Sanusi Lamido at 61: Vocal Voice of the Voiceless North -By Abdu Abdullahi

The voiceless North had been starved of the appropriate voice to raise a serious alarm of its self- imposed devastations in the past. It was a pity that the domineering voices emanating from the turbulent region were too shenanigans and at variance with the collective yearnings and aspirations of the people. They were voices of the elites, the political opportunists who were power hungry.

With the passage of time however and to counter that irredeemable voice, there emerged a newly imperative voice that stood loudly as the voice of the real North, the North of poverty, the North of unemployment, the North of insecurity, the North of the menace of Almajiri, in short, the North of underdevelopment. That resonating voice has survived the toughest time and is still propelled to provide developmental services for the North and is vehemently opposed to the current brutalization of the region. It is this despicable character of the troubled North that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the deposed Emir of Kano, the custodian of this voice has been rising it loudly to the hearing of the world.

The embedded character of this voice conforms with the character of development and people of outstanding vision. The distinguished character of this voice has never been fluctuating to lose its essential value of focus to reform the people. It is the voice that is countering the reactionaries’ voice. To our greatest dismay, the groups that have political voice display a complete disregard to the North of the wretched of the earth. But to our highest appeal, Sanusi’s independent voice represents the wretched of the earth, the future of the North.

For long, Sanusi’s voice of disappointment on our predicament has remained original, appealing to our conscience, gingering us to wake up and take drastic actions to redeem our region of human destructions so as to compete with the other relatively advanced regions. There is no element of hypocrisy in his voice of protest against underdevelopment. Scrutinize it and the results are positive and inspiring, lamenting our failure, evaluating our decadence for regional development.

However fruitful this voice is, some Northern elements do not like it because truth is bitter, painful and hurting. The enemies of this voice are the political, military, business and bureaucratic elites who have been piling up skeletons of various types in their cupboards. But when truth matters on the decaying North, Lamido is a good point of reference. Those who are angry at Lamido’s voice of the North are timid of its morality potency. This indefatigable voice is overwhelming because we lack the defensive media as our mouthpiece to kill our lingering crises. The media power house of the North cannot effectively fight for our advancement.

History has shown  that for any nation to move forward from adversity to prosperity, there must be some concerned individuals who firmly stand by the truth and courageously absorb the wanton pressure from the reactionary forces. Blessed with this calibre of people, the society will be genuinely groomed for progress. And Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is a force to be reckoned with. Give him an invitation to present the pathetic state of the North, he will be sincere and objective, drawing pragmatic instances that have continued to enslave us.

No matter our level of developmental decadence, we are richly endowed with people of considerable integrity and hugely intellectual capacity. Indeed, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the deposed Emir of Kano is one of them. In his relentless agitation for a better North, he has remained extremely faithful to his belief, his struggle and the oppressed and deprived people he is fighting for.

The former Emir is famous for his ‘ stubbornness’ in directly talking to the powers that be on crucial matters affecting the overall society. Fearlessly oriented and radically trained, Sanusi Lamido will never be afraid calling a spade a spade without minding the consequences. In fact, this attitude was the major factor that led to his removal as the Emir of Kano in March, 2020 by the Ganduje administration. Lamido’s voiced voice was so intimidating to the Northern Establishment that its elements, who were conservative in form, found themselves increasingly uncomfortable and could no longer tolerate his assaulting voice. They argued that it was wrong for an Emir to speak the truth about the seeming calamity that would befall us. He was therefore a lonely fighter who could not join them because he was incapable of beating them. Eventually, they plotted and deposed him, thinking that was the only coercive method of muzzling his mouth.

Expectedly, Lamido has been a subject of controversies for his strong belief in the remaking of the Northern Nigeria. He has been an advocate of the Northern reform because of the socioeconomic and political crises confronting the region. Interestingly, he is always combative with ideas and not people or groups. This radical stand has earned him enemies amongst the members of the northern established order who are at loggerheads with the yearnings and aspirations of the average northerners.

Those who are happy with Lamido’s outspokenness believe that he is on the right track. They evaluate, especially the core North, within the contextual paradigm of underdevelopment. Lamido’s Northwest, according to a research findings released by the World Bank almost two decades ago, revealed how the region was the most afflicted with poverty and diseases. Unfortunately, the sad story is still the same and the elites are careless, largely undisturbed by this menacing trend.

Lamido has said it several times that our North is passing through dangerous scenes. From our developmental performance, we have nothing to write about about. We have been pretending to be great in a fake theory that has proved abortive and disastrous. Whenever we hear or read the happenings in Northern Nigeria, they are events that are horrible and giving us sleepless nights.

As we celebrate with the former Emir on attaining 61 years, the best way to remember him as progressives is his persistent advocacy for a new North that stands the test of positive development.