MY RECANT & PORTRAIT OF A TRUE BLOOD NIGERIAN & A MAVERICK SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI: MY JOURNEY INTO HIS “HEAD”
I had been
dillydallying on completing this post I started over a week ago, what with
preparations to relocate from our present place of abode and its attendant
hassles. Its completion therefore is credited to the adrenaline rush I had in
the wake of the viral BB broadcasts of the past 24hours with news of SLS and
his millions of Naira largesse to victims of the Kano bombings. Although I am
not sure if the claim has been authenticated, but whatever is the case, the
content was disturbing. In the broadcasts that were obviously driven by a hefty
dose of ethnic and religious sentiments, people more or else asked for his head
on a platter, citing his partiality to his Northern brethren and his
insensitivity in not considering the plight of victims of a similar National
incident in a Church in Madalla on Christmas Day, 2011. I am quite certain that
if this sort of news had come a week or so earlier, I would have joined the mob
and be first to demand for Sanusi’s head. However with hindsight now, I will
not make any pronouncements on this issue, but would rather seek to know and
understand his actions
. Perhaps if you take the time to go through this piece,
you would understand things more clearly......... Enjoy reading as much
as I did writing...
Riding on the crest of
one of my recent blog posts, where I referred to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as ‘loose
lipped’ owing to what I considered unguarded statements credited to him that
where capable of further heating up the polity and at best making him out to be
a closet sympathiser of the cause of the Boko Haram; I was further aggravated
by statements supposedly credited to him in which he blamed the South West for
the Nation’s problems. My first reaction was, “Haba! What is wrong with this man? Why won’t he just let up in his
plans to totally destabilise the polity”. As a matter of fact, my first reaction was
to immediately write something scathing to “put him in his place”; I mean why
would he say two damning things in such quick succession? I wondered. Just as I was about to start clicking away,
a thought crept into my mind; the same line of reasoning that has always kept
me in good stead at times that I would otherwise have gone off on a tangent in
testy situations. That same niggling feeling that always afforded me the
liberty of getting into relationships and alliances with people without the
prejudice of preconceived notion based on second hand assessment. With the
benefit of hindsight now, I have come to realise that whenever I pay heed to
that feeling, I am always the better for it. So, there I was in deep thought
and deciding there and then that there most certainly must be more to the
character of Lamido than meets the eye.
Rather than open a new
blog post and start clicking away as I had intended, I opened a couple of
search engine browsers and decided to make Sanusi Lamido Sanusi the object of
my research. Of course I was nonplussed to see uncomplimentary articles and
tirades from readers (he deserved evry bit of the insults I thought) about his
conduct and legendary lack of diplomacy in controversial events like the “Un
Repentant truth saga” between him and members of the lower legislature, with
his refusal to apologise being a hot topic for weeks especially on Social Media
and his criticism of his predecessor Charles Soludo’s tenure in a 23-page
convocation lecture titled, “The
Nigerian Banking Industry: What Went Wrong and the Way Forward” he
delivered at the Convocation Ceremony of Bayero University Kano; in which he
lambasted the consolidation as a failure, stating that it only helped to create bigger banks while it failed
to overcome the fundamental weakness in corporate governance in many banks. I
stumbled on a lot of forums where his different supposedly inflammatory,
tribalistic and often times downright condescending statements were analysed
and I must confess I haven’t seen that much vitriol and invectives poured on
anyone as those heaped on Sanusi who many referred to as a Bigot.
Suffice it to say, I
had seen enough and was suitably justified in so far as my earlier held
impression of him had now been corroborated by the evidence of the reports I
had just finished reading. Not only was I right in giving him “what not” for
openly dissing a Government he is a part of, but also I could now safely say he
was totally all that he was accused of being or so I thought; anyway, just as I was about settling down to
write the scathing commentary I had planned from the beginning, whereby putting
a lid on the matter of his rabblerousing once and for all; I happened upon a
link titled “The articles of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi”. Curiosity got the better of
me for no other reason other than the fact that up until now, all the ‘nasty
tribal jabs’ credited to him, where done in such a way to suggest that he
uttered them pretty recently give or take few weeks or at most few months prior
to his remarks about the disparity between the North and South being a major
contributing factor to the BH insurgence or after as suggested by the reports
on his statement that the “South West is cause of the Nation’s problem”. With
this in mind, the decision to read his articles was a no brainer; because I not
only wanted to, I needed to.
