Bulama’s cartoon and ethical questions in Zamfara

I read with dismay that Bulama’s Cartoon has sadly deviated from its main objective of promoting good governance through humour. Yesterday, he ridiculed Governor Bello Matawalle for purchasing cars to traditional rulers and likened him to Seyi Mekinde’s purchase of 100 patrol vehicles in a way that makes a mockery of Zamfara State as a whole. […]

I read with dismay that Bulama’s Cartoon has sadly deviated from its main objective of promoting good governance through humour. Yesterday, he ridiculed Governor Bello Matawalle for purchasing cars to traditional rulers and likened him to Seyi Mekinde’s purchase of 100 patrol vehicles in a way that makes a mockery of Zamfara State as a whole.

While Zamfara is still recovering from multifaceted security challenges that ravaged the state, it is noteworthy that Bello Matawalle has done more for the security forces than any governor in Zamfara since our return to democracy. Unlike Seyi Makinde, who was widely applauded for providing 100 patrol vehicles to the Amatekun, little was said to appreciate Mutawalle when he purchased 200 patrol vehicles for the security forces in 2020. Aside from that he has been spending millions to provide security forces with logistic and using community policing to help the intelligence agency gather intelligence to locate and dislodge terrorists. It is hard to be fair to the governor because certain elements are hell-bent on portraying Bello Matawalle negatively.

Another area where people are not fair to the governor is nobody also praised him for donating hundreds of bags of foodstuffs to the needy and victims of conflicts in the state during the early days of the Ramadan. Was it because it happened at almost the same time the governor donated cars to the traditional rulers? I don’t have problems with people airing their grievances, but it should be done in a fair and balanced way. If you criticise Matawalle for a bad decision, at least he should be praised when he touches the lives of his people.

Journalism should not be one-sided, and if a journalist veers off the path of impartiality to the extent that it helps embolden the opposition, then our journalistic conscience is pricked.

Bashir Aliyu Limanci wrote in from Gusau, Zamfara