By Eneole Otorkpa, Abuja
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has decried the deepening division among Nigerians along ethnic and religous lines.
He also appealed to the citizens to support security agencies to end the worsening security challenges in the country.
He warned that the country could not overcome its security challenges without the citizens’ active participation at the community level.
At the Projects 774 Network National Citizens- Stakeholders’ Engagement in Abuja, themed “Supporting Our Troops, Strengthening National Unity and Advancing Peace and Development,” Sanusi said Nigerians had become increasingly divided along ethnic, religious and class lines, eroding the country’s sense of national identity.
He said the growing gap between the rich and the poor had weakened the culture of shared prosperity, stressing that wealth should benefit society as a whole rather than remain concentrated among a privileged few.
“We have become a highly divided society. We place everyone into an ethnic or religious category and forget our national identity. Citizenship in Nigeria is not about ethnicity. A Nigerian is a Nigerian,” he said.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria expressed concern over the rising wave of killings and kidnappings, saying the country had become dangerously desensitised to the loss of human lives.
“It is sad that human life has become worthless. Every day, we read that people have been killed or kidnapped.
It has become almost like the weather report,” he said.
Sanusi urged Nigerians to stop shielding criminals within their communities, insisting that bandits, kidnappers and other criminals were known to relatives, neighbours and community members.
He also identified drug abuse as one of the major drivers of violent crime, calling on citizens to expose drug traffickers and dealers to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
“The drug problem in this country is at the heart of many of our challenges. We know those who bring in the drugs and those who sell them. Why are we reluctant to report them?” he asked.
According to him, tackling insecurity requires more than military operations, saying lasting peace can only be achieved through collective action involving communities, traditional institutions and security agencies.
Also speaking, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda, appealed to Nigerians to support the proposed state police initiative by persuading state governors and members of state Houses of Assembly to back the constitutional amendment.
