The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has called on Northern leaders to devote more resources to the development of the region.
He warned that in the event of the country breaking up as is being canvassed in some quarters, the North will be worse affected.
According to the monarch, other regions like the South-South, the South East and the South West, especially Lagos, have the resources to remain afloat if the unexpected happens.
The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor spoke on Wednesday at the Kaduna State’s 2nd investment summit titled: “Promoting Investment Amidst Economic Challenges.” Sanusi remarked that the North East and North West were the poorest regions in the country.
He said: “If we break Nigeria into components, Northern Nigeria will be the poorest.”
The Emir cautioned that the oil-rich Niger Delta, commercially-viable Lagos and business-oriented South East should not be used to mirror the living standards of the North.
Sanusi appealed to Muslims to embrace education and stop using religion and culture to set the North backward.
He was joined at the event in the appraisal of developments in the North by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III.
The Kano monarch decried the face-off between the Executive, Legislature and Judicial arms of government and appealed to the trio to stop playing politics with the lives of Nigerians.
Sanusi noted that the National Assembly and the Executive arm of government, rather than concentrate on how to tackle the country’s problems, were wasting time on a needless ego contest.
He said: “We are talking and thinking of how to come out of the difficult economic environment facing the country; the Executive, the National Assembly and the Judiciary are busy fighting one another on political issues ahead of 2019.”
Sanusi reminded his audience that “if you have been reading and watching news for the last one month, the big and concerned news politically is about leadership, but unfortunately, the conversation is not about electricity, infrastructure, education and healthcare.”
“All the conversation is about the National Assembly, the Executive and the Judiciary; conflict between this politician and that politician as well as confirmation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss.”
While regretting that within the period in review “there has been no serious conversation around the people,” Sanusi said that the problem with the political class is that “it has made more noise at the expense of good governance.”
He congratulated Governor Nasir el-Rufai for organising the forum, which he described as timely
