How to develop Kano, by Emir Sanusi
From Yusha’u A. Ibrahim, Kano
The Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammadu Sanusi ll has said that for Kano to regain its lost glory as centre of commerce, attention must be paid to education, agriculture and industrialization.
Speaking at the 2-day conference in commemoration of Kano’s Golden Jubilee, the emir said “China has doctors, engineers and economists who cannot utter a word in English language, there is no reason Kano cannot support Qur’anic and Arabic students to become engineers, economists and doctors. This can rapidly increase the number of educated people in the state.”
On agriculture, the emir urged government to ensure constant training and retraining of farmers with a view to equipping them with modern farming techniques.
He also called on government to ensure adequate supply of high yield seeds and discourage any policy that paves ways for taking away farmlands from the real farmers.
Turning to industrialization, Sanusi lamented that in the 1851, Kano was exporting 10 million pairs of shoes to various African countries, but today Nigeria was importing three million pairs of shoes from China.
He regretted that Kano State had seen the impact of some federal government’s policies on industrialization which led to the closure of thousands of industries in Bompai, Challawa and Sharada industrial estates in the state metropolis.
Earlier, the state Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, while declaring the conference open, said Kano State had given itself an identity in culture, economy and politics.