The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said challenges bedeviling Nigeria are not insurmountable.
He emphasized that with the right commitment, attitude, and leadership, the country has a better chance of overcoming its challenges.
Sanusi, who stated this while receiving, on a courtesy visit, the Kano State Commissioner of Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, in company of his counterpart, Commissioner of Science, Technology and Innovation, Alhaji Mohammed Tajuddeen Othman, at the Emir’s palace, noted that nations have gone through worse situations and moved out of it.
The monarch, however, said though the challenges faced by the country were inherited, lamentation over the past without doing anything is not the solution.
According to him, “the nation as a whole faces challenges that are inherited as well as the state. But the solution is not to go into lamentation over what happened in the past, we cannot continue lamenting and do nothing about it.
“I’m confident that the people of Kano, with our history, our resilience, attitude can overcome these challenges and become things of the past.
“It is important to let the leadership know they can stand on their feet and not remain on their knees. And I believe that we can lift them up together, and all this will be history.
“If we just keep looking at the problems (poverty, hunger, malnutrition, out-of-school children, illiteracy) and we think there is nothing we can do, but the reality is, with the right attitude, commitment, leadership, and support of all, these are not insurmountable problems. Nations have gone through worse, and they have come out of it. Even in this country, look at parts of the country ravaged by terrorism, which Allah has guided us to, and we hope Allah spares this and also spares those part of the country and releases them.
“But people just have to stand up and rebuild. I’m confident that we can rebuild,” he said.
Sanusi commended the Kano State government for bold steps taken in education, especially girl child education, which he said is a solution to the nation’s myriad problems, noting that addressing girl child education will address child marriage, antenatal care, malnutrition, and intergenerational poverty, among others.
He called on the private sector and philanthropists to compliment the government’s efforts in the areas of building schools, school feeding, and investment in transportation.
He commended the Governor Abba Yusuf-led government for settling the pension and gratuity of the pensioners to the tune of N11 billion, saying pensioners whose pension and gratuity were not paid in the past were thrown into hardship and poverty.
Earlier, the Commissioner of Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, highlighted some of the achievements of the present administration, especially in education, health, and the payment of retirement benefits.
He said the courtesy visit served as a platform for reaffirming the collaborative efforts between traditional leaders and the government to address key issues affecting the well-being of the people of Kano.
During the visit, the Commissioner was accompanied by the State Commissioner of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Alhaji Muhammad Tajuddeen Othman, management staff of the ministry, and all heads of agencies under the Ministry of Information.
