Reforms: Tinubu's govt acting like my enemy, won't help them - Emir Sanusi

Emir Muhammad Sanusi II, the 16th Emir of Kano, has said he won't help the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to enlighten Nigerians on its ongoing economic reforms because the Federal Government had been hostile towards him.

Sanusi, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, made this known while speaking as the Chairman of the 21st Anniversary of Fawehinmiism (Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture 2025) in Lagos on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

The Emir said while the government is on the right track with some of the reforms, he could offer to explain the trajectory the administration had taken and how such decisions were predictable.

However, he said he has chosen to watch from the sidelines because government officials "don’t behave like friends.”

He stressed that explaining the government's policies to the people would make life easier for the government, but he didn't intend to do that due to how they had treated him.

“I can give a few points that are contrary, that explain perhaps what we’re going through and how it was totally predictable, most of it, and maybe avoidable. But I am not going to do that.

“I have chosen not to speak about the economy or the reforms or to even explain anything because if I explain, it would help this government, but I don’t want to help this government,” Sanusi declared while addressing some of the points made by speakers about the economy.

“You know they’re my friends, but if they don’t behave like friends, I don’t behave like a friend. So I watch them being stooges. And they don’t even have people with credibility who can come and explain what they are doing. I am not going to help. I started out helping, but I am not going to help. I am not going to discuss it. Let them come and explain to Nigerians why the policies that are being pursued are being pursued.

“Meanwhile, I’m watching a very nice movie with popcorn in my hands. But I will say one thing: What we are going through today is, at least in part, not totally, but at least in part, a necessary consequence of decades of irresponsible economic management.

“People were told decades ago that if you continue along this path, this is where you’re going to end up, and they refused to open their eyes. Now, is everything being done today correct? No.

When I am ready to talk about the economy, I will,” he added.