We never had it this bad in Nigeria, says Sanusi

Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and 14th Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on Thursday, in Lagos, expressed great concerns about the current state of the country, saying Nigeria and its people had never had it as bad as it is currently in history.

He said nothing seems to work again in the country, citing various social issues to buttress his view.

He said the level of poverty and hunger in the land is daily increasing and so also the level of insecurity, corruption, rate of inflation, youth unemployment, gender imbalance, poor electricity, poor foreign exchange rate, corruption and so forth.

He said the worst thing is that the level where Nigeria was in 2015 when people were crying foul about the state of the country’s socio-political economy, insecurity, inflation and so forth was far better than what the situation were at the moment.

Sanusi gave this remark at the 7th colloquium of Akinjide Adeosun Foundation (AFF) to mark the 54th birthday of the founder of the foundation and CEO of St. Rachael’s Pharmaceuticals Nigeria, Mr Akinjide Adeosun.

He was the guest of honour at the event, which also has Mr Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist cum politician; the Secretary to the Oyo State Government and wife of the celebrator, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun; as well as a keynote speaker, Prof Ayodele Olurotimi and the Managing Director of Megamound Investment Ltd, Mr Olumide Osunsina, among other dignitaries, in attendance.

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Speaking further and on the theme of the programme, “Are leaders scarce in Nigeria,” Sanusi blamed Nigeria’s situation mostly on leaders in political governance, saying many of them lack a clear vision that can effectively move the country forward appreciably.

He said that was why rather than for things to get better after successive administration comes to the stage of governance things get worse.

According to him, we thought we were in a deep hole in 2015 but between 2015 and now; we have been digging ourselves into a deeper hole.

He said it was unheard of that Nigeria could not take the advantage of the Russian-Ukraine War to better its economy just as all other oil-producing countries globally do at the moment.

According to him, Nigeria is the only oil-producing country that is grieving at this time as every other oil-producing country is celebrating and smiling to the banks due to the price of oil that has gone up appreciably because of the Russian-Ukraine War.

He said it was more disturbing that the country’s revenue is not enough to service the debts let alone meet peoples’ needs.

He said it was not that good leaders who could cause a positive change for the country and its people are scarce in Nigeria but that the process and platform to get such people into corridors of power are grossly unfriendly.

He said: “The reality is that there are so many Nigerians that if given the opportunity would do well, but they simply cannot contest in that space because they can’t compete otherwise they will be dead.

According to him, you don’t have the money, you can’t pay thugs or send anyone to kill anyone or burn somebody’s house to win an election or shed the blood of innocent people because you want to be in office, and certainly cannot make compromises with certain characters, who are responsible for destroying this country in order to get into office. You can’t sell your conscience for that.

“Even at that, he stressed, we can’t give up hope. We need the courage to stand up and speak because, at the end of the day, this is our country.”

Speaking earlier, AFF founder and celebrant, Mr Akinjide Adeosun, explained the reasons for setting up the foundation, saying it is to strengthen capabilities of today’s leaders and also produce their likes among the younger generation as future leaders in Nigeria and beyond.

He said the foundation is doing that as a valuable contribution to national development and that the efforts within its seven years of existence had yielded tremendous results.

Speaking on the theme, Adeosun said visionary leaders are those who can, among others identify potentials and support them for positive change and significant contributions to nation-building.

He said what Nigeria needs now, particularly in political governance are leaders chosen based on what they could offer to the generality of Nigerians and also promote locally produced goods.

He, however, urged the government at all levels to invest more in building people and also in their healthcare as the two sectors according to him are the drivers of any economy.