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.
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”.
http://dailypost.ng/2017/04/15/sanusi-rides-rolls-royce-people-poor-governor-yari-carpets-emir/
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