The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan decided against removing fuel subsidy in 2011 due to the Boko Haram insurgency and concerns for the safety of Nigerians.
He made this known while speaking recently at the OGTT Leadership Conference, themed Better Leadership for a Better Nigeria.
Sanusi explained that the Jonathan administration had planned to remove fuel subsidy but was forced to compromise in order to prevent loss of lives during a period of nationwide protests and terrorist attacks.
Sanusi said, “If Nigerians had allowed the Jonathan government to remove the subsidy in 2011, there would have been pain, but that pain would have been a tiny fraction of what we are facing today.”
He criticised those who opposed the move at the time, saying: “People like my friend, Kayode Fayemi here and his APC friends came out on the streets to say we could not do it.”
Recalling his conversation with a political associate, Sanusi added: “I remember calling one of my closest friends at that time and told him, ‘You know we’re doing the right thing’, but he said that he was in opposition and his job was to make the government look bad. You as the governor of the Central Bank you will go and defend your government. It is politics.”
Speaking further, the former Central Bank governor said the government’s decision to back down was to prevent possible bloodshed during the protests.
“The only reason the government compromised at that time was because of Boko Haram. There were thousands of Nigerians on the streets in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, and we had suicide bombers in the country, and there was a fear of terrorists blowing up any of the protest venues and we have 200 corpses. It will no longer be about subsidy, and you have to give Jonathan the credit. He was determined to do it, but at the end of the day the compromise was made to save Nigerians’ lives,” he said.