The Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi 11, has described The Sun Courage in Leadership Award 2017, which he won, as a worthy honour.
Sanusi will be honoured on February 24, 2018 along 21 other outstanding Nigerians at the prestigious The Sun Awards holding at the Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking yesterday in Kano, when a management team of The Sun visited to formally notify him of his choice as winner of the Courage in Leadership Award, Sanusi said any honour based on recognition of good causes was welcomed.
He expressed gratitude for being chosen as winner of the award, insisting that what people may call fearlessness, which is one of the things that earned him the honour, was secondary, as the important thing was “speaking the truth.”
According to him, “it is not fearlessness that matters. It is speaking the truth. Leaders should be told the truth at all times. That way, they would know what is happening and from there make adjustments, for the benefit of the people.”
The monarch appealed to those in leadership positions to seek for the truth, noting that doing so would enable them see and do what is good for their people.
He charged the media to speak the truth at all times, while cautioning journalists against falsehood or acts meant to intimidate members of the public.
Sanusi described this responsibility as important, as, according to him, in saying the truth, the media would be assisting leaders to truly understand what is happening around them.
Earlier, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Eric Osagie, explained that Courage in Leadership Award was in honour of “leaders who have forged tangible and transformative shift as well as exemplified exceptional courage and leadership behaviour that inspired passion for the common good.”
He said Emir Sanusi was chosen for the award in recognition of his consistency in speaking truth to power and in his display of a rare courageous leadership.
Listing courageous feats of Sanusi, Osagie said: “In 1999, you took on the then Zamfara State governor for introducing Sharia without first putting in place relevant architecture that would make the implementation of such a law, in a multi-religious society like Nigeria, seamless.
“In 2001, your Royal Highness courageously advised the then Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to pay critical attention to the economy, which you alleged was on the decline.”
Osagie recalled that Sanusi, when nominated as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, not only criticised the then government’s seven-point agenda but also suggested their reduction to three, during his screening at the Senate.
On Sanusi’s courageous endeavours as CBN governor, The Sun MD said: “As CBN governor, you did not stop speaking truth to power. You raised the alarm over the mismanagement of the country’s finances under President Goodluck Jonathan, an action that did not go down well with the government.”
He said The Sun Board of Editors considered all these and unanimously voted Emir Sanusi as winner of the Courage in Leadership Award.
Osagie was accompanied, during the visit, by Editor, Daily Sun, Mr. Onuoha Ukeh; General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Services, Mrs. Neta Nwosu, a member of Board of Editors, Mr. Ikenna Emewu and Desmond Mgboh, Bureau Chief, NorthWest.