The report in the Daily Trust newspaper of Sunday April 23 must surely be in character to those who see it as the archetypal state response to dissent. In the front page report, the paper claimed that the Kano Emirate Council headed by Muhammadu Sanusi II, emir and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was under probe to account for the spending of about N4 billion left behind by his predecessor, Ado Bayero. This report was coming after a string of commentary interventions by the respected emir on issues as diverse as the economic policy the Buhari administration to the meningitis scourge largely affecting states in the northern part of the country to marriage and development issues in the north. In all, he was critical of current realities and frontally took on persons in government.
On the Buhari regime he was critical of the foreign exchange programme, the plan to borrow $30 billion and he has taken on federal and state governments for their China-driven investment strategies saying, “We have governors; they go to China and spend one month on a tour and what do they come back with, MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on debts. “China will lend you $1.8bn to build light rail. This light rail will be done by the rail workers from China. The trains will come from China. The engines will come from China. The labour comes from China. The driver is Chinese.
“At the end of the day, what do you benefit from it? Your citizens will ride on a train and when you ride on a train, in northern Nigeria, in a state like Kano or Katsina, where are you going to? You are not going to an industrial estate to work. You are not going to school? You are not going to the farm. You borrow money from China to invest in trains so that your citizens can ride on them and go for weddings and naming ceremonies.”
Emir Sanusi’s bold economic postulations did not start now; while as CBN governor he was also very critical of the Jonathan administration for its spending policies. If he was sanctioned for that and excused as a member of ‘the opposition’, here he is, with his own people – class, culture and politics – and with the same message. Surely this must be the gadfly, if ever there was one.
The emir’s criticism of cultural practices and leadership deficiency, especially in the wake of the rather unfortunate comment of Abdulaziz Yari, the Zamfara Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, on the reason for the meningitis scourge. Governor’s Yari’s statement attributing the meningitis to the sin of the people was rather strange but not altogether unexpected, reflecting the depth and sensitivity of those who hold office. And let no one say Yari’s statement is geopolitically archetypal because we see such outbursts of unreason bordering on stupidity and lack of empathy across Nigeria’s political space. Let us not forget how after the explosions at the Ikeja cantonment armoury in 2002, with several thousands dead and missing, then President Obasanjo angrily told protesters that he didn’t have to be there to assess things for himself, practically saying he owes them nothing, not an explanation, not a word of comfort! Before that, in 1998, at Jesse, Delta State, after one of the worst pipeline fires in Nigeria, with the scorched bodies of victims strewn across the parched earth the image of the ruling military brass having what seemed an earthy laugh is still difficult to understand – in the midst of the agony and loss. There is a general sense of numbness, which Yari represents – for the ruling elite, it is of the pain they inflict and for the governed it is of the pain they bear. So Yari represents the dominant narrative of the elite. But so, too, does Emir Sanusi represent the dominant narrative of the progressive – whether among the elite or no. There is a tendency to want to enjoy the class benefits but posture as a people-friendly member of that ruling class. It is one that can buy some goodwill for a while but will certainly not help the reformative process.
And on this score Sanusi is one with Nigeria’s ‘progressive’ elite, men and women who can see all development gaps in the mass of the people and speak eloquently of what needs to be done, yet act in denial of the fact. I have argued and would maintain that an education of the elite from within would do more good to the system than a public admonition. It is difficult to see how Sanusi’s crusade would dislodge the Yaris if they fail to change because the system of leadership selection is basically flawed – the famed almajiris are not sold on the message of Sanusi because more powerful messages of ‘stomach infrastructure’ come every now and then. And what is there to convince an almajiri that Sanusi represents him when his Rolls Royces glide past him. This, surely, is no Aminu Kano!
So what is Sanusi’s aim or did he not properly evaluate the situation to find a more potent platform, even if subliminal, to bring about change? I couldn’t see how Yari would respond differently from how he did it by attacking the emir’s flambouyant lifestyle –warts and all – in the midst of the poverty of the famed almajiris of Kano.Emir Sanusi sees himself as a man on the side of the people and I concede to him that his position is not always populist, after all he has spoken in favour of the removal of fuel subsidies to stop the scams that cost Nigeria several billions of naira. Yet, on this score as in others I believe that Sanusi has not exhausted his channels to make positive change among his elite class. This tendency to want to chide people in public is one that excludes rather than includes. When societies are terribly degraded and are in need to change, as ours is, it is either through a revolution or a reaction from the ruling elite that their behavior must change. I believe that progressive members of the elite must find a way to corral their colleagues to change the paradigm;recourse to public admonitions that only serve to further stricture the opportunity for change is unhelpful.
I have read of commendations that Sanusi speaks truth to power; it is important we understand that Sanusi is part of that power, in fact and in tendency. He lives it, he acts it, and he does not compromise his comfort. Of course he has earned it but he should just imagine what the billions that have been allocated to the Emirate Council alone would have done for the almajiris of Kano if it were deployed to their development. It is why Yari sniggers at him.
