Sanusi made the remarks at a reception held in his honor in Abeokuta, Ogun State, South West Nigeria, to commemorate the 80th birthday of Babanla Adinni of Egbaland, Chief Tayo Sowunmi.
While predicting that Nigeria will face more difficult times in 2023, Sanusi urged Nigerians to be prepared to make tougher decisions in the country’s best interests.
He said: “To be honest, we are living on extra time. In 2015, we were in a deep hole. In 2023, we will be in an even much deeper hole than in 2015.
“I hope all those who are struggling to be President understand that the problems they are going to face are multiples of the problems faced in 2015. All of us should be ready for difficult decisions and if they are taken, we are all going to pay for it.
“The solution is not for all of us to jump into politics, this country needs good politicians, it needs Imams and pastors and bishops who are going to stand up and remind the politicians about the fear of God.
“It needs technocrats who are going to critique their policies, it needs traditional rulers who are going to speak as the conscience of the people, everyone has a role to play and we should try to play that role to the best of our ability.
“I think the most important thing is that we should continue to pray for our country that whoever emerges as President, governors, senators, members of the House, leadership at all levels that we get good leaders.
“I think we should also remind ourselves as Muslims and as citizens that this country deserves better than what we have given ourselves.
“Allah commands that you place trust only in the hands of those who are capable of handling that trust. If you choose somebody who is incompetent to lead you, if you choose somebody who is weak to lead you, if you choose someone who is dishonest to lead you, you can only blame yourself because Allah says you should only give that trust and He also explains to us what it means to be capable of holding that trust.
“We should not choose leaders who are not competent because they give us money or because of personal interest. I keep saying to my brothers in Tijaniyyaa that we should stop praying for people who come to talk to us to say, come and pray for me to be governor, come and pray for me to be President, they go and take people’s money to go and read the Qur’an for them.
“We should look at all the candidates very well. We should choose the people we think are competent and honest and then we decide who we want to pray for, not who comes to us with money or who comes to beg us, whether or not they come for us.
“We should go and vote for them and we should pray to Allah that our sincere belief is that these are the people who will govern in the best interest of our nation.
‘’In this same life, God has made me governor of Central Bank, He has made me Emir of Kano, He has made me Khalifa of Tijaniyyaa, what am I looking for?
‘’This is not to say that I’m retiring from service, constantly, life has to be about service and leadership has to be about service and that service involves obviously doing whatever is in my power to do.
“It involves speaking from conscience to those in authority and asking them to correct their deeds, how they respond to that is their business.
‘’We tell all those who are in authority and who forgets that the office that they sit in, is an office that other people had sat in before and they will leave that office and other people will sit in that office, it is temporary.
‘’The only thing they have is the opportunity that Allah has given them and the power that Allah has given them to get close to Him by serving the people. It is not for them, it is not for their privilege.
“The greatest danger that we can have is to have leaders who forget how temporary and transient this office is. If we all go into politics, who us going to hold the politicians to account? Who is going to stand up and tell them if they are going wrong?
‘’Who is going to speak to the people and explain sometimes difficult and painful policies that people don’t like or which are in the long term interest if the people? Speak for the politicians for the people.
“People don’t understand the role we play as traditional rulers, as religious leaders that they think you should go and be a governor, or be a president, to be honest, I think that the role I play can be more important than that of the president, it is different, it has different content.
‘’But to be Khalifa Tijaniyyaa of Nigeria is an office that personally, given the choice between that office and the presidency, I will choose that office.
“We should look at all the candidates, we should choose the people we think are competent and honest and then we decide who we want to pray for, not who comes to us with money or who comes to us to beg us, whether or not they come for us.
‘’We should go and vote for them and pray to Allah that these are the people who will govern in the best interest of our nation.
“But the solution is not for all of us to jump into politics, this country needs good politicians, it needs imams and pastors and bishops who are going to stand up and remind them (politicians) of the fear of God. It needs technocrats who are going to critique their policies, it needs traditional rulers who are going to speak as the conscience of the people, everyone has a role to play and we should try to play that role to the best of our ability.’’
