OPINION: Jonathan and Sanus: Why The Rift?
Let us quickly cast our minds back to the brouhaha that ensued after the Jonathan Government’s removal of fuel subsidy in January 2012.
The Presidency needed a spine doctor that would reel out the facts and figures to calm frayed nerves as a result of the uprising that emanated from that singular decision. Guess who came on board, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Alongside the Governor was the Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. They both tried to convince the public on the rationale behind that provocative decision. But Sanusi particularly caught my attention because he was simply out of this world. Though yours sincerely was vehemently averse to the removal of fuel subsidy, listening to Sanusi’s compelling argument, made me do a rethink. The question I asked myself was, where on earth did the government get this Albert Einstein from? I thought Einstein was long dead. Sanusi was absolutely spot-on.
This man could sell snow to an Eskimo! This is a case of bringing your best foot forward and the government delivered. That was a masterstroke from a government that had been known to get almost everything wrong. You can take anything away from Sanusi, but you would agree that he is highly cerebral. But today, things are quite different. Sanusi started dining with the People’s Democratic Party in broad day light and hobnobbed with the opposition at night. What did the Presidency do? They simply got rid of the trouble maker called SLS.
Sanusi took his luck too far. You don’t show disdain to a government you work for in that manner. If you are not comfortable with the government, do the honorable thing and take a walk. Let's leave the right or wrong of his sacking because as we speak, the case is still under jurisprudence.
But really where did it go wrong between the Presidency and the erstwhile CBN boss? Was it the question of loyalty? What is the reality today? The beleaguered and much maligned Sanusi Lamido is now the Emir of Kano. Isn’t the Emir for life and the Presidency a maximum of eight years? Why will the PDP congratulate a rival candidate when Sanusi was picked and not Ado Bayero? They claimed it was an honest mistake. Are they not being mischievous?
The shenanigans and uproar are absolutely unnecessary. The emirate could have gone to any of the frontrunners and Sanusi was duly chosen. Let's also leave the issue of the President congratulating him or not, because in as much as I think the Presidency did not handle his emergence aptly, I still feel he has a right to congratulate him or do otherwise if he so pleases.
But the drama everybody is waiting for is the electioneering period. Would the President pay a visit to Kano for royal blessings? Is a royal blessing necessary in Nigeria politics? How royal is the so-called blessing? Then if he visited, would he bow to the Emir, if you like, Sanusi? To the best of my knowledge, the President is the number one citizen of the country, but we all know how revered our traditional stools are, especially one as pivotal as the Kano Emirate.
This rivalry could have been prevented if the Presidency had been more tactful in their dealings. But in truth, I really envy Sanusi because he must be on top of the world right now. This is a big victory! Conversely, I wished I saw the President’s face upon hearing the announcement of Sanusi as the new Emir. How many of us eventually get our dream jobs? He never hid it from anybody that he wanted the Emirate.
The Presidency must be embarrassed at the turn out of event. It was a case of 'bring him down by all means possible'. A man that was at the tail end of his stint at the CBN was booted out on trump up charge all the name of politics. Didn’t they say, who God has bless no man can curse? They also say he who laugh last, laugh best. Who is having the last laugh now?
- by Clement Ogbemudia
Source: Legit.ng