I guess for some reason
or the other, fate had decided that Sanusi was to have a fair hearing in ‘my
court’ that day, because though I set out to read his articles for the singular
purpose of further buttressing my opinion of him; I spent the next three hours
enthralled as I read every word of his different articles dating back to the
early 90’s; and in all honesty, thus began my education on the study of the man
I would call from here on, an Enigma. A convoluted Character with a whirling
mass of contradictions surrounding him is one of the simplest ways I can
attempt to capture his essence as derived from reading his articles.
Having passed a verdict on him as a tribal warlord,
it therefore was a contradiction of sorts for me to read his articles. The first
one I read was SHARIACRACY
IN NIGERIA to say I was stunned is an understatement. I wondered if this
was written by the same person that I easily regarded as a "Saul" out
to persecute Christians, but little did I know, that there was more in store.
In his “Afenifere: Syllabus of
Errors" (1998), he does not disguise his disdain for
the attitude of the North and the West towards the Igbo; hear him: “The
Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo
out of the scheme of things. They have exacted their pound of flesh from the
Igbos. For one Sardauna, one Tafawa Balewa, one Akintola and one Okotie-Eboh,
hundreds of thousands have died and suffered. In the recent transition when the
Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North
and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the
primaries, every gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo,
not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal
Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the
marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have
taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves.
But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.... ”
Similarly, in “The Igbo, the Yoruba and History" (1999) his words where so on in tune with someone whose fingers where constantly feeling the pulse of the Nation and could detect every little flutter; hear him, “One marvels at the never-ending cycle which sees Southern Politicians play into the hands of their northern counterparts. For a people who take pride in the depth of their Western Education and who have often expressed contempt for the "backwardness" and "illiteracy" of their northern brothers, southern politicians have presented to the world the ever-present proof that "book - knowledge" and intelligence are not necessarily correlated. One recalls Chief Awolowo's description of Shagari as a "glorified Grade Two Teacher". It was missing on Awolowo' that the more contemptible the adjectives he used to describe Shagari, the lower he sank in the eyes of perceptive watchers, as the man he was describing had clearly shown that he was better by defeating him in a race both participated in from start to finish.”. I this piece he also expressed his frustration on the ethnic colourations we give to issues of leadership. Hear him speak on Abacha: “Abacha was a corrupt, ruthless dictator - period. Where he was from is immaterial. All Nigerians, Northerners and Southerners, Muslim and Christians, suffered from the corruption and injustices of his regime with the exception of a small band of family members, sycophants and traitors who joined him in looting the coffers of our nation”. Those who stood against his tyranny and spoke out for freedom and equity suffered: among them Obasanjo, Yar Adua, Abiola, Rimi, Ige, Lamido, Nwakwo and Ken Sarowiwa.... Abacha was no respecter of region or religion and that he represented the least form of humanity degenerating dangerously close to bestiality, which is why, like Pharaoh, he is remembered today for his evil...”
He further reiterates
the need for shunning tribal politics: “The
lesson in all this is that the Igbo, Yoruba and all Nigerians must learn by now
that no one can win a national election on a tribal platform. Those clamouring
to join Ojukwu's Igbo party, and those attempting to transform Afenifere/NADECO
into a tribal party are heading for a resounding defeat at the polls”. I
was kind of floored to see him write albeit sincerely of the possibility of a
southern president even way before any one of southern extraction could have
believed it possible. Hear him; “The
presidency can, and perhaps should, move to the south. But it will be to
a southerner who contests on the platform of Nigeria, not of his tribe. A southerner committed to the system, to the rule of law and to the principles of peace, justice, equity and freedom, not of avenging real or imagined wrongs; a Southerner like Chief Abiola who stands the chance of winning.”
a southerner who contests on the platform of Nigeria, not of his tribe. A southerner committed to the system, to the rule of law and to the principles of peace, justice, equity and freedom, not of avenging real or imagined wrongs; a Southerner like Chief Abiola who stands the chance of winning.”
