A video showing the reinstated Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, speaking on the failure of the Nigerian government to address various problems bedevilling the country has resurfaced online.
In the footage, Sanusi urged Nigerians to get involved in governance and hold politicians to account. The video is being circulated with a claim that he delivered the speech after his reinstatement.
An X user, @Row_Haastrup posted the video with a caption thus:
“Powerful speech by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi after being reinstated as Emir.”
The post has garnered over 145,000 views with more than 1,400 reposts and over 2,500 likes as of June 5, 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows Sanusi delivering a speech after his reinstatement as Emir of Kano.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
There has been uproar regarding the emirship position of Kano following the move by the Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, to reinstate Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Emir.
The ICIR reported that Ado Bayero was dethroned as Emir of Kano along with four other emirs on Thursday, May 23, 2024. Sanusi was, however, reinstated as the Kano emir the following day. The matter is still pending in court.
A Google reverse image search on the keyframes in the video shows that the footage has been online since 2022.
An earlier version of the video showed that the video depicts Sanusi’s speech at the launch of a stage play titled “Emir Sanusi: Truth in Time” held in August 2022 in Lagos.
The play was written by a professor of Drama at the Redeemer University, Ahmed Yerima, and produced by the Executive Chairman, Duke of Somolu Productions, Mr Joseph Edgar.
Speaking at the event, the former CBN boss said that if Nigerians fail to fight the high level of abnormalities in the country, the country might cease to exist in no distant time.
According to him, Nigerians should not allow politicians to intimidate them, regardless of whether they are presidents or governors.
Part of his words reads: “We cannot be intimidated by somebody because you are a president or governor, and we cannot tell you that you are wrong.
“We have chosen different paths. If I had gone into politics, at least given the people that have access to be president in Nigeria, I could have become president or a governor.
“By the time these guys finish with us, our children will not have anywhere to call a nation. The only way to retrieve our nation and give our children the future they deserve is, if you are not in politics, you must hold those in politics to account.
“It is not a comfortable situation to be in. When people are incompetent and don’t like you, you wear their dislike as a badge of honour. You can’t be comfortable and feel normal in a distorted environment.”
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Sanusi delivering a speech after his reinstatement is MISLEADING; the video has been online since 2022.
This fact-check is republished from The FactCheckHub.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.