Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Muhammadu Sanusi II CON
File:Sanusi Lamido Sanusi World Economic Forum 2013.jpg Sanusi at the 2013 World Economic Forum
Emir of Kano
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 June 2014
Preceded by	Ado Bayero
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
In office 3 June 2009 – 2 June 2014 (suspended 24 February 2014)
Preceded by	Charles Chukwuma Soludo
Succeeded by	Godwin Emefiele
Personal details
Born	Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (1961-07-31) 31 July 1961 Kano, Nigeria
Nationality	Nigerian
Spouse(s)	Sadiya Ado Bayero, Maryam, and Rakiya
Relations	Muhammadu Sanusi (grandfather)
Residence	Gidan Rumfa, Nigeria
Alma mater	King's College Lagos Ahmadu Bello University International University of Africa
Profession	Banker
Religion	Sunni-Islam (Tijaniyya Sufi)
Ethnicity	Fulani

Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II (born: Sanusi Lamido Sanusi) was born into the Fulani Torodbe (Sullubawa) clan of Kano on 31 July 1961. He was crowned 8 June 2014 as the Emir of Kano, succeeding his late great-uncle Dr Ado Bayero (who died on Friday 6 June 2014). Malam Sanusi was a successful banker and was a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He was appointed on 3 June 2009 for a five-year term, but was suspended from office by President Goodluck Jonathan on 20 February 2014 after exposing a $20 billion fraud committed by the president's associates in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the president's regime. Malam Sanusi is the grandson of Muhammadu Sunusi (The 11th Fulani Emir of Kano ) He was a career banker and ranking Fulani nobleman, and also serves as a respected Islamic scholar. The global financial intelliegence magazine, The Banker, published by the Financial Times, has conferred on Sanusi two awards, the global award for Central Bank Governor of the Year, as well as for Central Bank Governor of the Year for Africa. The TIME magazine also listed Sanusi in its TIMES 100 list of most influential people of 2011 In 2013, Sanusi was also awarded a Special GIFA award at the third Global Islamic Finance Awards held in Dubai, for his advocacy role in promoting Islamic banking and finance in Nigeria during his stint as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Education and teaching experience

Lamido Sanusi graduated from King's College Lagos in 1977 and attended Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria where he earned a Bachelors degree in Economics in 1981. He obtained a Masters degree in Economics at ABU (1983) and was an instructor at ABU from 1983 to 1985.

Banking career

In 1985 Sanusi joined Icon Limited (Merchant Bankers), a subsidiary of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of New York, and Baring Brothers of London. He moved to the United Bank for Africa in 1997 in the Credit and Risk Management Division, rising to the position of a General Manager. In September 2005, he joined the Board of First Bank of Nigeria as an Executive Director in charge of Risk and Management Control, and was appointed Group Managing Director (CEO) in January 2009. He was also the Chairman, Kakawa Discount House and sat on the Board of FBN Bank (UK) Limited. Sanusi is recognized in the banking industry for his contribution towards developing a risk management culture in Nigerian banking. First Bank is Nigeria's oldest bank and one of the biggest financial institutions in Africa. Sanusi was the first northerner to be appointed CEO in First Bank's history of more than a century.

Governor of the Central Bank

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua nominated Sanusi as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on 1 June 2009 and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate on 3 June 2009, in the middle of a global financial crisis. Analysts believed that Sanusi's tempered mien would serve as a counterpoise to the more aloof disposition of his predecessor, Charles Chukwuma Soludo. Based on his past record, it seemed probable that as governor of the central bank he would impose stricter controls.

In August 2009, the Sanusi led the Central Bank to "rescue" Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and Finbank by bailing them out with 400 billion naira of public money, and dismissed their chief executives. Some point to other factors including religious, ethnic and existing bank records and plans to say he in fact had a hidden agenda. He said "We had to move in to send a strong signal that such recklessness on the part of bank executives will no longer be tolerated." 16 senior bank officials faced charges that included fraud, lending to fake companies, giving loans to companies they had a personal interest in and conspiring with stockbrokers to boost share prices, and today he has been appointed as the Emir of Kano by Gov. Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano following the departure of Alh. Ado Bayero. In September 2009, he said that 15 of the current 24 Nigerian banks might survive reform in the banking sector.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times in December 2009, Sanusi defended the extensive reforms that he had initiated since taking office, dubbed by some as the "Sanusi tsunami". Some believe that he had a personal vendetta against some of the bank CEOs while others point to proof of mismanagement of funds by some of the CEOs, most notably Cecelia Ibru as justification for the steps he implemented. He noted that there was no choice but to attack the many powerful and interrelated vested interests who were exploiting the financial system, and expressed his appreciation of support from the Presidency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the finance minister and others.

In January 2010, Sanusi said that banks will only want to give credit to Nigeria’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs), if the government gives adequate attention to the provision of infrastructure.

