The Emir of Kano has made calls on the government to tackle issues of endemic poverty and rapid population growth as a means of ending deadly Boko Haram violence. The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said the Islamist militants would always find willing recruits unless the root causes of radicalisation – poverty, was duly addressed.

According to him, insecurity, development and poverty are intertwined. Emir Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said climate change, particularly the shrinking of Lake Chad, has had a devastating effect on local livelihoods and is impoverishing the region.