Emir Sanusi Reveals Why No Northern Leader Should Be Happy Today

Emir Sanusi served as Governor of Central bank of Nigeria (image courtesy: Getty)

The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ll, says no leader in Northern Nigeria should be happy that 87% of poor Nigerians reside in the North.

Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), made this known against the backdrop of a recent report by the World Bank that 87% of poor Nigerians reside in the northern part of Africa’s most populous country.

The report, published on 28 January, 2020, by the Bretton Wood institution, noted that the south-south part of Nigeria recorded the most significant drop in poverty between 2011 and 2016.

World Bank said poverty in the northern region of Nigeria had been increasing, especially in the north-west zone, which houses President Muhammadu Buhari’s Katsina State.

“Poverty in the northern regions of the country has been increasing especially in the north-west zone. Almost half of all poor lived in the north-west and the north accounts for 87 percent of all poor in the country in 2016,” the global bank had said.

“Poverty rates in the southern zones were around 12 percent with little variation across zones. The south-south zone saw the most significant drop in poverty from 2011-2016. Poverty was significantly higher in rural areas of the country in 2016.

“An estimated 64 percent of all poor lived in rural areas and 52 percent of the rural population lived below the poverty line in 2016. In contrast, the poverty rate in urban areas remained stable at 16 percent between 2011 and 2016.”

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