Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, has again tackled
the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, for criticising his response to the
outbreak of meningitis.
”The Emir, and all he wants to do is ride a Rolls Royce in
the face of palpable poverty; he shouldn’t engage in throwing accusations at
others”, Yari lambasted in a statement on Saturday.
The lengthy tirade Saturday accused the emir of
hypocrisy, and advised him to “practise what he preaches” or “keep his peace”.
Below is the governor’s full statement signed by Ibrahim
Dosara, his special adviser on communication.
“For those who consider the emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II
to be anything but a first class intellectual, a consummate banker and a bona
fide member of Nigeria’s royalty, the last couple of weeks were a dizzying
spectacle of mixed messages on integrity, royalty and wisdom.
Within a perimeter of weeks, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II, whose
royal tentacles and social networks traverse the length and breadth of this
country, lambasted the nation’s economic framework, the northern elite,
sub-national leadership especially the governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz
Yari Abubakar, and the traditional institution of marriage.
All frontiers that we hold so dear.
All frontiers that we hold so dear.
With due respect to our highly revered traditional
institutions and royal fathers, as a blue-blooded family member himself, Hon
Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar holds the emir in very high esteem. He believes that
the emir as a brother and co-occupant of elite positions in Nigeria, he could
advise governors and those in positions of authority in several chains of
communication that are richly available to him. But he preferred the public
platform, for reasons best known to him.
Governor Yari firmly believes that a country that goes to
its pastors and Imams who recommend prayer and fasting as the solution to every
social misfortune, from matrimonial disagreements, to social and economic
complications needs to be wary of the wrath of God in the event of an epidemic
of unquantifiable proportion such as Type C meningitis. And as a country that
succumbs to the supremacy of Allah, we must continue to link Him with all
things, fair or foul.
Those who want to equate science with God, like HRH
Muhammadu Sanusi II, can denounce Yari’s statement from the rooftops but that
will not change Governor Yari’s beliefs in the omniscience, omnipresence and
omnipotence of Allah.
By a certain bizarre coincidence too, like a prophesy
foretold, Sheikh Mahmood Jaafar had before he was assassinated named Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi as one of those whose hypocrisy would bring an epidemic of
monumental proportions to this country. The tapes are very much in circulation
long after Sheikh Jaafar’s death.
He had argued in that sermon that “Sanusi Lamido is one of the enemies of Islam
who would assume all traits of a good Muslim but deep inside them is a hatred
of Islam, and the people far beyond human imagination.” Could this be a
prophecy foretold?
However, the emir should be aware that Allah who gives power
to whoever He wills at His own time, also takes it away at the most
inauspicious time. As elected officials, we are obliged to serve people just as
we serve God. Within this precinct Governor Yari has done his best. As
representatives of the best of our traditions, our Emirs, chiefs, kings and
queens are also obliged to lead by example, show empathy, adjudicate with
compassion, display wisdom and embrace the fear of God, in all they do. In this
HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II is struggling.
Recently, our erudite emir has been mired in several
controversies, which rather than enhance his profile and the integrity of
royalty, have put him very much on the spot. And the emir has put up a spirited
defense of all the allegations against him. But he was not transparent enough,
as he always accused officials, especially governors, to tell the public what
he found in the Kano Emirate palace coffers when he ascended the exalted
throne. This is the least of his people’s expectations of him. It was the first
that our finest royalty would offer.
Sacrifice is another attribute known to our royal fathers.
But when an emir pledges to commit his hard earned resources for the
face-lifting of the palace where he alone would reside and eventually transfers
the burden to his impoverished subjects, there is a breach, or a problem.
Late Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki, of blessed memory, used his
money to rebuild the Sultan’s Palace in Sokoto to his taste, but until his
demise, he never tendered the bill to his subjects for reimbursement.
Over time, we know our traditional fathers for their
compassion. When their friends from far and near offer to assist them, they
would rather the assistance was given to alleviate the sufferings of their
people in cash or kind.
But for a traditional ruler who identifies the problems of
his people and utters these words: “We are in denial. The north-west and the
north-east, demographically, constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s population, but
look at human development indices, look at the number of children out of
school, look at adult literacy, look at maternal mortality, look at infant
mortality, look at girl-child completion rate, look at income per capita… The
north-east and the north-west Nigeria are among the poorest parts of the
world,” and yet when his friends offered help, he asks for a Rolls Royce.
There is more than a fundamental problem. There is a big
disconnect. Like Governor Yari has always said, his respect for our creator
will never waver. He will also rue joining issues with royalty, in Nigeria or anywhere
in the world. He maintains that his reverence of the institution that HRH
Muhammadu Sanusi II represents is also unshaken.
Hon Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar is only asking HRH to either
practice what he preaches or forever keep his peace, because in a situation
where epidemics are taking our children, maternal mortality, uneducated youth,
social vices and incompetent leaders are the national scourge, to borrow the
words of the emir, and all he wants to do is ride a Rolls Royce in the face of
palpable poverty, he shouldn’t engage in throwing accusations at others.
Kano kingdom is an important kingdom amongst the kingdoms in
Africa. It is also an important and strategic institution in the history of
Nigeria. The occupants of the seat before HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II played a
significant and dignified role in making Nigeria what it is today. They
respected themselves. HRH should emulate his predecessors and not play to the
gallery in a manner that ridicules his own heritage”
By Wale Odunsi
