Sanusi gets UN appointment — day after split of Kano emirate

The United Nations has appointed Muhammadu Sanusi II, emir of Kano, as a member of the new class of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) advocates.

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, made the announcement through Farhan Haq, his spokesman, at a news conference in New York on Thursday.

The SDG advocates are 17 influential public figures committed to “raising awareness, inspiring greater ambition, and pushing for faster action on the SDGs.”

Sanusi is one of the six new members of the group, which is co-chaired by President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Erna Solberg, prime minister of Norway.

The other five new members are Hindou Ibrahim of Chad, Dia Mirza of India, Edward Ndopu of South Africa, Nadia Murad of Iraq and Marta Vieira da Silva of Brazil.

Haq said the six new members will take over from the previous six who had been made SDG advocate alumni.

“The Secretary-General looks forward to working with the group over the coming years to advance the SDGs,’’ the spokesman said.

The emir’s appointment is coming barely a day after Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, assented to a bill passed by the Kano house of assembly on the breaking up of the emirate in the state.

Sanusi reportedly opposed the re-election of Ganduje, who needed a disputed supplementary election to be returned to office in the March 2019 governorship election.

After Ganduje lost the poll heavily in Kano municipal, there were rumours that he would hunt the emir after the election.

To further strengthen the rumours, the governor had earlier vowed to give assent to the bill immediately it was transmitted to him.