The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has stated that he did not know the true meaning of poverty until be became an Emir.

This was contained in a goodwill message at the 60th birthday celebration of former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, in Abuja, on Saturday.

Sanusi said; “Many of the elite in Nigeria do not know what poverty is. As an economist, former CBN Governor, I see the numbers. I did not know poverty until I became Emir.

“And you go to the village and see the water they drink, the houses they live in, they two block classrooms without roofs.

“Do we actually love the people or do we just love ruling over them? What are our priorities. We make overheads and underpasses for ourselves in the cities while there in the rural areas cannot reach hospitals. We are in crisis, how do we get out should be our focus.”

In their remarks at the event, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, and former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai blamed bad governance for the level of poverty seen in Nigeria faulting Nigerians for repeatedly electing the worst among us into leadership positions.

“We keep electing people who only know how to grab power but don’t know what to do with it,” El-Rufai said.