How Boko Haram, Other Terrorist Activities Started In Nigeria – Emir Sanusi 

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has spoken on the factors he believes contributed to the growth of Boko Haram, banditry and other forms of insecurity in Nigeria.

Naija News reports that Sanusi made the remarks in Abuja on Wednesday while speaking at the launch of a book documenting the tenure of retired Lieutenant General Tukur Yusu­fu Buratai as Chief of Army Staff.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said Nigeria’s security challenges should not be viewed only from the point of violent attacks, terrorism and criminal activities.

According to him, the problem has deeper roots in the way Nigerians have been divided along ethnic, religious and regional lines, particularly through political speeches and media reports.

Sanusi said the repeated description of Nigerians as Northerners and Southerners, Muslims and Christians, as well as members of different ethnic groups, helped create an atmosphere in which violent groups could emerge and gain support.

He said: “The fundamental point I wish to emphasize is that the security crisis in this nation did not commence with violence as we currently witness it, nor did it commence with banditry. It did not commence with Boko Haram and terrorism. It originated with the violence inherent in language that appeared in newspapers and emanated from political discourse, wherein we commenced categorising ourselves not as Nigerians, but as Northerners and Southerners, Muslims and Christians, Yoruba and Igbo and Hausa, thereby establishing an environment that facilitated the emergence of these movements.

“We are only laying the foundation for a new round of violence. We have to go back to seeing ourselves as Nigerians, as people committed to this country, and focus on what is important, which is the development of our people. It is not the responsibility of politicians to give us religion. They are there to give us education, to give us healthcare, to give us an economy and allow the religion to be in the hands of those who are religious leaders.

“It is also not the duty of religious leaders to get into politics. Right now, there is no distinction between imams and bishops and senators and how everybody is a politician. We’ve got to start tracing ourselves. Otherwise, we create these interests that feed and benefit from insecurity.

“The moment we all get absorbed into the projects of politicians, we cannot hold political society in check. We cannot have a country that we want because we need to have those institutions who are not there on elections, the army cannot think in four-year cycles. The police cannot think in four-year cycles. The central bank cannot think in four-year cycles. We have to think 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, whereas elected officers are thinking in four-year cycles.”