Tunde Fagbenle

 This ‘contribution’ to the vitriolic debate on the prospect of Mr. Lamido Sanusi succeeding Mr. Chukwuma Soludo as Governor of Central Bank is “after the fact” since the “young man” has already assumed office, after bedazzling our interrogating Senate with his brilliance.

 But nonetheless, the issues that troubled the minds of those opposed to his candidature, in particular issues that border on his ethno-religious bigotry, hence his unsuitability for the critical office, remain troubling, demanding to be allayed lest the current of his tenure is bound in shallows and his every policy in militating suspicion.

 The Yoruba are not happy with Lamido Sanusi. No, that will be too sweeping and wrong since I am Yoruba and cannot claim to be particularly unhappy with him. More correctly, many in the “political leadership” of the Yoruba are not happy with him. That’s on the one hand. On the other hand, many of the Christian faith are equally worried about what they perceive as his strong Islamic religiosity which some see as bordering on fanaticism!

 And, as if all that were not enough, there lurked the risk of violating the Federal character principle if this sufficiently controversial Kano man were to add to the disproportion of his State and Zone people in the decision-making hierarchy of the country’s economic policies.

 The grouse of the Yoruba group stem from the intellectual outpourings of this scion of the Fulani ruling family of Kano – and grandson of the 11th Fulani Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi – in particular his scathing remarks against the “Yoruba political leadership” (being, I think erroneously, interpreted to mean “the Yoruba” as a whole) as contained in his 1999 dissection of the clamour by sections of the country, of which the Yoruba were most strident, for restructuring Nigeria. While that of the Christians stem just from his graduate academic learning and specialist interest in Islamic studies, obtaining degrees in Sharia and Islamic Studies from the University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan, after his economics degree from ABU, Zaria.

 The debate raged like wild fire on the Internet, especially amongst Nigerians in the Diaspora, and got me “investigating” Lamido, his writings, his interviews, his antecedents, in a manner I have not done of anybody in recent times. And what a fascinating character!

 I can’t remember this Sanusi in the time I lived in Kano in the mid-70s, although one (equally radical) of his siblings was a friend; and he hadn’t joined the banking industry at the time I was publishing the then authoritative Nigeria Banking Annual (incorporating Who’s Who in Banking) in the early 80s.

 Then, just when everything seem to have died down, Lamido sworn in, and other prickly matters of state coming to the fore of the media and observers of our polity – like the planned poorly-veiled, vain, jamboree of some governors to Harvard University for two-week “lessons” in good governance! – came the revelation that Lamido Sanusi’s religious extremism, even Talibanism, had once earned him arrest and “detention” by the Abacha regime.

 How then could such an important state-security aspect have missed (or been ignored by) media and legislature scrutiny before Sanusi’s appointment got ratified? What is the truth?

 I quickly emailed a young (northern) ‘aburo’ of mine who should know:

 “By the way, Attahiru, what do you know of Lamido Sanusi, the new CBN guy? Learnt he is truly an Islamic fundamentalist and had a group in Abacha years whose activism led to his arrest and detention for some time. How true?”

 Attahiru’s reply came instantly:

 “Sir, I know Lamido Sanusi, he was wrongly accused of involvement in religious riots in Kano in 1997, this was part of the internal wrangling of the Kano Royal family. He is well educated, urbane, a practising Muslim who is bold enough to make his views known on several controversial issues. He has challenged the authorities, conservative clergy several times. He has the guts and the knowledge to bring about positive change in the banking Industry.”

 Although one holds the general view that being jailed by Abacha on allegation of fomenting trouble against that evil regime should be a badge of honour, still, how come this piece of information never came to the fore? How long was Sanusi in detention for? Where was he working before Abacha picked him up? How did he get back to his banking job to get the meteoric rise he subsequently achieved? Hmmm.

 But let us for a moment refresh our minds with the most quoted part of that Sanusi’s long treatise on “Restructuring”:

 “THE YORUBA POLITICAL LEADERSHIP (caps, mine) has shown itself over the years to be incapable of rising above narrow tribal interests and reciprocating goodwill from other sections of the country by treating other groups with respect. Practically every crisis in Nigeria since independence has its roots in this attitude”.

 And, to affirm further, he added:

 “I say all this, to support Balarabe Musa’s statement, that the greatest problem to nation-building in Nigeria are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie.”

