Muhammed Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, claimed that the country was now “dangerously divided along ethnic and religious lines” as a result of the elections, adding that it had called into question the integrity of public institutions. He claimed that Nigeria had not been this divided since the Civil War of 1967 to 1970.
Sanusi made the comments on Tuesday at the third Nigerian Leadership Colloquium, which was held in honour of Ituah Ighodalo, the senior pastor of Trinity House in Lagos, who turned 62, and was titled “A new Nigeria: Leadership imperatives for radical growth and transformation.”
In his speech delivered via Zoom, Sanusi said that the nation-building task facing the nation was now a struggle, and that the economy was currently in a slump.
Sanusi stated, “In October 2022, speaking at the Kaduna Investment Forum, I told Nigerians that if anyone told them that dealing with Nigeria post-2023 would be easy, they should not vote for that person. I meant it.
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“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. The people now have suspicions about policies, policing, judiciary and the election umpire.”
“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.”
He contends that in addition to identifying the types of leaders the nation requires, it also needs to closely examine the method by which those leaders are selected.
The method by which Nigerians elect their leaders needs to be more open, according to Sanusi.
“No process is perfect. We have seen so in the United Kingdom and the United States. At the very least, the people should know who they are voting for. I think we need to begin to look at the Electoral Act, 2022 much more earlier than elections. We need to have a system where one cannot just go to participate in party primaries without being exposed to public scrutiny. This is what happens everywhere. 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.
“This is the only country I know where we elect a President first before knowing if he knows what he is doing or whether he understands what the job is,”
