Sanusi: Nigeria rewards thieves with ministerial appointments

Sanusi Lamido, emir of Kano, has criticised the appointment of individuals with questionable records as ministers, lamenting what he described as a collapse of moral values in Nigerian society.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Wednesday, the former CBN governor revealed that the country has lost what is supposed to be the bedrock of a society.

Sanusi questioned the decision to always appoint politicians with a track record of embezzlement as ministers, which sets a precedent for others to follow, thereby contaminating the whole populace.

“A society in which material wealth, no matter how you get it, is respected, is glorified, where people who are known to have stolen money get rewarded with ministerial appointments, that society will continue to reproduce itself,” he said.

“We don’t have a sense of disgust for people who hold public office and amass wealth; we reward them with appointments, with more public offices, and more opportunities to amass wealth, and this is what Nigeria has become.”

The Emir further psychoanalysed the public office holders, stating that their upbringing plays a major role in defining their financial character.

Many people go into government to make money, but you don’t go into government to make money,” he said.

“We have been ruled by people who have no values; they have no name behind them, and they have no desire to leave a name after them.

“These are people who define themselves by what they own; how many houses they have, how many private jets they have, how many billions they have in bank accounts. And they think that is something.

“It is not important to them that people look at them and they only see thieves, they see criminals, they see people who have taken the commonwealth. It is simply not important because for them, values do not matter,” he stated.

Sanusi, while speaking on the programme, reflected on the late former military head of state, Murtala Muhammed’s regime and affirmed that the country needs a regeneration of values.

He revealed that society, through the actions of politicians, has the wrong perception of what true wealth is.

For him, material wealth should not be elevated beyond values such as honesty, diligence, and compassion, among others.

He acknowledged that both leaders and citizens alike are responsible for the regeneration of values in the country.

“I think we need an entire regeneration of values. It is not about one person, the president or the governors, or the ministers cannot on their change this country,” he stated.

Finally, Sanusi challenged the civil servants not to support the politicians in destroying the civil service and should learn how to say ‘no’ when asked to break the rules.