 But before more daggers are drawn at Sanusi, I must add a caveat for him, that this outrage (which he seems to strongly hold as he had repeated it on more than one occasion) was not without its own extenuating context, namely, a generational discontent. Sanusi’s angst, even where he appears to have been most scathing of the Yoruba, was always unsparing of the political leadership of all the other ethnic groups. Hear him:

 “I have no doubt in my mind that the leadership of Nigerian politics in all parts of the country today, is in the main, reactionary, greedy, corrupt and bankrupt. Brought up in the era of tribal warlords, most political leaders are unable to think first and foremost like Nigerians.”

 Why should we worry about Sanusi’s state of mind, his predilection? Well, a good aburo of mine, Dr. Wale Adebanwi provides it in one of those our exchanges:

 “I do not question Sanusi's competence. I have been assured of that. But when someone has, and even expresses, the kind of deep disregard of other identities and the struggle to validate such identities in the context of the shameful mess that a certain identity (Sanusi's) had made of the collective enterprise (Nigeria) it is legitimate to say that he should not be assigned to head a strategic office in that same collective enterprise.”

 Nevertheless, I rest my hope in Sanusi’s closing part of the same offending treatise. It is a hope that hinges on the “Youth Arising” theme of my last two columns. Sanusi wrote:

 “Is there any hope for this Country”? My answer is yes! I rest my hope partly on personal experience. In every part of the country, I come across young Nigerians who do not agree with their elders. In the North, there is a new northerner, throwing off the yoke of irredentism, the toga of nepotism and the image of being a beneficiary of quota system. In the South-West, I find many young Yoruba citizens who frown at the rabid tribalism and provincialism of their leaders. In Igboland, we see young Igbos who regret the past and look forward to a brighter future…

 “I rest my hope, finally on my generation. A generation of young, educated Nigerians, brought up in luxury, weaned by the traumatic experiences of the last two decades, and ready to take up the gauntlet, and ignite the hopes, for a renewed Nigeria. This is the generation much maligned by the present administration of septuagenarians. The generation discarded and treated like a pack of potential thieves. The only truly marginalized generation. This is the generation that will pick up the pieces and by the grace of Allah, leave those coming behind with a legacy far more progressive than the one we 
inherited.”

 I say Amen to that.

Robot  # 1 | 22.06.2009 07:54

Tunde Fagbenle This ‘contribution’ to the vitriolic debate on the prospect of Mr. Lamido Sanusi succeeding Mr. Chukwuma Soludo as Governor of Central Bank is “after the fact” since the “young man” has already assumed office, after bedazzling our interrogating Senate with his brilliance. But nonetheless, the issues that troubled the minds of those opposed to his candidature, in particular issues that border on his ethno-religious bigotry, hence his unsuitability for the critical office, remain troubling, demanding to be allayed lest the current of his tenure is bound in shallows and his every policy in militating suspicion. The Yoruba are not happy with Lamido Sanusi. No, that will be too sweeping and wrong since I am Yoruba and cannot claim to be particularly unhappy with him. More correctly, many in the “political leadership” of the Yoruba are not happy with him. That’s on the one hand. On the other hand, many of the Christia...Read the full article.

eire  # 2 | 22.06.2009 10:01

The key issue here is that the Nigerian constitution stipulates a single constitutional authority in Nigerian, to support another legal framework in such a secular society amounts to treason. The least punishment being such a person loses their right to serve the entirety of the Nigerian nation in any capacities such as the Governor of the Central bank - Sanusi is a sharia advocate who should be explaining his advocacy of sharia in multi-ethnic Nigeria but he is instead politically rewarded with the leadership of Nigeria's national bank. What an Irony! On qualification, ethnicity aside, Sanusi is NOT the calibre of people like Adamu Chiroma or Rilwanu Lukman, he neither has enough experience nationally and internationally to be the voice of Nigeria's financial institution! Five months as the MD of First bank and a directorship in risk management is not far reaching. And, if he is indeed intelligent as you give him credit for he will not marry 4 wives and have 12 children in a country that is over populated and struggling with social amenities. Many of his actions show a lack of social literacy and a disregard for certain nationalistic tenets. Education is not the only determinant of intelligence, his actions so far has proves he lacks common sense in many aspects of his life. Going my this man's antecedents, he will not have been nominated in a serious developing country let alone allowed to face the Senate of America. The president will have suffered politically for such a wrong choice!

