Emir Sanusi Backs El-Rufai in Row with NBA, Says Action Unprogressive
AREWA AGENDA – Former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has said that the decision of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to dis-invite Governor Nasir El-Rufai from speaking at it’s event portrays the association as unprogressive.
Sanusi who spoke Sunday during his visit to the Kaduna State Governor said their decision is sad for freedom of speech.
He noted that most of the NBA members are not happy with the decision taken to stop the governor from attending the conference, describing Governor El-Rufa’i as a nationalist and not a religious or ethnic bigots.
He said: “I am aware that the vast majority of NBA members do not agree with those things.
“Nasir always has opinions, he knows what his positions are on things, he says that position very clearly, people will like it some people will not like it and that is what some people call controversy and being controversial is actually having an opinion.
“If you don’t want ?to be controversial, you will just be flexible, just flow with the wind and nobody knows where you stand. Then you will not have any friend or enemies as the case maybe.
“To be honest I do not want to join issues because we have already heard the views of Nigerians and the response.
“I spoke with Konyin Ajayi who is the chairman of the technical committee who confirmed to me that he was the one who invited His Excellency to come and speak at the NBA meeting. The technical committee didn’t support the call to dis-invite him.?
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“You know if you are going to take action on people based on allegations. The president of the NBA himself has allegations against him that have not being proven. Nobody said anything about him because this is a matter that is before the court of law and people will wait for the court to decide.
“Everybody has a right to fair hearing and most important for me if you feel that the governor of Kaduna state is not doing right, you should invite him and ask him to explain what he is doing. Tell him what you think is doing wrong and you will learn something from him and he will learn something from you.
“Dis-inviting him is not the part of people who actually want progress. Because if you disagree with someone having him in your hall where you can tell him your views is important and he can defend himself. If there are things he needs to improve upon, he will take onboard and if there are things that you don’t know he is doing you can be better informed.
“That is the best way to handle issues like this. But again, I have seen the response from different branches of NBA and I hope this matter will not be turned to ethnicity and religious matter; it should be a matter of principle.
“If he is there he will add value to the conference and they can also learn from what he is doing. I hope if they changed their minds he will consider but it is sad. Sad for freedom of speech because I have known Nasir since we were 16-17s he is a nationalist.
“Anybody who knows him, knows he has never ever associated with any ethnic or religious bigotry all our friends and people never know us as northerners because we are just Nigerians,” Sanusi said
Arewa Agenda is a Publication of young writers from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through Positive narratives.
