Customs spokesman has also revealed that the Service has begun to investigate how Dalhatu got DCG rank but added that, “the problem is how do you investigate somebody who isn’t in his right frame of mind”

While considering that those working closely with Dalhatu could have observed early traces of his abnormality, he stated that some mental occurrences have also been spontaneous.

Attah who said that he was at the Customs headquarters when the incident transpired, noted the officer looked normal until he was interrogated and he started giving strange responses.

Speaking to MMS Plus on the development last week, Attah said: “Some of these strange incidents occur. One cannot fully understand these things. Recall the recent video went viral of a journalist who slumped and died while dancing in a party. Could the friends have known that something was wrong before she slumped? No! These things could occur but only God saves us”

However, does the instantaneous madness analogy explain why Dalhatu had the temerity, poise and meticulousness to adorn neatly pressed and well-starched uniform of a DCG?

How about Dalhatu’s public post sometime in May, when he posted on his Facebook wall that he had been directed by the President to take over from CG Hameed Ali? What did the officers who witnessed this do at that time? Were there previous reports of abnormality about Dalhatu before?

While one can reckon with the possibility of voodoo powers that could have spurred Dalhatu’s madness, his actions to adorn DCG rank must have been sanely planned just as it was exquisitely executed.

Attah’s logics and conclusions are against the run of reasons and reasonable understanding, however, the journalist who slumped at a party had been diagnosed with heart attack, therefore, a wrong analogy.  His claim that the responses of the alleged insane officer, when arrested betrayed his mental instability, is hard to believe because Attah failed to quote the incoherent statements, to show how insane Dalhatu is.

Insanity at infancy, whether voodoo or neuro-psychologically  triggered has some form of behavioural disorderliness  and uncoordinated speech  flow by the victim. Ask a Psychiatric expert, for confirmation.  How come Dalhatu’s alleged madness defied all these traces? Or, is his madness a new form of insanity, that is breaking the medical records? Again, does Dalhatu not work in office, with people and friends, who never noticed any change in his manners or relationship minuses? There are obviously many questions begging for answers.

To cap it all, how long does it take for a psychiatrist  to certify a person mad or otherwise? It has been weeks now since Dalhatu was given a soft-landing for escape on an account of officers’ orchestrated protest against the festering maladministration of the CGC in the Service. Dalhatu is a hero! His brevity is a peaceful and gainful sacrifice with a metaphorical potency, eloquent in realistic irony.

If Dalhatu is mad indeed, why keep a job for a mad man even while treating the ailment? Can we then conclude that there are many mad men in Customs, and so how many mad men are there in Customs, probably working or waiting in medical centres as salaries are paid to them, monthly?

Nigerians deserve to see, know and hear the truth from the CGC and Attah!