Emir Of Kano, The Northern Elite And Boko-Haram

The Emir of Kano Alhaji Mohammed
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is no doubt one of
the most powerful and respected
traditional rulers from Northern Nigeria,
being the leader of the Kano Emirate and
also a first class king in Nigeria. Since
his days at the Central Bank of Nigeria
he has been vocal on national issues as
needs arise. At the CBN he combined the
work of an activist and CBN Governor
together – a combination that led to his
untimely exit from the Apex Bank due to
his exposure of the mind boggling
financial mismanagement of the
Jonathan led government.
As fate would have it, he ascended his
father’s throne following the passage of
the late Emir Ado Bayero. Since his
ascension not much has changed about
him, he has been travelling the whole
length of Nigeria and beyond as guest
speaker at events and symposiums.
Of recent, the Emir has been speaking his
mind on a burning issue which has been
the concern of many Nigerians, to wit the
rate of illiteracy in the North as it affects
both sexes. UNESCO in its 2016 report
described the region as the most
educationally disadvantaged region in
Nigeria, explaining that it will take years
for the gap to be covered in the midst of
the lingering Boko Haram Crisis with its
attendant effect on educational
enrolment in the region. The situation
has degenerated to a level that some
states in the North had to pay parents to
send their children to school. The issue
of illiteracy in the North is an irony to a
discerning mind as the Northerners have
ruled Nigeria more than any other region
and it’s worthy of mention that the
richest man in Nigeria Aliko Dangote is a
Northerner. As a result, the educational
backwardness of the region should not
have happened in the first place but that
will come to an end very soon.
In 2017 alone, the Emir has addressed
the issue of low school enrolment on
three consecutive occasions. On the 19th
of January the emir spoke against the
proliferation of mosques in the North
declaring, “I’m just tired of people
coming to me to say I want to build a
new mosque. You know, we keep
building mosques and our daughters are
illiterate. So, my appeal is that if you
really want to help Kano, don’t come to
me with a request to build a N300
million mosque because I have enough
mosques everywhere. And if I don’t have
a mosque, I’ll build it myself. If you really
want to help, go and educate a girl child
in the village” His stance was also re-
echoed on the 28th of January at
FUTMINNA and 7th of February at a
graduation event for teachers with
Nigerian Certificate in Education
sponsored by the Kano state
Government.
However, the Emir of Kano may soon
enter the bad books of Northern Elites
who have prioritized the construction of
mosques as a philanthropic gesture over
the provision of education. A journey
around any Northern state will prove the
Emir right as what you see left, right and
centre are places of worship; you find
mosques in schools, on farms, at
hospitals, petrol stations and
markets.Mosques are needed for worship
Same way schools are needed for
intellectual Purposes. Some legislators in
the North have even used erection of
mosques as constituency projects!
They’ve been using that to play the
religious card and have left the welfare of
the electorate unattended to. The
individuals involved in massive
construction of mosques have PhD and
some are educationist so why can’t they
expose their wards to Education?
Now that the emir is de-marketing their
enterprise I know they won’t enjoy his
bitter truth. That an individual is ready to
spend over 200 million naira on mosque
construction instead of building school
speaks a lot about the way of life of the
Northern aristocracy.
Despite the mass construction of
mosques in the North the region has not
been immune to violence. From Kaduna
to Yobe, to Borno, Adamawa to Kano,
it’s been all shades of violence and
terrorist attacks. The Boko-Haram crisis
started at a mosque led by Mohammed
Yusuf in Borno state, as an ordinary
movement which has turned out to be
Nigeria’s worst nightmare with the North
being the region most affected by
activities of Boko-Haram insurgents.
From 2009 till date over 100,000
Northerners have been killed in various
attacks by the Boko-Haram sect, and
even the Elites haven’t been spared. A
Nigerian Civil war veteran, General
Shuwa, was killed by Boko-Haram when
he was observing his prayers, a former
Minister of Mines and Power Alhaji
Shettima Ali-Monguno was also
kidnapped by Boko-Haram members and
never remained the same till he died in
the year 2016. In addition, when the late
Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero was
attacked by Boko-Haram, he survived the
attack but his aides were not lucky. He
never recovered from the shock till he
died on the 6th of June 2014, the Chibok
Girls are still in Boko-Haram captivity
after 3 years.
As a result, the Emir’s calls must be
followed with action as an initial step in
stemming the tide of the Boko-Haram
crisis, which is an after effect of the low
level of education in the North. Schools
must be built in addition to mosques to
redeem the backwardness of the region
academically.religion as a way of life
must be encouraged to instill morality in
people but not at the expense of
Education. Education is not a sin and
the Holy Quran chapter 96:1-5 lays
emphasis on the importance of
education for Muslims.
The Northern Elites must support the
Emir massively in his campaign against
illiteracy by building schools and offering
scholarships to the people. We’ve seen
examples of people that achieve
greatness in the North through
education, such as Alhaji Abdulmutalab
a successful Banker from the North who
mentored The Emir of Kano in his
banking career, Alhaji Aliko Dangote,
Jelani Aliyu, Justice Mariam Aloma
Muktar, and Professor Attahiru Jega
among others. They are embodiments of
the merits of sound education.
Education must be made accessible to
every Northerner!
Adesina Tosin Nathaniel is a Forward
Looking Nigerian Youth