by Nigerian News24 Correspondents
The Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has revealed that his real understanding of poverty came only after ascending the throne as a traditional ruler.
Speaking at a public lecture titled “Weaponization of Poverty as a Means of Underdevelopment: A Case Study of Nigeria”, held in Abuja on Saturday to mark the 60th birthday of former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Sanusi said his time as Emir exposed him to the stark realities of poverty in rural Nigeria.
“As an economist and former CBN Governor, I worked with data and figures,” he said. “But I didn’t truly grasp what poverty meant until I became Emir. Visiting villages, I saw the unsafe water people drink, the dilapidated homes they live in, and schools with just two classrooms and no roofs.”
He questioned the priorities of the Nigerian elite: “Do we genuinely care for the people, or do we just enjoy ruling over them? While we build overhead bridges and underpasses in cities, many rural communities still lack access to basic healthcare. We are in a crisis, and we need to focus on how to get out of it.”
Sanusi urged political leaders to embrace empathy and a genuine sense of responsibility toward those they serve.
Also speaking at the event, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai lamented the recurring trend of poor leadership in the country. “We keep electing people who are only interested in seizing power, yet have no clue what to do with it,” he said.
In his remarks, Prof. Usman Yusuf, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, emphasized that many hospital cases in Nigeria stem from socio-economic issues rather than medical conditions. He blamed corruption and bad governance for the country’s deepening poverty and called on citizens to take voting seriously and make informed choices at the polls.