DaBishop  # 3 | 22.06.2009 12:14

=eire;365534>The key issue here is that the Nigerian constitution stipulates a single constitutional authority in Nigerian, to support another legal framework in such a secular society amounts to treason. The least punishment being such a person loses their right to serve the entirety of the Nigerian nation in any capacities such as the Governor of the Central bank - Sanusi is a sharia advocate who should be explaining his advocacy of sharia in multi-ethnic Nigeria but he is instead politically rewarded with the leadership of Nigeria's national bank. What an Irony! On qualification, ethnicity aside, Sanusi is NOT the calibre of people like Adamu Chiroma or Rilwanu Lukman, he neither has enough experience nationally and internationally to be the voice of Nigeria's financial institution! Five months as the MD of First bank and a directorship in risk management is not far reaching. And, if he is indeed intelligent as you give him credit for he will not marry 4 wives and have 12 children in a country that is over populated and struggling with social amenities. Many of his actions show a lack of social literacy and a disregard for certain nationalistic tenets. Education is not the only determinant of intelligence, his actions so far has proves he lacks common sense in many aspects of his life. Going my this man's antecedents, he will not have been nominated in a serious developing country let alone allowed to face the Senate of America. The president will have suffered politically for such a wrong choice! I never thought I would be defending Sanusi's private choices...but the above is what we do not need in any nation...Naijerya, Odua, Biafra or Arewa! Where does the constitution say you cannot have an Islamic degree and be in government...Where is the legal violation...and REGARDING FEDERAL CHARACTER... ... did we just write that or was it operative when Ngozi was Finance and Soludo Governor CBN... Regarding his wives and children...when you see newspaper stories that the man is fighting his wives in his house of confusion..AND IT AFFECTS HIS JOB, ask him to resign....for now many governors are content with a plethora of mistresses in many cities...and a former head of state (President?) had no respect for a lady's marital status in his advances... Now I am not just an ordinary Christian, I am a self-confessed tongue talking...demon casting...born-again DaBishop...FYI

Auspicious  # 4 | 22.06.2009 12:32

=DaBishop;365573>I never thought I would be defending Sanusi's private choices...but the above is what we do not need in any nation...Naijerya, Odua, Biafra or Arewa! That, coming from the above commentator, is truly rich considering some of his recent comments about "the Yoruba Nation". Oh well, for many of us, it's always easier to see others' fault than ours. Auspicious.

Namio  # 5 | 22.06.2009 13:14

Sometimes I think our imported religious belief dent our better judgment. If you want to criticize the man, do it on his experience and competence not some religion you hardly know enough about.

DaBishop  # 6 | 22.06.2009 13:24

=Auspicious;365576>That, coming from the above commentator, is truly rich considering some of his recent comments about "the Yoruba Nation". Oh well, for many of us, it's always easier to see others' fault than ours. Auspicious. Noted...and ignored

Auspicious  # 7 | 22.06.2009 13:36

=DaBishop;365588>Noted...and ignored And so he 'ignored' by responding, muahahahahahaha! Ani Olofo ni iwo Bishoobu yii, Olofo gbaa. Auspicious.

ajis15  # 8 | 22.06.2009 14:02

Sir, I read the article you refered in your writeup. Mr. Sanusi is a typical Northerner from the so called conservative North. They see Yorubas as a threat to the advancement of their selfish agenda and they treat everybody with contempt. I do not see how this guy is the most qualified person to occupy the position of Central bank Governor. Where is the experience, the qualification, even in the position he occupied before becoming the Governor, he got their through the retrogressive quota system. I believe there are more than 1000 Southerners who are more than qualified to be Head of Risk Management, talk less of being the MD of FB. It's very unfortunate that this is what one Nigeria has become. Ojukwu saw the light in 1960, the Yoruba leadership that he disparaged in his article deserve what they are getting. If we had followed and towed Ojukwu line and have these people stay in their North we would not have this mediocre dictating our lives. There is one painful thing about the so called core North that our Yoruba leadership and the South as a whole are not paying attention to. When the scion of conservative North comes to power, they prefer to work with the renegades in the South and delibrately ignore the progressives. I saw that in Balewa, Shagari, Buhari and now Yardua. Yes, the man is right, the Yoruba leadership are yet to wake up.

DaBishop  # 9 | 22.06.2009 14:13

=ajis15;365600>Sir, There is one painful thing about the so called core North that our Yoruba leadership and the South as a whole are not paying attention to. When the scion of conservative North comes to power, they prefer to work with the renegades in the South and delibrately ignore the progressives. I saw that in Balewa, Shagari, Buhari and now Yardua. Yes, the man is right, the Yoruba leadership are yet to wake up. It will be helpful if you can identify who these 'renegades in the south' are and who are the progressives and what qualifies one to be a 'renegade' or 'progressive' in your opinion. Thanks.

ajis15  # 10 | 22.06.2009 15:35

=DaBishop;365604>It will be helpful if you can identify who these 'renegades in the south' are and who are the progressives and what qualifies one to be a 'renegade' or 'progressive' in your opinion. Thanks. DaBishop: Tell me what is Yardua doing with the likes of Ibori?

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---