“You borrow money from China to invest in trains so your citizens can ride on them to attend weddings, parties, and naming ceremonies”
By Ime Silas
Embattled Emir of Kano, HRM Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has once again berated Nigerian governors who always obtain foreign loans without concrete and realizable plans of repayment.
In a statement credited to the reinstated Emir, the Monarch took a swipe at Nigerian leaders for not establishing factories through which they could recoup for the huge loans’ repayment.
Emir Sanusi said “We have governors who go to China on tours, and what do they come back with? MoUs on debt. China will lend you $1.8 billion to build light rail. Your citizens will ride on the train, but in a place like northern Nigeria, in states like Kano or Katsina, where are the people going to? They’re not heading to industrial estates to work, to well-equipped schools, or to Modern mechanized farms.
You borrow money from China to invest in trains so your citizens can ride on them to attend weddings, parties, and naming ceremonies. There are no factories to work in. So, where or how will you get returns on this investment? How will you pay back the loans?
We have a leadership problem. We need to choose leaders who are competent to do the job, whether they come from our community or not”
Meanwhile, as at the time of this report, the last has not been heard on the Emirship tussle in Kano State as two Emirs -Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Aminu Ado Bayero, are still laying claims to the ancient traditional stool.
Recall that the immediate-past Kano State governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Ganduje had dethroned HRM Emir Sanusi and appointed HRM Aminu Bayero in his stead.
In a twist of events, Ganduje’s successor, His Excellency, Abba Yusuf, while acting on the laws enacted by the Kano State House of Assembly, dissolved the new Emirates created by Ganduje-led administration hence, reinstated the deposed Emir Sanusi.