Northern elites want to silence me – Monarch says

chika ebuzor

April 15, 2017 1:00 PM

Sanusi said this at the Inaugural Annual Chibok Girls Lecture which was held in Abuja.

The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has alleged that some prominent Northerners are trying to silence him.

The lecture was held in commemoration of the third anniversary of the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in Borno state by members of the Boko Haram sect.

The monarch, who was represented by his daughter, Shahida Sanusisaid he decided to stay away from the lecture because of the criticisms he got from some Northerners following some comments he made.

Sanusi said “Our colleagues and compatriots among the elite do not like statistics. Numbers are disturbing. I recently gave a speech in which I said the North-East and North-West of Nigeria are the poorest parts of the country. This simple statement of fact has generated so much heat, the noise has yet to die down.

“The response to this speech has been a barrage of personal attacks and insults aimed at silencing any voices that dare shine the light on the society to which we are saying Bring Back our Girls.

“There are those who believe these attacks are aimed at discrediting me personally but even if that is the objective, it will not work. I can only be discredited by what I have done and not by insults and lies on the social media. And in any event, personal criticism has no impact on the issues.”

The Emir also urged the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group to broaden their campaign to also cover boys that have been kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Sanusi also called on the group to use their platform to champion the cause of the Nigerian woman and girl child.

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He said “I would urge BBOG, while you keep this issue of Chibok on the table, to broaden your message to cover all girls and boys abducted by Boko Haram, and also draw attention to the condition of girls and women in our society in general.

“To give you an idea of the extent of this problem, as of today, in Dalori 2 IDP camp near Maiduguri alone, there are over 1,500 BH-abducted girls who are either pregnant or carrying babies, who have been freed by the military.

“Hundreds of orphaned children are being carried away to unknown destinations and they are all gone into oblivion due to society’s neglect. It is therefore critical, for the BBOG to gain much broader support in the populace and be more effective, to use the dramatic case of the Chibok girls as a reference and a plank, but not the exclusive focus of its struggle.”

The Emir, in some of his statements, has outlined the challenges in the Northern part of Nigeria, while also accusing the leaders of being backward.

chika ebuzor