Stop this campaign of calumny against HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Kano State government on Sunday June 8, 2014 announced former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 14th Emir of kano. Making the announcement at the ante chamber of the kano Government House, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Rabiu Bichi explained that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who hitherto […]

Kano State government on Sunday June 8, 2014 announced former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 14th Emir of kano. Making the announcement at the ante chamber of the kano Government House, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Rabiu Bichi explained that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who hitherto held the traditional title of Dan Majen Kano emerged as the unanimous choice of the Kingmakers. Consequently, the new Emir of Kano Malam Sanusi lamido was on Monday June 9, 2014 officially presented with a letter by the Governor of Kano State Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; confirming his appointment.
No sooner than Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi joined the race for the prestigious traditional throne that a campaign of calumny against the person of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was launched with a premeditated intent, I guess, to either frustrate his  ambition, or if that fails, scuttle the appointment. To trigger confusion and perhaps instigate a repeat of the violence that enveloped Sokoto in 1988 after the death of Sultan Abubakar III in the appointment of a new Sultan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pre-empted the appointment of the new Emir of Kano by mischievously issuing a premature congratulatory message to one of the contestants (not Malam Sanusi Lamido) for the royal stool of Kano. When this failed to yield the anticipated chaotic outcome, a new plan was hatched. This involved hiring large crowds of youth to protest against the appointment of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the new Emir of Kano by dotting major streets in Kano with bonfires. Now, thd police have taken over the Emir’s palace for reasons best known to the authorities that gave the directive. The refusal by the presidency to congratulate HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi shows how mean the Office of the Executive President of Nigeria has become under Jonathan.
The latest, according to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, in the series of plots and intrigues by those who do not want HRH Malam Sanusi Lanudo Sanusi on the throne is the alleged plan to arrest him. But, what would you call a man who decides to challenges God’s wisdom and will?
HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s greatest sin in the eyes of Emperor Jonathan and other unpatriotic Nigerians is the whistle he blew while serving as the CBN Governor that $20 billion oil revenue was not remitted by the ministry of petroleum resources to the Federation Account. Since this revelation was made public, the former CBN Governor has remained a victim of Jonathan’s war against probity. Frivolous fraud allegations and criminal charges have continued to be made by the dishonest presidency and its cronies; to tarnish his image. They call Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi a fraudster; a politician; a Boko Haram sponsor; even though he proved himself as a man with a high sense of accountability, honesty and fairness as evident in his private sector and public service career.
If the presidency today accuses him of being a politician in the discharge of his duties as CBN Governor, why was he not seen as a politician by the same hypocritical government when Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (against the popular will of Nigerians) supported the withdrawal of oil subsidy in January 2012? And if he were guilty of any fraud as alleged, how could he have been the only government official who insisted that the subsidy regime should be probed? Integrity has been HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s greatest weapon against corrupt people. Integrity, which is the foundation of his achievements so far in life, has equally been his strength with which he did all that he was able to do in his banking career.
In one intellectual brain-storming we had in 1993 as students in the Sudan, he mentioned that although we (Nigerian students) belonged to different religious and ideological groups including the Salaf, Shi’ite, the Tariqah (Tijaniyyah and Qadiriyyah), the Izala, the Brothers (a university campus label for activists in the Muslim Students Society), he never cherished identifying himself with any. Of course, he did not deny the fact that the Kano royal family which he came from has a soft spot for Tariqah. That academic interaction was between five of us: Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Dr Ashiru (now of BUK), Dr Aminu Sagagi, Sheikh Aliyu Rufa’i and my humble self. At that discussion, Malam Sanusi Lamido also observed that none of the groups of Muslims categorized above earns his respect as much as scholars our traditional Qur’anic schools do. His argument being that this group of scholars never refer to themselves as learned or lay claim to scholarship even after thirty or forty years of learning under several Islamic teachers.
Perhaps, it was HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s passion for intellectualism and the extent to which he sincerely goes about it that prompted some people to label him as a Shi’ite. His divergent views which led to a disagreement with late Sheikh Ja’far Mahmud Adam over the case of adultery (zina) in 2001 involving Safiyatu Hussaini of Gwadabawa local government in Sokoto state cannot be a basis for labeling him as a Shi’ite. Before the death of the latter, both of them amicably reconciled their scholarly differences.
I recently realized that it is only in Nigeria that it does not pay to be honest and blunt; two admirable traits that are inseparable from the true self of HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The least I can say about HRH in our relationship of just over two decades is that he is a personality with integrity and well defined principles. He has never pretended to be what he is not. Neither has he ever disowned what he naturally is. He is enviably an intellectual in the fields of learning he specialized; particularly banking and Islamic law. He is one person of knowledge whose arguments especially on religious matters are always backed by textual evidence from the Qur’an, sunnah and ijtihad of learned scholars. Yes, when people can not call you ignorant, they say you are arrogant.
While we plead with the presidency to leave HRH alone to settle down for his new community assignment, we similarly counsel HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to exhibit a good sense of maturity in managing politicians and their intrigues; resisting any attempt by them to drag him in to partisan politics. Today, HRH is a father to all politicians in and outside Kano. HRH should kindly remember that he has a responsibility to protect and preserve the image of the institution he represents as Emir of Kano. It would be beneficial, also, if HRH observes the old tradition among Emirs of Kano who, unlike others, are at all times men of very few words. It would be to the credit of HRH Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s tenure to use his wealth of experience and network of contacts to initiate concrete moves that would bring back to Kano its lost glory of being a commercial hub that it used to be. This would reduce poverty and unemployment as much as it would also enhance social cohesion. Allah (SWT) ya kara ma Sarki imani, amin.