Well into the second
hour, of reading the works of this maverick, it dawned on me that a common
sentiment seemed to resonate throughout most of his articles. A sentiment that
seemed to readily evoke in him the need to instinctively distance himself from
his aristocratic back, hardcore religious background. Sanusi seemed to
endlessly “push” the other ethnic groups in the Country to rise from their
slumber. He struck a blow at the feudal system in the North; a blow that almost
cost him his life when he wrote 'The Adulteress' Diary' in 2001. To say I was bowled
over by the article would be an understatement. Laced with a splattering of
explicit vocabulary that run through the work; a license he considered
expedient to convey the magnitude of the message of the article, it I was an expose openly criticising what he considered the hypocrisy of Northern oligarchies following the
death (by stoning) sentence passed on Safiya Husseini under Sharia Law. At this
point I began to wonder if Sanusi’s agenda as I hitherto thought, was way
beyond what I had adjudged an ethnic agenda. I honestly could not reconcile the
person I thought he was with the persona that was slowly unfolding before my
eyes as I read on. The surprises kept coming even as I digested more of his
articles.
In “THE MILK OF HUMAN
KINDNESS: An Intellectual Engagement with the Intellectually Challenged (March
2002)”a controversial article in
which he tore to shreds an article "Muslim
Intellectuals and the Sharia Debate in Nigeria written by Danladi Adamu
Mohammed; itself a rejoinder to an earlier article by Sanusi entitled "The
Politicisation of Ontological Questions: Discourses, Subjectivities and Muslim
Family Law in Nigeria." The crux of the matter being that Adamu considered
Sanusi’s latter article as an aberration to the tenets of Islam and summarily
passed a verdict branding Sanusi “an arrogant secularist who aims to
destabilise the noble edifice of northern Muslim society; a pretender to being
a reformer in the league of Dan Fodio; an agent of the West and dealer in
usury; a Marxist who places reason above revelation and a presumptuous critic
who relies on "off the wall" jurists like Ibn Hazm.” A definite must read in his retinue of
articles that set off alarm bells in my head is “BUHARISM AS FASCISM:
Engaging Balarabe Musa” Feb
2003. His words may have probably rang true for that period, since he was
analysing the prospects of an OBJ second term against a Buhari challenge in the
run up to the 2003 Presidential polls; hear him; “We have to choose, like it or
not, between a failure and a fascist....four more years of Obasanjo/Atiku on
the one hand, and Buhari on the other. History demands of us that we make that
choice and history will judge us appropriately. As for me, I have made my
choice. Buhari is not perfect, but he has my vote”This words certainly left me
with feelings of trepidation to imagine what his honest thoughts were in the
choice between a GEJ government, he serves currently, and a Buhari government.
I am sure someday we would hear or read his thoughts, but for now I want to
believe that in his silence on the matter, Lamido does know when to leave well
alone.
On the reactions his articles elicit from the North, Sanusi has had this
to say;"It
is very common for a writer to be labelled a "traitor" to "the
North" or "Muslims" for taking a position at variance with the
fantasies of a sentiment- driven eclectic consciousness” Whilst not trying to sway opinion as to the true
position of the ethnic/political inclinations of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, I can
unashamedly admit that I now have a better understanding of the man. Akin to
eating humble pie, considering my earlier article, however I can safely say I allowed
him his day in “court”.Rather than write him off a Bigot, I choose (riding on
the crest of his thoughts as captured in his articles), to see him more in the
mould of a Marxist; which would hardly be far from the truth when one considers
that he is a protege of the late Bala Usman and a
respecter of the intellectual integrity of the anti oligarchical Marxist, the
late Bala Mohammed (assassinated through arson by a hired mob "protesting"
the querying of the Emir by then radical Governor Abubakar Rimi in whose
administration Bala Mohammed served as political adviser).
The deal clincher for me, where his remarks at the
book launch for Sir Olaniwun Ajayi's "Nigeria, Africa’s Failed Asset”, Sanusi according to reports, posed a thought provoking
question “Are we truly ready to develop
and unite Nigeria”? He further went on to state to the stunned audience; "Let me start by saying that I am
Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir and therefore I represent all
that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book. And
like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his
generation....My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem
with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir
Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of
my generation speaking in that language”. If the majority like me choose
to tread the path of objectivity; I am certain if you take time to read his
body of work, that there would certainly be a resounding consensus that his
words though raw are often times the ‘inconvenient truth.’
ARTICLES BY SANUSI LAMIDO
SANUSI
1. 1. The
Igbos, The Yoruba and History http://www.dawodu.com/sanusi.htm
14. BUHARISM
1 15. THE
MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS An Intellectual Engagement with the
Intellectually Challenged
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