“We seek in others what we lack in ourselves” – Emile Durkheim
I was well known as the Marxist during my university days, the looks, the bushy hair and the all-time radical stands in class. The name Marx became a popular tag to the extent that my teachers often called me Marx. Most of my times spent in the library, I read about Karl Heinrich Marx than class notes.
All these while, from the university days to date, the ugly truth is that, I enjoy Durkheim more than Marx. Emile Durkheim made me to understand social life, human behaviour, social change, suicide, research methods more than any other scholar in the field of sociology; his influence on me couldn’t be matched even by the famous Karl Marx.
In Durkheim, I realised that societies wouldn’t have been possible without division of labour. No matter the enmity, we only survive on earth with the help of others, that’s through specialisation of functions. You cannot get a person who is an authority in medicine and at the same time an expert in financial crime. You cannot be an authority in banking sector and at the same time an expert in criminal prosecution.
The aforementioned example has further exposed the sinister motive of the culprits sponsoring and engineering all sorts of smear campaigns and character assassinations against Dauda Lawal. Unfortunately, they lack the strategy and required evidence to drag him down.
Good character is the single most important attribute of a successful and worthy life. Anyone oblivious of this fact is less than human. Dauda Lawal holds this principle so dear, and that is why he strives for excellence and touches lives anywhere and in any position he finds himself.
Dauda is a phenomena; our man who is their prime target.
The man they target, Dauda Lawal, joined the Board of First Bank in 2012 and until his appointment as the Executive Director, North, he was the Executive Director, Public Sector, North. He was previously Executive Vice President, Public Sector (North), and held several management positions within the bank including Business Development Manager (BDM), Maitama, Abuja, where he grew the bank’s business with the Abuja Metropolis as his principal remit.
He has over 26 years post qualification experience which covers commercial and public sector banking. Dauda’s dexterity has recorded strong achievements in his present function as executive director. He is a two-time recipient of the First Bank CEO Merit Award for Outstanding Performance as the “Best Business Development Manager” in 2006 and “The Most Enterprising Staff” in 2009.
In their evil attempt to create confusion among Nigerians, the evil planners, fake news peddlers and rumour mongers have it at the beginning that Dauda Lawal is facing charges related to money laundering. What a joke of the century! From personal investigations and minimal research which took me to Zamfara state for on-the-spot assessment, it is clear that the allegation against Dauda Lawal is incomprehensibly incoherent, based on hearsay and outright fabrication and lies. Throughout the ill-fated sponsored campaign of calumny against this accomplished gentleman, one can deduce a clear fact that the foot soldiers were hired to do a hatchet job.
Whatever the intention of these miscreants for spewing out these tissues of lies; is dead on arrival. Nobody will buy into their mischief. Without batting an eyelid, it is clear that aggressors are out to tarnish the hard earned impeccable reputation of Dr. Dauda Lawal for God knows why. They had tried unsuccessfully to use campaign of calumny to stop him from being philanthropic but they failed. Because they are recalcitrant and unrepentant liars and trouble makers, they will never relent and I don’t expect them to.
They have sworn to themselves that they must not relent in their smear campaign against Dauda Lawal until they have damaged or call to question his reputation. To succeed in their well-orchestrated evil agenda, they have propounded negative propaganda against our man.
If you want to know Dauda Lawal have a look at his surroundings. Believe you me, we that were close to him are the happiest on earth. His service to humanity is not limited to people close to him, he helps everyone in need. This service to humanity is what they hate the most in Dauda.
On a final note, it is pertinent to reiterate that if the primary responsibility of the administration of law is the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law or equity, then sponsors of the ongoing character assassination of Dauda would be shamed; very soon!
Idris, a social analyst based in Abuja, writes via [email protected]
