Muhammad Lamido Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano, and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is not a stranger to controversy. He seems to strive more in storms than in sunshine. He likes controversy so much that if there’s none, he creates one. In the pork barrel and greasy pole of Nigerian politics, his name is a constant mention. He competes with conventional politicians in stirring up controversies on national issues. It’s fair to say that Sanusi without controversy is like a doughnut without a hole. For him, controversy is like an oxygen of publicity that sustains him each time he falls.
Some say courage and resilience are two of his ennobling qualities. But others have countered that, arguing that his public comments are often self-serving. This is the picture that emerges from both viewpoints. In every position the 16th Emir of Kano has found himself – in the banking and traditional institutions – he has not failed to use the power of the office to make life uncomfortable for anyone he chose. His goal in these efforts has primarily been to push people, especially those in power, to check themselves rather than check his own indiscretions.
In 2013, as CBN Governor, he raised the alarm about discrepancies in oil revenue remittances totaling $49bn. But, after reconciliation with the Finance Ministry, he doubled down on the amount, saying it was $20bn, not $49bn. Weeks later, he said he was wrong, that the amount unaccounted for was just $12bn. Goodluck Jonathan government was miffed by his allegation. It accused the CBN under the leadership of Sanusi as having cooked up the amount. Jonathan couldn’t tolerate him anymore. In Feb 2014, Jonathan suspended Sanusi as CBN Governor for alleged “financial recklessness and misconduct”.
Jonathan disclosed that he was confronted with the alleged missing $49bn by the then German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who asked him how such hefty amount could be stolen from the treasury of a struggling economy like Nigeria without anyone knowing. Apart from the alleged missing funds, as CBN Governor, Sanusi blamed everybody but himself about the state of the economy. For instance, he called for the NNPC to be disbanded. He also criticised the Buhari administration at several fora. He called Jonathan’s presidency a “disgrace to Nigeria, and ‘insensitive to the plight of Nigerians”.
After he was sacked as CBN Governor, he was coronated the Emir of Kano on June 8, 2014, a position he said was a lifelong ambition. By 2020, his cup was full and running over. He was deposed by then Governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje. Like river phoenix, on May 23, 2024, he was reinstated to the post by the incumbent Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf. And here he goes again! Emir Sanusi II never stops talking. Last week, he stirred another controversy, this time around, at the Annual Lecture series in memory of late legal icon, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, in Lagos. The ‘bomb’ he threw was directed at the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu. With a raspy voice, laced with scorn and innuendos, he told a coterie of audience at the event, “I have chosen not to speak about the economy or the reforms, or even explain anything because if I explain, I would help this government, but I don’t want to help this government”.
Sanusi knows how to create drama and how to call attention to himself. He continued, “you know they are my friends, but if they don’t behave like friends, I don’t behave like a friend. So, I watch them being stooges”. He threw sound bite after sound-bite. He reserved the ‘best for last’, when he said, “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…let them come out and explain to Nigerians why the policies that are being pursued are being pursued. Meanwhile, I am watching a very nice movie with popcorn in my hands”. That’s a good metaphor.
If you don’t know by now, a duel with Emir Sanusi II is like riding a tiger. You must not be tired before the tiger. In its reaction to Sanusi’s ‘no help position’ to Tinubu’s government, the federal government through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the emir’s criticism of government’s policies stemmed from personal grievances rather than an objective assessment. He urged Sanusi II to rise above personal interests and partisan undertones and prioritize the greater good of Nigerians.
Idris said, “we find it amusing that a leader, moreso, one from an institution that ennobles forthrightness, fairness and justice would publicly admit shuffling off, not saying the truth because of personal interest hinged on imaginary antagonism”. Mr Idris claimed that Tinubu’s policies are essential for “securing Nigeria’s long-term stability and growth”. Nobody expected the minister to say anything different. The question is: did Sanusi “cross
the line”? He did not, even though he allowed his personal interests to becloud his assessment of Tinubu’s kill-joy policies.
In my view, what has undone Tinubu’s presidency in the past 19 months was the culmination of a lifelong (‘emilokan’) pursuit to become president by all means and his false conviction that he was uniquely qualified for the job. That desperation has turned out to be his undoing, and everyone, except himself, has become the reason for his woeful performance so far. You can’t fix Nigeria when over 72 key political appointees come from the president’s ethnic group. That explains the failure of key government policies that would have helped the economy turn the corner. Examples abound , but key of the economic reforms that went awry include the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market. On paper, these are policies that are good, but not well thought through before implementation.
Looked from a broader canvas, Sanusi is not different from the President. Both have same personal and primordial attributes. As CBN Governor, close watchers in the banking sector readily cite his problem with Erastus Akingbola and Cecilia Ibru, MD/CEOs, of now defunct Intercontinental Bank, and Oceanic Bank, to buttress Sanusi’s high-handedness to settle scores with perceived enemies when he held sway as CBN Governor.
What was Sanusi’s grouse with them? These two ex-bank CEOs allegedly beat Sanusi in a fiercely competitive market while he(Sanusi) was calling the shots at First Bank Plc. His fight with Akingbola was considered a clash of the titans. When he became CBN Governor, Akingbola was reportedly a prime target for allegedly tampering with depositors’ funds. Following a UK court judgment in 2012, Sanusi announced that “assets belonging to Akingbola must be put on sale to recover N164bn that Akingbola was ordered by the court to refund.
This was the climax of a long-running battle between Sanusi and Akingbola. Akingbola still claims innocent to all the charges. He has not fully recovered from what he claims was Sanusi’s witch-hunt.
Altogether, despite Sanusi’s proclivity for demagoguery and ruffling feathers, our politics needs people like him to speak truth to power and keep an administration that is overusing power on its toes. Tinubu’s presidency is unpopular now, and history may be unkind to him if he fails to take the chance that time and circumstance have provided him to make amends and chart a new, positive course for Nigeria and its citizens facing extreme hardship. Right now, a time of anxiety and fear is growing. More than anything else, president Tinubu needs to be saved from himself and from the marauding bunch of sycophants that are not allowing him know that Nigeria under his leadership is drifting dangerously.