The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, says members of the
Northern elite are trying to silence him.
Sanusi said this while delivering his speech at the
Inaugural Annual Chibok Girls Lecture held in commemoration of the third
anniversary of the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok Government
Girls Secondary School by terrorists in Borno State.
The event, which was held in Abuja on Friday had the theme,
‘Where goes our girl child, our nation goes.’
The monarch, who was represented by his daughter, Shahida
Sanusi, said he deliberately stayed away from the event because of the sharp
criticisms he had received from northern leaders following his statement of
last week wherein he criticised them for being responsible for many of the
North’s social maladies.
The emir noted that his daughter was the first female to
ever represent him at an event.
Sanusi said rather than address the important issues,
‘anti-intellectual’ persons were trying to silence him.
He said, “Our colleagues and compatriots among the elite do
not like statistics. Numbers are disturbing. I recently gave a speech in which
I said the North-East and North-West of Nigeria are the poorest parts of the
country. This simple statement of fact has generated so much heat, the noise
has yet to die down.
“The response to this speech has been a barrage of personal
attacks and insults aimed at silencing any voices that dare shine the light on
the society to which we are saying Bring Back our Girls.
“There are those who believe these attacks are aimed at
discrediting me personally but even if that is the objective, it will not work.
I can only be discredited by what I have done and not by insults and lies on
the social media. And in any event, personal criticism has no impact on the
issues.”
The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria said
during his time at the CBN, he ensured that women were put in influential
positions.
He said he had been championing the cause of the downtrodden
all his life. Sanusi added that even if he was dethroned, he would continue to
speak for the rights of the helpless.
By Eniola Akinkuotu and Adelani Adepegba
