By Godwin Chukwumaechi, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has congratulated His Royal Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II on his reinstatement as the 14th Emir of Kano.
He said that he received the news of the reinstatement of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with great excitement, particularly coming at a time Khalifa Sanusi II was in the state to add impetus to his administration’s initiative to reshape the economic trajectory of the state.
News of Emir Sanusi’s reinstatement broke while he was in Port Harcourt as a keynote speaker on the Day-2 of the Rivers State Economic and Investments Summit, 2024.
Many participants, including journalists at the main hall of the Obi Wali Cultural Center, Port Harcourt, venue of the summit started sharing the news on online shortly after ended his keynote address.
Efforts by journalists to speak with the Emir who left immediately failed as his aides refused to allow opportunity for such interview.
Gov. Fubara in his congratulatory message noted that Sanusi’s reinstatement by the Kano State Government at this time showed that Muhammad Sanusi II’s dethronment on March 9, 2020, was against the wishes and aspirations of the great people of Kano State, and therefore, an unjust act to the millions of people who believed in his reign while on the revered throne.
He commended the Kano State Government for listening to the yearnings of the people, and acting to correct the wrongs of the past, and urged the people to give the Sarki of the ancient city of Kano the maximum support to succeed.
He also urged the spiritual leader of the Tijanniyah Sufi order of Nigeria, Emir Muhammad Sanusi II, to lead the over 50 million adherents of the Sufi order in Nigeria with love, wisdom and courage while bringing lasting peace, justice, equity and fairness to all in the city of Kano.
He wished the 14th Emir of Kano a successful and fruitful reign that will bring progress and prosperity to the people of the State.
The Emir in his address stated that most developed countries like Norway and others who have natural resources did not develop not just by those resources given by nature or providence but by successful and a deliberate vision to diversify through the quality of their governance institutions and people.
He said; “Resources can be a blessing and resources can be a curse.
The choice is left to the leaders. Resource is not a curse, the curse is the type of leaders we had.
“So it’s the choice that you make. You can either turn it into a blessing or turn it into a curse”.
Sanusi stated that human capital and good governance “are why countries, which are complex in their characteristics like India, China and US are developed, through innovation, intellectual property, education and strong public institutions.
“If we are serious about development we have to stop expecting oil to do everything for us. Everyone in Nigeria now talks about investments, Infrastructure and development but few actually consider that no investor will simply deploy resources in the name of investment unless he sees that the environment is ready to accommodate the business, make it prosper and protect it.
“Capitalism does not flourish and create wealth for everyone by number of bridges and office edifices that government builds but by strong physical and trained institutions that create a level playing field and incentives to ease business”.
He stressed; “Your roads and bridges will eventually decay and you have to either borrow or build new ones or become helpless.
“With an easy business environment and skilled population economies are transformed and grown to mega cities.
It is therefore not enough for us to want to bring investors or achieve economic development in Rivers State, we have to lay some foundations for the economy to stand on”.
