Emir of Kano, Sanusi Muhammad II says if Nigeria were to break up into components today, Northern Nigeria would be the poorest countries in the world.
The Monarch said this in his keynote address during the opening ceremony of Kaduna State’s Investment and Economic summit (KADINVEST), titled ‘Promoting Investment Amidst Economic Challenges’ in Kaduna state today April 5th.
Emir stressed that it would be a disservice to use the standard of living of Nigerians residing in oil-rich Niger Delta or commercially viable Lagos and business oriented south-east, to compare that of the North.
According to the Emir, the North East and North West regions are the poorest regions in the country and even in the world. “As far back at 2000, I looked at the numbers, Borno and Yobe states, UNDP figures, Borno and Yobe
“As far back at 2000, I looked at the numbers, Borno and Yobe states, UNDP figures, Borno and Yobe state, if they were a country on their own, were poorer than Niger, Cameroon, and Chad.
“Nobody saw this because we were looking at Nigeria as a country that averages the oil-rich Niger Delta, the industrial and commercial-rich Lagos, the commercially viable south-east, and you have an average. Break Nigeria into its component parts, and these parts of the country are among the poorest if it were a country.”
“And we do not realise we are in trouble. Other Muslim countries have pushed on. We are fighting culture, we are fighting civilisation. You tell me that you should not write love book in northern Nigerian. What is the crime of those books?” he asked.
“He decried the burning of science books in some parts of the North due to religious beliefs.”
“On the culture of marrying more than one wife and given birth to children without proper family planning, Sanusi said “Of what benefit is it to the north, having three million children roaming about?” he asked.