by
Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai

We must love our children, but never be afraid to teach them.
We must be prudent and economic, but never with the truth.
We must be diplomatic, but never with the taboos that
underdevelop our people.

This is the philosophy of Muhammad Sanusi II, the emir of
Kano, who ruffles feathers anytime he puts his opinion in the
public domain.

On Wednesday, he delivered the keynote address at the
second edition of the Kaduna Investment Forum. As always,
he raised the bar of public discourse and got the nation talking about the people, again. Who is this Sanusi with arguably the loudest voice of reason in the country?.


He is a teacher, a banker, an economist , a religious leader, a
father, and a king. An attempt to profile him would exhaust an
ocean of ink and dry a river of oil-paint. His controversies are
too strong to ignore, the dusts he raises are too potent to
disregard and his perception of sensitive issues are too
brilliant to walk over.


Born into the Fulani Torobe (Sullubawa) clan of Kano on the
July 31 1961, Sanusi is the son Aminu Sanusi, a career
diplomat and technocrat who served as the Nigerian
ambassador to Belgium, China and Canada. His father later
served as the permanent secretary of federal ministry of
foreign affairs. He is also the grandson Muhammadu Sunusi,
the 11th emir of Kano, who was deposed for, basically,
speaking his mind.


THE KING WHO BECAME A TEACHER:
As Sanusi said on Wednesday, King’s College, Lagos produces all the Nigerian progressives and intellectuals — while Barewa College produces the conservatives.
Sanusi learnt from the class of teachers who produced
Adetokunbo Ademola, former chief justice of Nigeria; Keem
Belo-Osagie, chairman of Etisalat Nigeria; Alex Ekwueme,
former vice-president of Nigeria; Anthony Enahoro, former
minister; Ibrahim Gambari, United Nations representative;
Lateef Jakande, former governor of Lagos State and former
federal minister of Works and Housing; Odumegwu Ojukwu,
head of State of the defunct Republic of Biafra and Atedo
Peterside, former chairman of Stanbic IBTC.


Sanusi graduated from King’s College Lagos in 1977 and
attended Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria where he
bagged a bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1981. Like many
other kings from Kings College, Sanusi obtained a master’s
degree in Economics at ABU (1983) and was an instructor at
ABU from 1983 to 1985.


THE ECONOMIST WHO TOUCHED DIEZANI ‘THE
UNTOUCHABLE’:

Sanusi was nominated as governor of the central bank of
Nigeria (CBN) by former president Musa Yar’Adua, and
confirmed by the senate in June 2009. After his confirmation,
Atedo Peterside, founder of IBTC, who introduced him to a
team of bankers in London said Sanusi is known to speak the
truth at all times. “Sanusi Lamido Sanusi a seasoned and knowledgeable economist and professional banker/risk manager witt impeccable credentials, including, notably, integrity and a penchant for telling the truth at all times,” Peterside said.

In his capacity as the governor of the apex bank, Sanusi
introduced the concept of Islamic banking, a non-interest
oriented banking system, which raised a lot of controversies,
especially from the Christian fold.

This was at a time where there was religious tension and
unrest in the country as there was the belief that there was an
attempt to “Islamise” Nigeria. However, Sanusi maintained that the initiative was that of Chukwuma Soludo, his predecessor, adding that he was only building on the foundation.

He stood his ground, asking anyone who was not satisfied withthe concept to challenge it legally. His defiance saw the birth of Jaiz bank, the first non-interest bank in Nigeria.

Sanusi penchant for the truth would later put him in trouble
with the leadership of former president Goodluck Jonathan.
Sanusi had discovered that many billions of dollars were
missing from government coffers and he wrote the president.
Diezani Alison-Madueke was at the centre of it all, and
according to him, “nobody who had touched Diezani had
survived”. Knowing this, Sanusi went ahead to touch the
untouchable.

REFUSED TO RESIGN BUT ‘SIGNED’ HIS DEATH WARRANT:

After raising alarm on the historic “missing $20 billion”,
Jonathan called for Sanusi and asked him to resign. He said
Sanusi will leave government or he (Jonathan) will leave
government.

“From then I knew I had signed my equivalent for death
warrant. But I said I was not resigning. He got very angry and
said whether you like it or not, you’re going to leave that
office, I cannot continue to work with you, either you or I will
leave government,” Sanusi revealed after leaving office.
His journey as the CBN governor came to an end in February
2014, when Jim Obazee, the then executive secretary of the
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) championed his
suspension.

Former president Goodluck Jonathan had sacked him on
recommendation from the FRC, which accused Sanusi of
financial wrecklesness. Jonathan, Obazee and Sanusi are all
out of government — one gracefully, others otherwise.

THE EMIR IS AN ACTIVIST:

In June 2014, Sanusi succeeded his grand uncle, Ado Bayero,
as the 14th emir of Kano, following the death of the latter. His
appointment which raised much controversy was termed a
political attempt to save him from alleged fraud charges
during his term as CBN governor.
It was also argued that Bayero should have been succeeded
by his son. But Sanusi, who is of a royal lineage was also due
to be king, and was deemed fit to lead his people.
Old habits die hard. As a king, Sanusi has not repented from
his manner of speaking truth to power at all times. Despite
reservations from the Royal Clan and the presidential quarters, the activist in this King is not giving up any time soon.

