I know it is risky to speak for the oppressed —Emir Sanusi

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Friday said fighting and speaking for the oppressed is a risky venture in Nigeria just as he challenged the BringBackOurGirls campaign group to extend their demands beyond the release of the missing Chibok girls.

Sanusi said beyond the missing Chibok school girls, there are many other victims of Boko Haram attacks, especially boys and girls, who are largely displaced by the insurgents.

The former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who was represented by his daughter, Princess Shaida Sanusi at the Ist Chibok girls annual lecture in Abuja  acknowledged commitment of the ex-Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili among other campaigners tasked the team if there was any provision for the restoration of the girls when found.

Describing the insurgent actions as atrocious and barbaric, he advised for an attitudinal change.

Sanusi said: “In three years Nigerians have been horrified by this act and the consequent crimes of forced marriages, forced labour and may be even sale into slavery. Let me begin by congratulating my sister and friend Oby Ezekwesili and all the other sisters and brothers in BBOG who have kept this issue alive and remain committed until we see all the girls back.

“As we remember the girls captured in Chibok three years ago, we must remember that they constitute only a fraction of the victims of this insurgency. I would urge BBOG, while you keep this issue of Chibok on the table, to broaden your message to cover all girls and boys abducted by BH, and also draw attention to the condition of girls and women in our society in general.

“To give you an idea of the extent of this problem, as at today, in Dalori 2 IDP camp near Maiduguri alone, there are over 1,500 BH-abducted girls who are either pregnant or carrying babies, who have been freed by the military.

“Hundreds of orphaned children are being carried away to unknown destinations and they are all gone into oblivion due to society’s neglect. It is therefore critical, for the BBOG to gain much broader support in the populace and be more effective, to use the dramatic case of the Chibok girls as a reference and a plank, but not the exclusive focus of its struggle. Our interest should be in Bringing back all our girls. But after these girls are brought back, shall we ask ourselves as well: where are they being brought back to? What kind of society? How much better is the “normal” environment we all take for granted than Boko Haram camps?”

However, he attributed imbalance in the society as one of the fundamental cause of the insurgency, adding that furthering the campaign is such that puts the selfish public officers at discomfort, thus making the demands risky.

“These questions ultimately force us to face the reality that the kind of society we have created in fact is the root cause for the emergence of groups like Boko Haram and occurrences like the Chibok tragedy.

“All my life, I have been engaged deeply with the question of women and the oppressed and marginalized groups in our society. I have come to accept, like you, that remaining committed to this discourse is a risky and potentially costly venture in this environment. The elite consensus is about a culture of silence and complicity, where everyone remains in his or her comfort zone, and where the voiceless majority are allowed to remain where they are.

“The argument, it seems, is why should you care about poor rural women when you are able to educate your own daughters in the best schools in the world? Why should you hold up a mirror to our faces, expose our unclean underbelly and remind us of the brutish life to which, over many decades, we have subjected a large mass of our population?

“Our colleagues and compatriots among the elite do not like statistics. Numbers are disturbing. I recently gave a speech in which I said the North-East and North-West of Nigeria are the poorest parts of the country. This simple statement of fact has generated so much heat the noise is yet to die down. But what really are the facts?” He stated.

According to him, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the UNDP in 2015 published data on the incidence of poverty in Nigeria showed that, on average, 46% of Nigerians are living in poverty.

The UN’s Global Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index which focuses on Education, Health and Living Standards, he stressed did not reflect the true situation in the north, adding that the region is confronted with even more serious internal inequalities, incidences of extreme poverty and gender.

My father not afraid to lose Kano throne —Daughter

Meanwhile, daughter of the Emir, Shahida at the event, said her father would give up the throne if it stands between him and truth.

Shahida said the traditional ruler placed a high premium on truth.

“My father is not afraid of giving up his throne if it stands in the way of speaking the truth. Those who think that my father would keep quiet because he wants to hold on to his throne, I think they don’t know my father.

“I know that he has always wanted to be the emir of Kano but to him, if it comes between what is right, what his conscience tells him and choosing the throne, he would happily give up the throne.

“My father has always been a part of one controversy or the other and it’s normal for us. We are not scared anymore.

“And honestly, he has been a source of inspiration and pride. He never fails to fight. He fights for progress, liberty, justice and equality. Those who think they know my father should know that he will never be silenced by blackmail and intimidation. He lost his position once as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and I remember his quote that you can suspend a man but you can never suspend the truth. I know he does not mind being the most unpopular emir so long he speaks the truth, ,” she said.