Politics

Northern elite divided over Sanusi’s outburst

Northern elite divided over Sanusi’s outburst
Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi’s recent criticism of northern leaders is the root of a heated controversy over the region’s economic challenges; report Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna and Kolade Adeyemi, Kano
It was designed to be a sober economic summit, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, in Kaduna State. But by the time the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi 11, concluded his paper on the theme, ‘Promoting investments in the midst of economic challenges,’ a socio-economic and political wild fire was lit. Until this morning, the fire is still burning across the wide savannah plains and beyond, as the intellectuals and political leaders from the region respond with near lethal passion, either for or against the royal personage.
While some applaud the Emir’s courage, calling him a rare, frank leader, others allege mischief, declaring him guilty of the same crime he accused northern leaders. The verbal crossfire has been hot and intense.
What Sanusi said
Sanusi’s lecture could be described as a bold, though precise attempt to uncover the root of the socio-economic difficulties in the northern part of Nigeria, in spite of its large population and the region’s political advantage over the years. Adopting a rather scholarly approach and quoting from UNDP human development report, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) criticised northern leaders for discouraging attitudes and activities that, according to him, would have helped to develop the region. Alleging that the leaders failed to sufficiently impact on the common people in the region, he pointed out that, as a result, the North-West and the North-East remained the poorest parts of the world.
“We are living in denial. The North-West and the North-East, demographically, constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s population, but look at human development indices, look at the number of children out of school, look at adult literacy, look at maternal mortality, look at infant mortality, look at girl-child completion rate, look at income per capita, the North-East and the North-West Nigeria are among the poorest parts of the world,” he said, adding, “As far back as 2000, I looked at the numbers, Borno and Yobe states, UNDP figures: Borno and Yobe states, if they were a country on their own, were poorer than Niger, Cameroon and Chad.”
Based on these, Sanusi said, “Break Nigeria into its component parts and these parts of the country are among the poorest, if it were a country. And we do not realise we are in trouble. Nobody saw this because we were looking at Nigeria as a country that averages the oil-rich Niger Delta, the industrial and commercial-rich Lagos, the commercially viable South-East, and you have an average.”
On how the region can ‘leap forward developmentally’, the Emir advised other northern leaders to educate girls. According to him, the northern Muslims had adopted an interpretation of culture and religion that was rooted in the 13th century mindset, which refused to recognise that the rest of the Muslim world had moved on.
“We need to understand the roots of the problem of northern Nigeria. Burning books, it happened in Kano. What is the crime of those books? They were writing about (love), and love apparently is supposed to be a bad word.
“In a society where you don’t love your women and you don’t love your children, you allow them to beg, you beat up your women, why should anyone talk about love?
“We have adopted an interpretation of our culture and our religion that is rooted in the 13th century mindset that refuses to recognise that the rest of the Muslim world has moved on.
“Today in Malaysia, you wake up and divorce your wife; that is fine. But you give her 50 per cent of all the wealth you acquired since you married her. It is a Muslim country. In Nigeria, you wake up after 20 years of marriage, you say to your wife, ‘I divorce you’, and that’s...
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