Nigeria: Boko Haram - Every Muslim Leader Must Speak Up Now - Emir Sanusi

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has challenged every Muslim leader in the country to speak up so as to put an end to the menace of Boko Haram insurgency in the country.
"Silence will not be a solution and will not solve the problem or be a solution to major threats facing the coun try," the emir said.
Speaking yesterday in an interview with CNN, he said that the federal government needed to eradicate poverty and create more employment opportunities in the country, stating that there are certain condition that have been created to make it possible for Nigerian youths to be radicalised.
Answering questions on a statement made by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)), Gen Muhamadu Buhari, to the effect that "if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria," he said only few people controlled the state's resources for their personal interest.
The emir said: "For a long time, the Nigerian state has been captured as corrupt. The Nigerian political elite must recognise that need, and if this does not change, the country cannot survive indefinitely. There have to be more investment in infrastructure, health care, education and other major sectors of the economy. The state cannot just exist to make some few people very rich.
"Corruption is an old story in Nigeria; the story has always been bad. Corruption has hit the country badly. I have spoken a lot about this in the past, I don't want to say much about these because it is close to election. I don't want to deviate to politics. Gen Buhari is right."
Answering a question on the allegation of the missing $20 billion when he was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he said: "My position in the Central Bank was always that there was this gap of $20billion between absolute reconciliation and the federation account, and I raised a lot of other issues that, I think, have not been adequately discussed and addressed sufficiently, and one of them is the appropriation by the National Assembly.
"I think all those issues need to be addressed and redressed properly, and the government should begin to close all the loopholes that can lead to corruption in the government revenue."
He pointed out that the country was suffering the impact of the inability of the government to stop the illegal withholding of revenues from the federation account.
"The country is paying the price today: oil price has crashed; currency has been devalued; government revenues are in a very bad shape. Whichever way, this government or the opposition has to deal with it."
Emir suggests the way forward: "I think what we need is to have both federal, state and local government focus; a focus on growth and economy that will create jobs and understand that there is a strong connection between political culture and violence.
"Corruption is creating opportunity for some people in the country to get rich and shooting up inequality between the rich and the poor. If the federal government does not recognise this, then it will be very difficult to develop," he concluded.