Muhammad Sanusi ll, the dethroned Emir of Kano, on Sunday, kicked against the Nigerian Bar Association’s withdrawal of the invitation granted the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as a panelist at its forthcoming Annual General Conference (AGC).
The former Emir was in Kaduna on an official visit, the first-ever, since he was deposed by the Kano State Government in March.
Sanusi, who was received by El-Rufai at the Government House, admonished the body of lawyers not to allow the controversy to take a religious or ethnic dimension.
He insisted that the action of the NBA was appalling for freedom of speech, maintaining that such did not portray those who wanted progress.
Sanusi said: “If you have an opinion, people will either agree with you or disagree with you, but a man who has an opinion that can be agreed with or disagreed with is always better than a man who has no opinion at all.
“Nasir always has opinions. He says that position very clearly. Some people will like it, some people will not like it, and that is what some people call being controversial; it is actually having an opinion.
“I spoke with Konwe Ajayi, who is the Chairman of the Technical Committee, who confirmed to me that he was the one who invited the governor to come and speak at the NBA meeting.
“Withdrawing the invite does not show us as people who want progress. Because if you disagree with someone, having him in your hall where you can tell him your views is important and he can defend himself.”
On his part, Gov. El-Rufai said the ex-Emir was in Kaduna State not just to visit him, but also as the Vice-Chairman of the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency.
“We hope that by this visit, he will be briefed on the activities of the investment agency and also interact with all the agencies that are working to attract investments to Kaduna State,” the governor said.
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