Of Kano Assembly and Emir Sanusi’s probe

The intention of the Kano State House of Assembly to probe the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on charges of “modernising” and “anti-Islamic activities” unnerved a lot of us observers.

We only recently breathed a relief that a respected voice from Northern Nigeria was saying the things that almost everyone knows is a fact but everyone has kept quiet for the sake of not offending feeble sensibilities.

This means that Northern Nigeria would continue to wallow in a state of arrested development if care is not taken.

One vital crux of the issues that Emir Sanusi raised was apathy to learning trade and craft by his subjects and their preference for the lazy alternative of plural marriages and begging.

If the Kano State House of Assembly considers Sanusi as a “modernising liberal,” then this legislative body is insensitive to the feelings of the other federating components of Nigeria.

What other federating components of Nigeria see as a “welcome development” for national integration should not be couched as “un-Islamic.”

We have all recently witnessed the horrors  that terror groups like  Boko Haram can perpetrate.

The Kano State House of Assembly should be reminded that even  Saudi Arabia has laid out plans to modernise as fast as possible.

Soon, some of these members who regularly travel for the Hajj would be bombarded by holiday-themed posters inviting them and their families to enjoy a little bit of Medina Water Park or Riyadh Jurassic Park.

Really, if Northern Nigeria would not hitch on the bandwagon of modernisation being promoted by Saudi Arabia and the Emir of Kano, then this is the same thing as  considering a call for Arewa Republic.

• Sunday Jonah

Minna, Niger State