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Pro-democracy group, Campaign for Dignity in Governance has applauded the remarks of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi for absolving President Bola Tinubu over the current economic hardship in Nigeria.
Sanusi in his submission and analysis of ongoing hunger protests in some parts of the country asserted that President Bola Tinubu was not to be blamed for the economic woes the nation is facing, rather Nigeria is suffering from several years of maladministration.
According to the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “I will be unfair to God and man if I blame Tinubu for Nigerian’s economic hardship. Nigeria has been living on fake lifestyle with huge debt from foreign and domestic debts since 2012
“President Tinubu’s decision to remove subsidy and unify exchange rate was Nigeria’s only surviving strategy, no borrowing to run government anymore,” Sanusi explained.
In response to Emir Sanusi’s position, Convener of Campaign for Dignity in Governance, Razaq Olokoba on Saturday in Lagos commended the monarch’s courage and utmost professionalism in analyzing and stating the facts without fear or favour with regard to the nation’s economic challenges.
Olokoba stressed that what Nigerians need now is to have well-meaning citizens come out and speak the truth about the challenges at hand rather than misinform the public, and inadvertently encourage protests and violence.
He pledged support and lauded the Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his resilience and dedication in his efforts to defend the state from attack by criminals in the guise of protesters, and other stakeholders.
“As a pro-democracy group, we commend the explanations of Emir Sanusi on Nigeria’s economic issues, he summarized the challenges in a very professional manner and citizens should listen to analysis like this.
“President Tinubu, in all honesty, is working tirelessly and assiduously to repair an economy that had been mismanaged for decades, he has good intentions, and his policies and programmes will come out good in time, hence he cannot be blamed for trying to save the country.
“We also commend the Governor of Lagos State for showing enormous resilience and dedication to defending Lagos from attack while the hardship protests last. On our part, we will continue to educate Nigerians that to peacefully engage the government,” Olokoba stated.
Sanusi had spoken during a virtual religious event on Sunday, said Nigerians who expected him to speak about the economic hardship deliberately wanted him to oppose the president.
He explained that he had to deviate from the religious theme of the event to remind Nigerians about his stands on the badly managed economic policies of the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
He said the Buhari administration ignored his advice on how to take Nigeria out of its economic woes.
Sanusi said economists with a fair sense of reasoning know that the current administration has made the right decision (fuel subsidy removal) to save Nigeria from the bondage of debts dug by the past administration.
“I have been, over the years, talking about the pending crisis ahead of the current economic hardship. Any economist who has studied monetary policy in the last eight years knows that Nigerians will fall into this difficult situation.
“The difficult situation Nigerians are facing is just the beginning (if the right decision is not put in place) because Nigeria is not exceptional; such situations happened in Germany, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Venezuela.
“The previous administration turned adamant about our appeal for corrective measures (on the economic policy). I have said in the presence of the now sitting president in Kaduna state, any politician who tells you that things will be easy, don’t vote for him because he is lying. People merely dismissed my advisory as a political statement.
“If I am to be fair and just to President Bola Tinubu, he is not to blame for the current hardship; for eight years, we were living a fake lifestyle with huge debt from foreign and domestic debts. The Central Bank of Nigeria owes over N30 trillion, which resulted in debt service surpassing 100 percent.
“I can’t join other Nigerians criticizing Tinubu on the current economic hardship, and I am not saying he is a saint free from wrongdoing, but in this current financial situation, President Tinubu is not to be blamed. I will also speak if I see any wrong economic policy of the Tinubu administration in the future.
“It’s injustice for anyone to blame the Tinubu administration for the current economic hardship because there is no other alternative than the removal of the fuel subsidy. After all, Nigeria cannot even afford to pay the subsidy.
“(In the last eight years), the Central Bank continues to print more money, and the Naira continues to depreciate. There is too much naira in circulation because the CBN is printing the currency without restraint.
“The economy was poorly managed, and they are not willing to take advice; in the last eight years, apart from sycophancy, nothing has been done; those sycophants are those buying the dollar at the rate of N400 and selling it at the rate of N600 to N700.
“A boy who has no record of service has a private jet and owns houses in Dubai and England just because he is buying Dollar at a rate and selling them, Mr Sanusi said.
He said everything in Nigeria in the last eight years is done on debt, lamenting that no country will survive in that economic policy.
“I can only plead with the people to endure the hardship, and those who have the means to help the oppressed should do so.
“I am also pleading with commoners to live according to their earnings; we must not peg our lives above our earnings in this difficult situation where people are looking for what to eat, the former Kano Emir said.
