- Says “Many of the elite in Nigeria do not know what poverty is”
Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, has warned that Nigeria is currently in crisis, lamenting that the citizens are currently living with bandits and Boko Haram.
Speaking during the 60th birthday ceremony of former Rivers State Governor and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Sanusi said: “For all those who are saying we have to be careful before we get into a crisis, please wake up. We are living with bandits and Boko Haram; we are already there.
“We are already in crisis, it has already happened, the question is how do we get out of it.”
Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), also blamed leaders for the multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria, lamenting that the elite are unaware of the rate of poverty in the country.
The Emir, in his goodwill message at a public lecture with the theme “Weaponisation of poverty as a means of underdevelopment: A case study of Nigeria” which was part of Amaechi’s birthday event, said: “Many of the elite in Nigeria do not know what poverty is. As an economist, former CBN Governor, I see the numbers. I did not know poverty until I became Emir.
“And you go to the village and see the water they drink, the houses they live in, the two-block classrooms without roofs.
“Do we love the people, or do we just love ruling over them? What are our priorities? We make overheads and underpasses for ourselves in the cities, while in the rural areas cannot reach hospitals. We are in crisis; how do we get out should be our focus.”
