Regional Editor [News], Olawale Rasheed, examines the many political meanings and interpretations of the actions, deeds and utterances of the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi.THERE are strong indications that some political forces in the North may have started plotting the entrance of the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, into the political process despite the bank chief's repeated affirmation that his sole goal in life now is to mount the throne of his fathers as the next Emir of Kano.Rumours of Sanusi's political agenda, while mostly dismissed by his close associates, remain ever constant on the political scene, with many political watchers up North reading a whole lot of meaning into every move and utterances of the bank czar. The conduct and carriage of the man himself most of the time serves to validate the many interpretations of his actions.While records of the man's life may not have indicated any political participation, Sanusi is however described by many who know him closely as an activism-minded northerner who defies his aristocratic antecedents in his radicalism. He is also reportedly cast as an islamist of the moderate stock who allegedly had a stint in the Sudan before his extensive exposure to western education.Further checks on the bank chief revealed that while he may not have set out a political agenda on his own, a chain of events may be gradually unfolding which is placing him at the centre of a political storm. His banking reforms had struck fear into the heart of the elite and his constant mopping up of fund within the polity is squeezing the political class. A political watcher in Abuja noted that slush fund for political activities are drying up because cash flow can now be easily detected within the banking system. Some other observers viewed Lamido's harsh focus on slush fund as a tactical way of snuffing life out of the political opposition ahead of 2015 polls. If cash flow isbecoming severally restricted with a focus on political funding, the belief is that the bank chief may either be doing it for the president orhimself as a part of an overall strategy for 2015.Checks showed that many within the political system are now scared of Sanusi due to his increasing network of financial surveillance which put every financial data on every noteworthy politician and their business allies at his disposal. Data gathering on leading lights within the political system is said to have made many of them vulnerable to likely charges tomorrow in case of political disputations.Some observers however believe that Sanusi's harsh policies could not have been condoned without a presidential authorisation and tacit support of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. If this is an administration agenda, many within are, however, wondering how the president could trust the Kano prince with such wide powers, which are now crippling even the closest of president's allies. Those who hold that Sanusi is just a technocrat battling an entrenched corrupt banking and financial system are, however, regularly confronted by some directly political action of the bank chief. The repeated dabbling into political issues by a supposed financial chief is forcing many to see beyond Sanusi as a banker sanitizing the banking sector, though he himself has denied such a linkage.Unconfirmed reports have always linked Sanusi with General Muhammadu Buhari. Many think they share many things in common, starting with their harsh political views and their uncompromising stance on many issues. Others said the banker has close relationship with the former capital territory minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, among other similar non-conformist relationships which the prince is reported to have. Earlier, leaders of the opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) stormed his turbanning as Damajen Kano few months ago.The presence of the opposition leaders in such a high profile manner shocked many leaders of the PDP, who regard the prince as one of them. In fact, his friend the governor of Kano, Dr Musa Kwankwaso, was reported to have expressed surprise at the political nature of the event. While reports said the governor and the richest man in Africa are disposed to a Sanusi emirship,they are said to be non-committal with the increasing political nature of recent actions surrounding the bank chief. The prince himself raised the stakes when, on resumption after the turbanning, he resumed in office in his traditional regalia. While his associates described it as a way of showing his new traditional status, others were quick to read meanings into it, as they argued that Kano emirate tussle has nothing to do with traditional regalia at the apex bank.The question agitating the minds of many observers since then is what exactly Sanusi wants. Is he truly eyeing the emirship of Kano or ruffling the political waters to take a shot at the presidency' For one, checks showed that the man has no political structure either in Abuja or back in his home state. If any, he is seen more as a political outsider in a state dominated by the Kwankwasiya school. He is also not caught trying to set up any either through proxy or direct action. What is raising insinuations is the increasing attempt by the prince to cast himself in the garb of a defender of the North. It would be recalled that the prince started the crusade when he attended the book launch of Chief Olanihun Ajayi last year.In utterances reminiscent of Sardauna days, the banker then raised touchy political issues which shocked many Yoruba leaders who were in attendance on that day. The surprise that day was that a technocrat dabbled into delicate political matters of North 'South history within the federation. Quite a number of leaders responded to the banker on that day and from then on, explosive political statements have been uttered on several occasions by the banker.As if consciously or unconsciously trying to drum the message home, the CBN chief at the Tribune leadership award in Abuja jokingly took on Mallam Nasir El-Rufai when the latter represented the late Sardauna in the post-humous leadership award. When Sanusi rose to address the audience in a goodwill message, he took a light shot at Mallam Rufai by reminding everybody present that late Sardauna was his maternal uncle. He traced the lineage to prove he is a blood relation of the the legendary leader of the North, Late Sir Ahmadu Bello. If Mallam Rufai felt slighted that day,he did not show it.Mallam Sanusi was also the first leader of the North to provide a justificational ground for the Boko Haram insurgency. In a lecture that shocked the nation, the banker decried under-development of the North and linked poverty and unfair national resources sharing formula to the ongoing discontent. While falling short of justifying the insurgency, he, however, tactically linked neglect of the North to insurgency in a way that surprised many.The lecture also touched on the alleged unfairness of the revenue sharing formula. That lecture was then taken up by some northern governors and provided the firepower for the ongoing agitation for the revisit of the onshore/offshore dichotomy. By his controversial lecture which is now shaping the tone of north-south dialogue, some observers are quick to hint that the bank chief is positioning himself as a credible new breed of northern leader who can be entrusted with responsibilities.Sanusi may also be happy that the world appears to have accepted his narration of the ongoing insurgency. Key officials of the United States government have agreed that Boko Haram is strictly about economic backwardness, a position the bank chief canvassed during his earlier lecture. Checks with sources in Kano State however revealed that despite his political interventions, Sanusi is still seen as an Emir ' in- Waiting. Just this weekend, a lecture was organized in his honour with even the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu in attendance. How increasing political conduct tallies with a man just preparing for emirship is the big question in the minds of many observers.
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