Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Muhammed Sanusi, during his speech at the third Nigerian Leadership Colloquium, revealed that he had earlier warned Nigerians not to vote for any politician who claims that dealing with post-2023 Nigeria will be easy.
“If anyone told you that dealing with Nigeria post-2023 would be easy, you should not vote for that person. I meant it.” Sanusi stated that he had made this clear to Nigerians during the Kaduna Investment Forum in October 2022.
Sanusi believes that Nigeria is facing its most significant challenge since the Civil War, with a dangerous divide along ethnic and religious lines, a struggling economy, and a lack of leadership.
In his words, “I don’t think Nigeria has been in a place as difficult as this since the civil war. We have a challenge of nation-building. We have a country that has been divided dangerously along ethnic and religious lines. We have an economy that is in the doldrums, and unfortunately, we seem to be having a dearth of leadership.”
Sanusi further stressed the importance of having a transparent process for choosing leaders. He believes that the process through which Nigerians choose their leaders must be more transparent.
He emphasized the need for voters to know who they are voting for and have the opportunity to scrutinize candidates in public debates. In his words, “We need to have a system where one cannot just go to participate in party primaries without being exposed to public scrutiny.
People need to know what they are voting for. In other climes, they are compelled by law to participate in public debates to discuss issues of policy.” Sanusi also pointed out that Nigeria needs to redefine the kind of leaders it needs and critically examine the process through which leaders emerge.
