Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said Nigeria is stuffed with lousy leaders who lack the requisite capacity and competence to deliver and transform the country.

“You rise and fall with the quality of your leadership and Nigeria has had lousy leadership for a long time,” the monarch said. “You cannot give what you do not have until we begin to look at the people who we choose to lead us.”

Mr Sanusi, who spoke at the second edition of Kano International Poetry Festival organised Poetic Wednesdays in Kano on Saturday, said the country has not been fortunate with quality leaders for a long time.

Stating that good governance is key to salvaging the country, Mr Sanusi added, “And that’s the truth. I mean, in most parts of this country, you look at people who are leading you and you say, oh God, is this really the person? How did we end up here? You see it every day on the newspapers.”

The traditional ruler said while other countries are exploring technology, artificial intelligence, climate change and other serious issues, Nigerian leaders are still preoccupied with antiquated debates around ethnicity and religion.

Mr Sanusi said, “You see it in the news. You see what happens in the legislature. You see the kind of debates that we are having, the kind of arguments that we have, the kind of time we waste on issues that are totally unimportant, the pettiness. We are still talking about Yoruba or Igbo or Hausa, Northern or Christian, you know, that is, we are still mired in that debate. We are still in conversations that we had in the 1960s. You look at other countries, you look at other parts of the world, people are discussing climate change, discussing artificial intelligence.”

The monarch, however, noted that subsidising fuel was never sustainable, noting the country would have been bankrupt by now if President Bola Tinubu hadn’t removed it.

“If you look at the billions and billions that were spent on subsidies, if that money had been spent on refineries, I have nothing against subsidies. If you are subsidising production, I said it very clearly, my objection is the subsidy on consumption because we’re keeping refineries in Europe open. We’re giving jobs to refiners.

And if we had taken 2012, we would not be where we are today. Now, people say to me, why aren’t you talking? I say, what am I to say? This is exactly what I said would happen because beyond a point, government revenue will not be enough to pay the subsidy. You have to borrow to pay the subsidy,” Mr Sanusi said.