THE Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, has sued for law to constrain Nigerian political and religious leaders, lawmakers, governors and conventional rulers, to attempt sedate test.
Sanusi said, leaders in the nation overlook the utilization of unlawful substances by their protectors and hooligans.
The Emir, who decided at the opening of a two-day Senate Roundtable on Drug Abuse Epidemic in Nigeria, organised out by the Senate in Kano on Monday, said he would be cheerful to subject himself to same test.
He said: “I will be happy to subject myself to drug test. We deceive ourselves if we say we are not part of the problem. 90 per cent of issues that we have, flourish due to lack of political will.
“Anybody who an element of drug abuse is found in him should quickly resign his position because he is not fit to hold public position.”
He said it was dishonest and added up to minor talk for a governor or senator or any high political office holder, to talk against drug abuse in the general public, while having exceedingly sedated hooligans as his body watches moving around openly.
“Today, it is better to be a drug baron on the payroll of a political leader, than to be a legally recognised security man, which means we must clean our acts before trying to achieve anything.
“Political leaders employ and support drug addicts as body guards, despite their unlimited access to established security agencies, both public and private.”
He said he was “very ready and happy to be subjected to drugs test. And if I am found not worthy of being emir, I will quietly resign because the matter is bigger than what we are talking about.”
The emir noted that several laws are in the books to fight drug abuse but lamented that they are not being implemented.
He said: “If we are not implementing these laws in the books, what assurance do we have that new ones will be implemented?
“The trade in illicit drugs is a protective trade, and we must ask, who are those involved in this? How many rehabilitation centres do we have? How well equipped are they ready for the challenges; how many capacity development centres do we have? I think we must answer these questions for us to make headway.
“Like I always say, if you don’t want to hear the truth, don’t invite me. Our major problem is that we are not implementing the laws we have for regulating drugs.
“We have guidelines on who is allowed to sell drugs and who to sell the drugs to, but we are not following these guidelines.”
