MENINGITIS: Gov Yari has a wrong mindset –Sanusi

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II has criticised comments credited to governor of Zamfara State, over the outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis.

He lamented that the governor is approaching the issue with a wrong mind-set, and hence may not find a solution to the problem which has claimed hundreds of lives in the last few weeks.

Speaking on Tuesday after a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Yari had stated that the outbreak of the disease was a punishment from God, due to people’s acts of fornication and other sins.

He said, “There is no way fornication will be so rampant and God will not send a disease that cannot be cured.

“The most important thing is for our people to know that their relationship with God is not smooth. All they need to do is repent and everything will be alright.”

But Emir Sanusi, while delivering the keynote address at the second edition of the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit on Wednesday, lamented that the governor was wrong in his thinking.

He stated that he (Sanusi) is an Islamic scholar, and that there is nowhere in the holy book meningitis is a wrath from God, even as he advised Nigerian leaders to adopt a reasonable mind-set, to be able to resolve the problems of the nation.

Sanusi also lamented that many religious leaders in the country use religion to forment trouble for their own personal gains, and that they don’t mind shedding blood of innocents, as long as their selfish ends are met.

He stated that such leaders get rich from policies that create division and chaos, and that this will continue to be the case, until people refuse to allow such religious leaders appropriate religion for selfish purposes.

He said, “if you are an imam or pastor and you shed blood, you are a criminal”, and called on government to ensure that anybody who does not play by the rules should be made to face the law.

He explained that there is a need to encourage Nigerians to invest in the country, and called on governments in the country to create an environment that attracts domestic capitalists to invest.

Sanusi stressed that for Nigeria to develop economically, its growth model has to change, from depending on oil prices, and borrowing, but has to come from investments.

He also advised the Kaduna State government to be a bit more moderate in handling issues with religious undertones, and urge him to choose his battles.

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