Few days after a reported reconciliatory meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has summoned the monarch to explain the trip. The emir had led a delegation from Kano Emirate on a visit to Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on Thursday. Though no reason was given for the visit, Villa sources said the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria used the opportunity to reconcile with Jonathan.
They had fallen out shortly before Sanusi was named emir of Kano over his revelation that $20 billion could not be accounted for by the Jonathan administration. The visit was said to have angered Kwankwaso, who felt it amounted to a betrayal and slight on his office. Kwankwaso and the monarch met behind closed doors for about 30 minutes. Journalists’ efforts to speak with the emir were rebuffed by palace guards, who claimed that Sanusi was on a ‘personal visit.’ Journalists attached to the Government House, Kano had been directed to wait for the emir in one of the chambers.
There they met cooks and other Government House officials arranging drinks, apparently for a function. But the newsmen were quickly told to leave the place and wait for the emir on a aisle as he was leaving. One of the Kwankwaso’s advisers had earlier told journalists to prepare to interview Sanusi on his way out of the meeting, but the plan was truncated by the emir’s courtiers. There has been a cold war between Jonathan and Kwankwaso over certain issues, leading to verbal exchanges between Villa aides and the governor.
Matters got to a head last year when the governor and four other colleagues defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress over some issues. Kwankwaso is one of the aspirants seeking the presidential ticket of the APC. Sunday New Telegraph learnt that the fear is that Sanusi may have struck a deal with the President to support his second term bid. There are insinuations that Jonathan may be planning to use Sanusi to undermine Kwankwaso’s support base in Kano.
The state is one of the key states being relied upon by the APC in its quest to defeat Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election. As such, Kwankwaso may withhold Sanusi’s staff of office, to curtail his influence. Meanwhile, at a press conference yesterday, Kwankwaso warned that any country that lacks a strong army should consider itself a failed nation. Kwankwaso, who expressed dismay at the way Nigerian soldiers were being allowed to suffer in the fight against Boko Haram, said they should be strengthened for the tough battle against Boko Haram.
Kwankwaso told journalists in his office that the war against Boko Haram was being hampered by a lack of political will on the part of Jonathan’s government. “Lack of political will is what is in essence affecting the Nigerian military. But if not, these are soldiers who fought in Darfur, Sierra Leone, Liberia and many other countries. These are soldiers who were respected by friends and seriously feared by their enemies.
“So as a former Minister of Defence, and who is a close friend of the Army, Navy and Air Force, I know that what they are yearning for are kits and military hardware to take on the fight. If they are given kits, you will see what will happen in a few days,” he declared. He said the prevailing insurgency necessitated the APC’s inclusion of security as a priority in its campaign. He promised that if the party is elected in 2015, it would provide serious governance that Nigerians would be proud of. Kwankwaso said the Presidency was confused and did not know what to do.
He said the Jonathan administration had concentrated on a media campaign instead of performance. “People all over today are laughing at us and they see us as nothing. Today, over four million Nigerians have been displaced internally. Many have fled to Niger and Cameroon while some are still on the mountains. But the President shows no concern. “They only talk of bogus achievements which are not there.
They should be told that all cannot be well when you have some segments of the country under the control of insurgents. What are we talking about? “They should not look the other way when Nigerians are in desperate need of shelter, food and clothing. They should come to the rescue of Nigerians. They should see the ongoing killings as their primary concern, before anything else.”
Source: New Telegrapgh
