The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has accused Nigeria’s political elite of deliberately sabotaging the country’s development by treating public office as a personal and family affair.
Naijaonpoint reports that Sanusi made the remark on Wednesday while speaking at the 15th anniversary celebration of Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria in Lagos.
The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria lamented that those in power often ignore opportunities for national growth, prioritising their personal interests instead.
He said, “We have done enough damage and maybe we need to stop. And I think this is the point Omobola is making about missed opportunities. Not just missed opportunities, I think sometimes deliberately missed opportunities.
“The reason we miss these opportunities is because we have people who think public office is about themselves, it’s about their families, it’s about people close to them, it’s not about the country. But public office is about the citizens.”
Sanusi called on young Nigerians to reject the divisive and dysfunctional system they have inherited and to build a nation rooted in equity and unity.
“The important thing for me is that as citizens, each and every one of us will remember that the nation belongs to us. It does not belong to the government, it does not belong to politicians, it belongs to us,” he said.
He warned that the existing structure, driven by ethnic and religious fault lines, must be dismantled in favour of a vision that unites Nigerians.
“What we need to do is try to come together and articulate a clear and achievable ideological position, a vision for what kind of Nigeria we want to have.
“And it has to be a Nigeria different from the Nigeria that has been manufactured for us, a Nigeria of ethnic rivalries, religious conflicts, race seeking, competition for aggrandizement.
“It has to be a country that realises its potential in the committee of nations,” he added.
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