Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on a book Launch In Lagos.
“Let me
start by saying that
I am
Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir and therefore I represent
all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has
written a book. And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the
language of his generation.”
“My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.”
“Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that
are being bandied around. Before colonialism, there was nothing like
Northern Nigeria, Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the
Sokoto caliphate. The man from Kano regards himself as bakane. The man
from Zaria was bazazzage. The man from Katsina was bakatsine. The
kingdoms were at war with each other. They were Hausas, they were
Muslims, and they were killing each other. “The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo,
Ijesha, Akoko, Egba. When did they become one? When did the North become
one? You have the Sokoto Caliphate that brought every person from
Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom.They now said it was a
Muslim North.”
“The Colonialists came, put that together and said it is now called
the Northern Nigeria. Do you know what happened? Our grand fathers were
able to transform to being Northerners. We have not been able to
transform to being Nigerians. The fault is ours. Tell me, how many
governors has South-West produced after Awolowo that are role models of
leadership? How many governors has the East produced like Nnamdi Azikiwe
that can be role models of leadership? How Manygovernors in the Niger
Delta are role models of leadership? Tell me. There is no evidence
statistically that any part of this country has produced good leaders.
You talk about Babangida and the economy. Who were the people in charge
of the economy during
Babangida era? Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the North?”
“We started the
banking reform; the first thing I heard
was that in Urobo land, that
there will be
a curse of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors) would not answer.
They said why? I said how many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land?
So, why will the ancestors of the Urobo people support her?”
“We talk ethnicity when it pleases us. It is hypocrisy. You said
elections were rigged in 1959, Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu rigged election
in 2007. Was it a Southern thing? It was not.”
“The problem is: everywhere in this country, there is one Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba and Itshekiri man whose concern is
how to get
his hands on the pile and how much he can steal.Whether it is in the
military or in the civilian government, they sit down, they eat
together. In fact, the constitution says there must be a
minister from every state.”
“So, anybody that is still preaching that the problem of Nigeria is
Yoruba or Hausa or Fulani, he does not love Nigeria. The problem with
Nigeria is that a group of people from each and every ethnic tribe is
very selfish. The poverty that is found in Maiduguri is even worse than
any poverty that you find in any part of the South. The British came for
60 years and Sir Ajayi talked about few numbers of graduates in the
North (two at independence) . What he did not say was that there was a
documented policy of the British when they came that the Northerner
should not be educated. It was documented. It was British colonial
policy. I have the
document. I
have published articles on it. That if you educate the Northerner you
will produce progressive Muslim intellectuals of the type we have in
Egypt and India. So, do not educate them. It was documented. And you say
they love us (North).”
“I have spent the better part of my life to fight and Dr. (Reuben)
Abati knows me. Yes, my grandfather was an Emir. Why was I in the pro-
democracy movement fighting for June 12? Is (Moshood) Abiola from Kano ?
Why am I a founding director of the Kudirat Initiative for Nigerian
Development (KIND)?
“There are good Yoruba people, good Igbo people, good Fulani people,
good Nigerians and there are bad people everywhere. That is the truth.”
“Stop talking about dividing Nigeria because we are not the most
populous country in the world. We have all the resources that make it
easy to make one united great Nigeria . It is better if we are united
than to divide it.”
“Every time you talk about division, when you restructure, do you
know what will happen? In Delta Area, the people in Warri will say
Agbor, you don’t have oil. When was the Niger Delta constructed as a
political entity? Ten years ago, the Itshekiris were fighting the
Urobos. Isn’t that what was happening? Now they have become Niger Delta
because they have found oil. After, it will be, if you do not have oil
in your village then you cannot share our resources.”
“There is no country in the world where resources are found in
everybody’s hamlet. But people have leaders and they said if you have
this geography and if we are one state, then we have a responsibility
for making sure that the people who belong to this country have a good
nature.”
“So, why don’t you talk about; we don’t have infrastructure, we
don’t have education, we don’t have health. We are still talking about
Fulani. Is it the Fulani cattle rearer or is anybody saying there is no
poverty among the Fulani?”
This is a great message to our generation. Are we truly ready to develop and unite Nigeria?
