The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has decried the erosion of values among different strata of the Nigerian society.
According to him, many people in public office today were simply not well brought up, and so they go into office to loot the national treasury with reckless abandon.
In a interview with Channels TV, the monarch said
‘’I think what has failed in this country is upbringing. The truth is that many people you have in public office today were simply not well brought up. When I was in Kings college in form 1 and 2, we had a class called Civics and it was taught the principal himself.
So from a very young age you were taught certain values. You were taught the importance of honesty and integrity, you were taught the importance of human rights, you know it’s important to live a good name, you know that when you go into public office, it is an opportunity to serve. You do not go into public office to make money.
Many of the people that have assumed office simply did not have that upbringing, they did not have that training. Many people go into government for the wrong reasons.”
He said the Nigerian society must stop rewarding people who stole the nation’s commonwealth as public office holders with more public opportunities.
“The entire value system of the country has been eroded. We have been ruled by people with no values, they have no names behind them and have no desire to leave a name after them. These are people who define themselves by what they own , how many houses they have, how many private jets they have, how many billions they have in their bank accounts.”
Speaking further, he said
“A society in which material wealth, no matter how you get it, is respected, is glorified, where people who are known to have stolen money get rewarded with ministerial appointments, that society will continue to reproduce itself.
We don’t have a sense of disgust for people who hold public office and amass wealth; we reward them with appointments, with more public offices, and more opportunities to amass wealth, and this is what Nigeria has become.”
The emir, who reflected on the memories of the late former military head of state Murtala Muhammed 50 years after, said the Nigerian society needs a regeneration of values.
He said both leaders and citizens alike are responsible for the regeneration of values in the country.
For him, material wealth should not be elevated beyond values such as honesty, diligence, compassion, among others.
“I think we need an entire regeneration of values. It is not about one person, the president or the governors, or the ministers cannot on their change this country” he stated
Sanusi further claimed that politicians destroyed the civil service, stressing that Nigeria needs to go back to strengthening the system to embolden civil servants to say ‘no’ when asked by politicians to break the rules.
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