I’m not going to help this government — Emir SANUSI

Thursday, January 16, 2025 - The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has said that the administration of President Tinubu is getting some things wrong, stating that he would not want to help them to correct the policies affecting the citizens.

Sanusi made this statement on Wednesday in Lagos while speaking as chairman of the 21st Anniversary of Fawehinmiism (Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture 2025).

He said that while there were a few points he could offer to explain the trajectory the administration had taken and how such decisions were predictable, he chose not to do so because they don’t behave like friends.

According to him, the solutions he would proffer would help the government, but he did not intend to assist them due to the way they had treated him.

“I can give a few points that are contrary, that explain perhaps what we’re going through and how it was totally predictable, most of it, and maybe avoidable. But I am not going to do that.

“I have chosen not to speak about the economy or the reforms or to even explain anything because if I explain, it would help this government, but I don’t want to help this government.

“You know they’re my friends, but if they don’t behave like friends, I don’t behave like a friend. So I watch them being stooges. And they don’t even have people with credibility who can come and explain what they are doing. I am not going to help. I started out helping, but I am not going to help. I am not going to discuss it. Let them come and explain to Nigerians why the policies that are being pursued are being pursued.

“People were told decades ago that if you continue along this path, this is where you’re going to end up, and they refused to open their eyes. Now, is everything being done today correct? No,” the Emir said.

Emir Sanusi, who was deposed as the 14th Emir of Kano in 2020 by then-Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the current national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was reinstated as the 16th Emir of Kano in 2024 by the New Nigeria Peoples Party-led Kano State Government.

His emirship has faced ongoing challenges from forces believed to be backed by the federal government, including federal officials’ continued recognition of his predecessor, Emir Aminu Ado Bayero.

Recall that last month, the police barricaded his palace, with the state government accusing the federal government of being responsible for the action to stir unrest in the peaceful state.