In January 2010, Sanusi admitted that since 2005 the Central Bank had not conducted routine examinations of the 14 banks allocated to it under the sharing arrangement with Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). Abubakar Nagona, president of Integrated Development and Investment Service (IDIS), a venture capital investment company urged Sanusi to "not be cowed and succumb to undue pressure from operators of the same sector he is striving to bring sanity to." At a February 2010 conference on banking in Nigeria, Sanusi described his blueprint for reforming the Nigerian financial system. He said that it was built around four pillars of enhancing the quality of banks, establishing financial stability, enabling healthy financial sector evolution and ensuring that the financial sector contributes to the real economy. Talking later that month, Sanusi said that the crash in the capital market was due to high level of financial illiteracy on the part of Nigerian investors.

The Banker recognized him as the Central Bank Governor of the Year 2010 citing his radical anti-corruption campaign aimed at saving 24 banks on the brink of collapse and pressing for the managers involved in the most blatant cases of corruption to be charged and, in the case of two senior bankers, imprisoned.

Sanusi has spoken at many distinguished events, including Warwick Economics Summit in February 2012 where he spoke about banking reforms in Nigeria and their impact on the economy.

Sharia authority

In parallel to his banking career, Sanusi contributed to the debate over Sharia law. In 1997, Sanusi obtained a degree in Sharia and Islamic Studies from the African International University in Khartoum, Sudan. Writing in the Weekly Trust in September 2000, he noted the problem of reconciling "belief in the universal and eternal applicability of the Shariah with the need for a wholesale adoption of its historically specific interpretation to meet the requirements of a particular milieu." He further said that "Even a cursory student of Islamic history knows that all the trappings of gender inequality present in the Muslim society have socio-economic and cultural, as opposed to religious roots."

At a conference in 2000 in Kaduna, Sanusi delivered a lecture on Islamic economics called Institutional Framework of Zakat: Dimension and Implications. He argued that although collection of zakat is the responsibility of the state, it may be the responsibility of the Nigerian government rather than the emirs in Northern Nigeria. In July 2001 at a seminar in Abuja he talked on Basic Needs and Redistributive Justice in Islam – The Panacea to Poverty in Nigeria. He took the mainstream position that zakat is an instrument for redistributing income, but argued in favor of giving the role of redistribution to the government.

In October 2002 he published a paper on The Hudhood Punishments in Northern Nigeria: A Muslim Criticism. In July 2003 he presented The Shari'a Debate and the Construction of a 'Muslim' Identity in Northern Nigeria: A Critical Perspective at a seminar at the University of Bayreuth. In August 2003 he presented Democracy, Rights and Islam: Theory, Epistemology and the Quest for Synthesis at an international conference on Shari'ah Penal and Family Law in Nigeria and in the Muslim World: A Rights-Based Approach in Abuja.

There are two underlying themes to Sanusi's position. First, Islam is concerned with delivering justice and should not be a tool for self-seeking political agendas. Second, the Wahhabist rhetoric of fundamentalists is counter to genuine Muslim interests. He explains that Sharia is not divine but merely religious, and is neither uniform nor unchanging.

Nigeria 'Fuel Subsidy' removal

Economists have tended to favor the removal of subsidies. He cites the high level of corruption engendered by the practice, the inefficiency of subsidizing consumption instead of production leading to slower economic growth, and the fact that the government borrows money to finance the subsidy, in effect taxing future generations so that current Nigerians can consume more fuel.

Sanusi, other economists and development practitioners also cite that the subsidy is heavily biased in favor of the small middle- and upper-class who use most of the fuel. Additionally, some people purchase the subsidized gas in Nigeria to resell it in other West African countries.

Emir of Kano

Sanusi was selected to succeed his great uncle Ado Bayero as the Emir of Kano on the 8th of June, 2014. There was great controversy over the appointment. Some believed that it was politically motivated as a move to avoid charges of fraud, while he served as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, brought on by the government. Many also expected Bayero's son to succeed him as Emir and supporters of Bayero's son angrily protested Sanusi's appointment. He was formally crowned as Emir Muhammadu Sunusi II on the 9th of June, 2014 making him the 14th Emir of Kano and the leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order, historically the second most important Muslim position in Nigeria after the Sultan of Sokoto who is the leader of the more populous Qadiriyya sufi order.

After urging his followers to fight back against the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, the Kano Mosque, the seat of his emirate, was bombed in November 2014 killing 150. In December 2014, the leader of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, accused him of deviating from Islam and threatened to kill him. Sanusi replied that he is "safe with Allah" and likened Shekau’s comments describing Sufis as unbelievers to those of the heretical Islamic preacher Maitatsine.

See also

• Central banks and currencies of Africa
• Nigerian naira

External links

• Former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi named new Emir of Kano

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi House of Dabo Born: 31 July 1961
Regnal titles
Preceded by Ado Bayero	Emir of Kano 2014-present	Succeeded by incumbent