CONTROVERSIAL REFORMER RUFFLING FEATHERS IN
NORTHERN NIGERIA:

Though a Muslim and a forefront leader at that, Sanusi has
made some calls that clerics have referred to as a challenge
on the jurisdiction of Islam. But the Emir would not stop
ruffling feathers in northern Nigeria.

Poor men should not marry more than one wife:
He has called for a reform of northern Islamism, asking the
region to denounce its 13th century practice of the religion
One controversy raised is his proposition to enact law that
prohibits “a poor man” from marrying more than one wife. His
justification was that they breed children who become thugs,
due to lack of care.
“We have all seen the economic consequence of men who are not capable of maintaining one wife marrying four, producing 20 children, not educating them, leaving them on the streets end up as thugs and terrorists,” he said.

This stance was confronted by heavy criticism. Aminu
Daurawa, Kano state commandant of Hisbah, a religious
police outfit, said it violates the Quran.

Don’t build mosques build schools for the girl-child:
He is also a staunch girl-child education advocate, who has
asked the northern elites to stop building mosques but focus
on building schools for the girl-child.

“I’m just tired of people coming to me to say I want to build a
new mosque. You know, we keep building mosques and our
daughters are illiterates,” he said in January, 2017.
“So, my appeal is that if you really want to help Kano, don’t
come to me with a request to build a N300m mosque because I have enough mosques everywhere. And if I don’t have a mosque, I’ll build it myself. If you really want to help, go and educate a girl child in the village.”

He stated that over 50 percent of girls between the age
bracket of 18 and 20 given out in marriage in the north cannot
write or read, emphasising that the state has enough mosques and there is no need for new ones.

Sanusi to Imams, traditional rulers: Beat your wives, lose your
titles:
The no-nonsense king had also told religious and traditional
heads in Kano, that wife beating is now an offence, and
anyone who does so, will lose his or her titles.
“You should all come back to your senses and stop these
barbaric acts because we will not allow this to continue in
Kano,” he was quoted to have said.

“I have warned all district heads, village heads, ward heads
and imams to also desist from the bad habit of beating their
wives and whoever among them is reported to me to have
beaten up his wife, would out rightly lose his title.”

Calls for birth control and family planning

How dare you call for birth control? How dare Sanusi not call
for all he adjudges right and developmental for his people.
Sanusi has also called for birth control and taming population
explosion in the north.

“The age at which girls get out of school and married, the
number of children that they have; having babies every
year.The number of wives people marry when they cannot
maintain them and their children,” Sanusi said in Kaduna on
Wednesday.

“These subjects have been tabooed, but we cannot fix the
north and get investments into the north until we confront
these subjects”.

Northern Nigeria Must abandon the 13th century mindset of
Islam:

Less than 24 hours ago, Sanusi added the last straw of
controversies; he told northern Muslims that the rest of the
Muslim world has moved on. He urged northerners to desist
from creating an “Islamic society that never existed”.

He said books preaching love were being burnt in northern
Nigeria, calling for better interpretations of Islamic views,
which can drive a better life for women and the girl-child.

“We need to understand the roots of the problem of northern
Nigeria. Burning books, it happened in Kano, what is the crime
of those books? They were writing about (love), and love
apparently is supposed to be a bad word,” he said.

“In a society where you don’t love your women and you don’t
love your children, you allow them to beg, you beat up your
women, why should anyone talk about love?

“We have adopted an interpretation of our culture and our
religion that is rooted in the 13th century mindset, that refuses to recognise that the rest of the Muslim world has moved on.”

PREACH WHAT YOU PRACTISE: SANUSI’S WIVES ARE WELL
EDUCATED

Sanusi was accused of marrying an underage himself, when he married the teenage daughter of Aliyu Musdafa, the Lamido of Adamawa in 2015.

A family source however told TheCable at the time, that “to
call an 18-year-old woman a child and spread propaganda
about ‘child marriage’ is nothing but mischief taken to another
height. In Nigeria, the legal age for marriage is 18?.
Despite the fact that she was of marriageable age, according
to Nigerian law, Sanusi decided not to consummate his
marriage until his new bride is done with her studies in the UK
— by 2019.
She is currently studying a computer science related course at a UK University.Also true to his preaching, Sanusi three wives before Sa’adatu Barkindo Musdafa are all well-educated.

Sanusi II’s first wife, Sadiya, who is a daughter of the late
emir, Ado Bayero, holds a bachelor’s degree in education
(history) from the Bayero University Kano (BUK) and speaks
Arabic.

The second wife, Maryam, holds a BA (combined honours) in
Arabic and Islamic studies also from BUK and is about
completing her dissertation for a master’s degree in education from the University of Abuja. She speaks Arabic and Italian.

The third wife, Rakiya, has an LLB (law) from Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) and an LLM from the University of London.
Love him or loathe him, men like Muhammad Sanusi II are rare diamonds in our pool of stones.

Hausa and yoruba Muslims hate the Gospel truth.

Aboki come read Wetin ur bros dey talk o I pray dey will listen.