How Boko Haram, other terrorist activities started in Nigeria – Emir Sanusi

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has blamed divisive political rhetoric for contributing to the persistence of insecurity, including Boko Haram insurgency and banditry, in Nigeria.

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at the launch of a biography on retired Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai’s tenure as Chief of Army Staff, Sanusi said the crisis was rooted in how political actors categorised Nigerians along regional, religious and ethnic lines.

According to Daily Post, the monarch said inflammatory statements published in newspapers helped create divisions by portraying citizens as Northerners or Southerners, Christians or Muslims, and along tribal identities. He argued that such divisions created an environment in which violent and criminal groups could thrive.

Sanusi urged Nigerians to reassess their values and national direction, stressing that addressing insecurity requires confronting the underlying social and political factors that have sustained divisions in the country.