“Conservative Muslims are still stuck in the 13th Century” – Emir Sanusi blasts Governor Yari Again

Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II

Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and incumbent Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II is going in hard on Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state over his recent comments on the outbreak of meningitis in Nigeria.

Yari had said that the outbreak of the disease is a punishment from God for the level of fornication going on in the country.

Sanusi faulted Yari’s statement saying it is Islamically incorrect,” but Yari, in another interview, replied the monarch by saying he still stands by his words.

Sanusi followed up with a post on his Instagram page saying that the North must “fix its social and religious problems” if it wants to move forward.

The monarch, in an Instagram post on Monday also said that the use of religion in politics is nothing short of deception.

Using, Zamfara state as an example, the Emir said that despite starting Sharia Law in 1999, the state is the one with the highest poverty rate in Nigeria.

The Emir has now said that Governor Yari is strengthening the prejudice that Islam is a religion of underdevelopment, something he says many Muslim countries are working hard to disprove.

Muslim countries are holding their own in the modern world proving that Islam is not a religion of underdevelopment. However, the likes of Zamfara State Governor Yari only strengthen this prejudice. Abdulaziz Yari quite ludicrously said that the deadly meningitis rampaging his State is divine punishment for fornication. He didn’t say how this was revealed to him because Zamfara certainly doesn’t have the highest number of fornicators in the nation. His preposterous statement failed to take into account the fact that Meningitis isn’t a sexually transmitted ailment.

The truth about the matter is that despite being warned of an impending outbreak his government took no steps to prepare. Now he blames God! We are stuck with political leaders who only pretend to be Godly because sycophants always refer to people in high political office as a “Godsend”.

Paradoxically despite being ruled by all these “Godsends” we have spectacularly failed to progress as a nation. It’s no secret that many of our political leaders are inept and not well educated. Nigerians have learnt from experience not to expect much from them.

As a result, I lamented about sorrow, tears and blood is now the order of the day. There is an absence of apparent regret, remorse, or concern from the highest quarters of government who are busy fighting themselves. Their time would be better spent trying to assuage the growing nationwide anger, frustration, divisiveness and resentment over atrocious living conditions and an uncertain future. Something urgent needs to be done and the lack of vision or inspiration from politicians has left a vacuum in leadership.

Sanusi added that he chose to fight for the progress of Nigerians and suggest solutions to their problems

I choose to fight for the progress of Nigerians and suggest solutions to their problems. It’s my duty to speak the truth about the ill-effects of conservative Muslims who are harming Islam rather than helping it. I condemned their refusal to expand their knowledge outside their own religion and failure to realise that knowledge is power. I also correctly concluded denying the right to pursue scientific and technological knowledge and restricting people to Islamic knowledge is the best means of ensuring that Muslims in Northern Nigeria will be remain economically backward. I’m upset at the legion of beggars on the streets and is trying to bridge the gap between the backward North and the Southern parts of the nation.

I still believe that conservative Muslims are still stuck in the 13th Century and their claim that children need no other knowledge than Islamic studies flies in the face of reality. All the poverty, under-development and immense suffering in the North are a result of uneducated masses refusing to learn work or a trade. The majority of technicians in Kano are from the South while untrained indigenes beg. How does that make sense? Why is it that conservative Muslims who claim to be against scientific progress enter aeroplanes and fly to perform the Hajj in Mecca rather than using camels to cross the desert! Why do they watch sermons beamed by TV live from Mecca and read the Holy Quran on their laptops yet profess to abhor modern technology? I’d like to point out that there is no harm in copying from the West if it brings succour to the masses of poverty stricken Muslims in Northern Nigeria.

After all Saudi Arabia, the “home” of Islam is known for its highly-rated airline, modern hospitals, indigenous oil industry and space program all of which make it a world leader. In our backward nation, we insist on denying the truth. Unless Northern political leaders like Governor Yari pay attention to me, there will never be a day when anywhere in the North will be like the modern Muslim cities of Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Jakarta, Lahore, Greater Cairo, Dacca, Karachi, Dubai, Riyadh or Faisalabad.

Photo Credit: Instagram – @sanusilamidosanusi