Emir Sanusi ll @57: Voice of the voiceless
For any nation to move forward, there must be some concerned individuals who firmly stand by the truth and absorb the wanton pressure from the reactionary forces. With this calibre of men, the society will be genuinely groomed. We are endowed with people of considerable integrity and of huge intellectual capacity. Indeed, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi […]
For any nation to move forward, there must be some concerned individuals who firmly stand by the truth and absorb the wanton pressure from the reactionary forces. With this calibre of men, the society will be genuinely groomed.
We are endowed with people of considerable integrity and of huge intellectual capacity. Indeed, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi is on the list of these great men.
The Emir is famous for his ‘stubbornness’ in conveying the absolute truth to the powers that be on crucial matters. From the psychological perspective, Emir Sanusi’s romance with the truth is not targeted at being promoted to the rank of cheap popularity bearers. Of course, this is the basic foundation of true development. One can foretell how devastating life will be if people will mischievously tell the established order only what is pleasing. While others prefer to call a spade a blade, the Sarki always calls a spade a spade.
It is therefore interesting to note that an essential prerequisite for uplifting the banner of truth is for one to be fearless. As the CBN Governor, the Emir was a radically inspired citizen when he discovered how a tiny fraction of the nation consumed 25% of our budget. He did not hesitate to lament about this unprecedented resource plundering. To vindicate the Sarki’s assertion, it is estimated that a single senator is receiving a total yearly salary and other remunerations of N 353, 756, 988. 00. Compare this with the yearly income of an average Nigerian worker on N18, 000 monthly salary. What he or she earns for 12 months is just a meager N216, 000.00. By a simple analysis, it will take an average Nigerian worker 1, 638 years to earn the yearly salary of a single senator!!! This outrageous amount a senator collects in a year is equivalent to the budgetary spending of a Local Government. It is for this great injustice and inhumanity that the custodians of the status quo are at loggerheads with His Royal Highness.
The Emir won another indelible campaign when he revealed to the bewildered nation the disappearance of huge money from the sales of crude oil which was diverted into private accounts other than the NNPC’s by some unpatriotic elements. That whistleblowing did not go down well with President Goodluck Jonathan who promptly sacked him as the CBN Governor before the expiration of his tenure.
Those who thought that the Emir would eventually opt for silence in the aftermath of his enthronement were proved wrong. Afflicted by the lingering socioeconomic decadence bedeviling us, he diligently persisted in his popular agitation for social Justice. Like the strong opposition he encountered for saying the mind of the voiceless when he was at the CBN, this time Emir Muhammadu Sanusi ll incurred the wrath of some North West political leaders. His sin was his profound lamentation of the alarming illiteracy, poverty diseases ravaging the region.
According to the late Sheikh Abdullahi Fodio, two types of politics exist: just and unjust politics. The main objective of just politics he says is “the restoration of the rights of the weak and the oppressed from the oppressors and aggressors”. The opposite is the function of the unjust politics. In perpetuating unjust politics, misplaced priorities are the top agenda for many leaders in total disregard to the basic needs of the ruled, leading to their being denied quality education, effective health care system, good housing among others.
As our Sarki marks his 57 birthday, his echoing voice will continue to be a great joy to the voiceless who are always at the receiving end of bad and destructive governance.
Abdu Abdullahi, Ringim, Jigawa State