While predicting that Nigeria will face more difficult times in 2023, Sanusi urged Nigerians to be prepared to make tougher decisions in the country’s best interests.
He said: “To be honest, we are living on extra time. In 2015, we were in a deep hole. In 2023, we will be in an even much deeper hole than in 2015.
“I hope all those who are struggling to be President understand that the problems they are going to face are multiples of the problems faced in 2015. All of us should be ready for difficult decisions and if they are taken, we are all going to pay for it.
“The solution is not for all of us to jump into politics, this country needs good politicians, it needs Imams and pastors and bishops who are going to stand up and remind the politicians about the fear of God.
“It needs technocrats who are going to critique their policies, it needs traditional rulers who are going to speak as the conscience of the people, everyone has a role to play and we should try to play that role to the best of our ability.
“I think the most important thing is that we should continue to pray for our country that whoever emerges as President, governors, senators, members of the House, leadership at all levels that we get good leaders.
“I think we should also remind ourselves as Muslims and as citizens that this country deserves better than what we have given ourselves.
“Allah commands that you place trust only in the hands of those who are capable of handling that trust. If you choose somebody who is incompetent to lead you, if you choose somebody who is weak to lead you, if you choose someone who is dishonest to lead you, you can only blame yourself because Allah says you should only give that trust and He also explains to us what it means to be capable of holding that trust.
“We should not choose leaders who are not competent because they give us money or because of personal interest. I keep saying to my brothers in Tijaniyyaa that we should stop praying for people who come to talk to us to say, come and pray for me to be governor, come and pray for me to be President, they go and take people’s money to go and read the Qur’an for them.
“We should look at all the candidates very well. We should choose the people we think are competent and honest and then we decide who we want to pray for, not who comes to us with money or who comes to beg us, whether or not they come for us.
“We should go and vote for them and we should pray to Allah that our sincere belief is that these are the people who will govern in the best interest of our nation.
‘’In this same life, God has made me governor of Central Bank, He has made me Emir of Kano, He has made me Khalifa of Tijaniyyaa, what am I looking for?
‘’This is not to say that I’m retiring from service, constantly, life has to be about service and leadership has to be about service and that service involves obviously doing whatever is in my power to do.
“It involves speaking from conscience to those in authority and asking them to correct their deeds, how they respond to that is their business.
‘’We tell all those who are in authority and who forgets that the office that they sit in, is an office that other people had sat in before and they will leave that office and other people will sit in that office, it is temporary.
‘’The only thing they have is the opportunity that Allah has given them and the power that Allah has given them to get close to Him by serving the people. It is not for them, it is not for their privilege.
“The greatest danger that we can have is to have leaders who forget how temporary and transient this office is. If we all go into politics, who us going to hold the politicians to account? Who is going to stand up and tell them if they are going wrong?
‘’Who is going to speak to the people and explain sometimes difficult and painful policies that people don’t like or which are in the long term interest if the people? Speak for the politicians for the people.
“People don’t understand the role we play as traditional rulers, as religious leaders that they think you should go and be a governor, or be a president, to be honest, I think that the role I play can be more important than that of the president, it is different, it has different content.
‘’But to be Khalifa Tijaniyyaa of Nigeria is an office that personally, given the choice between that office and the presidency, I will choose that office.
“We should look at all the candidates, we should choose the people we think are competent and honest and then we decide who we want to pray for, not who comes to us with money or who comes to us to beg us, whether or not they come for us.
‘’We should go and vote for them and pray to Allah that these are the people who will govern in the best interest of our nation.
“But the solution is not for all of us to jump into politics, this country needs good politicians, it needs imams and pastors and bishops who are going to stand up and remind them (politicians) of the fear of God. It needs technocrats who are going to critique their policies, it needs traditional rulers who are going to speak as the conscience of the people, everyone has a role to play and we should try to play that role to the best of our ability.’’