Nigerian Leaders Lack Capacity to Deliver, Says Sanusi
Emir of Kano and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has criticized the quality of leadership in Nigeria, describing the country’s leaders as “lousy” and lacking the competence to transform the nation.
Speaking at the second edition of the Kano International Poetry Festival, organised by Poetic Wednesdays in Kano on Saturday, Sanusi said Nigeria’s progress has been stunted for decades by poor governance and outdated political debates.
> “You rise and fall with the quality of your leadership, and Nigeria has had lousy leadership for a long time,” Sanusi said. “You cannot give what you do not have until we begin to look at the people who we choose to lead us.”
He lamented that while other nations are advancing discussions on technology, artificial intelligence, and climate change, Nigerian leaders remain preoccupied with divisive issues of ethnicity and religion.
> “We are still talking about Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, North or South, Christian or Muslim. These are conversations we had in the 1960s. Meanwhile, other countries are debating the future—AI, climate change, technology,” he noted.
Sanusi also backed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidies, arguing that sustaining them would have bankrupted the country.
> “If you look at the billions spent on subsidies, that money could have gone into building refineries. My objection has always been against subsidies on consumption. We are keeping European refineries open and creating jobs abroad. By 2012, I had warned this would happen. Beyond a point, government revenue would not be enough to cover subsidy costs,” he explained.
The Emir stressed that Nigeria’s path to recovery lies in competent leadership and policies focused on governance, innovation, and productivity rather than divisive rhetoric.
