Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano in northern Nigeria appears to be confronting the choice to shut up or face the risk of dethronement if he continues to point out considered weaknesses of the policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria. In an ominous reminder of the dethronement and exiling of his grandfather in the First Republic as well as of influential traditional rulers such as Sultan Dasuki and the Emir Jokolo under previous regimes, activists of the Coalition for Democratic Norms (CODEM), have suggested to the emir that he has a choice to make.
Balla Abbe Kazaure and Usman Dan NumaGazkiya, the leaders of CODEM argued in a statement that the emir is throwing stones even though he lives in a glass house, inferring that the he is too vulnerable to scrutiny to enjoy the “the comfort of public commentary, especially making a career out of acerbic take on government policies” without consequences.
It is not clear if CODEM activists are doing their own thing or reading the riot act at the instance of the government. The question is why anybody would not want a multiplicity of views towards arriving at a more appropriate response to Nigeria’s intractable economic crisis. Or, is it possible the government is scared that the emir is consciously raising hell to bring it to disrepute as happened to the Jonathan regime when the emir, as CBN Governor, alleged gaps in NNPC accounts?
