NIGERIA@60: Those who claim to represent north, south or east… are all fighting for their pockets- Sanusi

By our reporter| The dethroned emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, on Thursday said that the people who claim to represent the interest of the various political zones in the country are just fighting for their pockets.

The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), boss made the assertion while responding to questions was at The Platform, an annual conference organised by Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos.

The virtual event hosted by Poju Oyemade, its convener, to commemorate the nation’s 60th independence anniversary, noted the series of ethnoreligious crisis which has resulted in several ethnic groups calling for a referendum to determine the countrys future.

Tasked on the way forward for the country, the outspoken former emir said Nigerians must recognize that irrespective of political office, every citizen must be good representatives of their beliefs, religion and ethnic groups.

According to him, those who claim to represent the interest of southerners and northerners due to the political positions they occupy are more concerned about their pockets than the interest of the people they claim to represent represent.

Sanusi said, “Ethno-religious crisis is not so much from Nigerians but the Nigerian elites. We have identities in Nigeria but the construction of opposing identities, the political process, is basically the Nigerian elite competing among itself for a share of the national cake.”

“I don’t think that the people who say they are fighting for Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba are really interested. I mean when they get there at the end of the day, it is about them and their families.

“There is nobody out there that is really representing north or south or east. They claim to be if you look out there in the cabinet. In the history of Nigeria, there has never been a government that does not have people from every part of the country.

“So the first thing to recognize is that we must get away from the sense that holding political office is what makes you representative of a people.”

Sanusi who also commended the federal government for its decision to remove fuel subsidy, was confident that the reforms being adopted by government will benefit Nigerians in the long run.