Deposed Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi has disclosed that he was prepared to be imprisoned when as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) he had a face-off with the Jonathan administration for blowing the cover on alleged embezzlement of public funds.
Naija News reports that Sanusi who spoke in Abuja at a dinner organised in his honour by the Nigerian Platform to celebrate his 60th birthday identified greed and fear as the twin destroyers of Nigeria and advised those in authority to wean themselves off these destructive traits so that a better Nigeria can emerge.
He stressed that he understands that sensitive nerves are ruptured when the truth is spoken, but will not be deterred in speaking against injustice, inequality and government failure, regardless of whose ox is gored.
According to him, “When I had my problem in the Central Bank and there were all those noises, I told the President that he doesn’t need to go through all those.
“He should just tell me that he is sending so and so to prison for a particular number of years, I will drive myself, go to the prison, I will register, I will stay for that number of years, I will come out and continue doing what I am doing now.
“The reality is that two things destroyed this country. Fear and greed. And if we can all conquer those, we should be able to make this country a great one that it should be,” he said.
The Khalifa Tijjaniya in Nigeria added that having been imprisoned for over a year in Sokoto when he was much younger on trumped-up charges, there was nothing for him to fear again when it comes to prison life.
He further told the gathering that even if he was put in jail, he would have served his term, come out from prison alive, continue to speak against evil and raise his voice for a better Nigeria.
“Apart from death, in human history, man has not designed any punishment for a fellow man that is worse than prison and isolation. What is the greatest threat anyone can do to me? If you tell me you will jail me, I have been there. That is the worst. Or if you kill me, we will all die anyway.
“So those of you that are afraid that they will send police after me or if I go to prison I will die, someone has been there,” Sanusi said.
This article was originally published on Naija News