The many dimensions of the Kano emirship debacle, by Ayuba Ahmad
Unless properly handled, we all should be wary of the ominous dark cloud gathering and hovering over the horizon of the sprawling city of Kano and its satellites.
From its many antecedents, we all know that the city is very combustible as it is sensitive. The unfolding tragic tussle over the emirship throne may easily turn into a trigger of a conflagration.
Such was the situation in 1980 when, as a result of a query issued to the late Emir Ado Bayero by, also now late governor Abubakar Rimi, Kano exploded in a huge mass riots. At the end of the day, the then secretary to the state government, Dr Bala Muhammed, was slain and his house was set ablaze by the maddened crowd
All the gladiators now squaring up for a showdown and all the other stakeholders in the Kano project must learn from the lessons of their history. They should strive to avert the looming calamity by suppressing personal ambitions and ego, for the superior interest of peace and tranquility of the wider society.
Very importantly as well, the rest of the nation must be concerned about the current happenings in Kano. Although they all ensued from intrigues around the Kano royalty, the present scenario is different in many respects, from the 1980 clash between Emir Ado Bayero and governor Abubakar Rimi. It is also very different from the 2020 governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s deposition of Emir Sanusi Lamido II.
Far from the officially stated reason of “disobedience to government directives”, the dethronement of Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II in 2020 was catalysed by the dynamics and intrigues of politics in the state. But those peculiar political factors were such that their results did not escalate beyond the state.
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However, unlike the chain of developments which led to the rumbles in 1980 and 2020, the political brinkmanship and horse trading that culminated in the recent sacking of Emir Aminu Ado Bayero and the reinstatement of Emir Sanusi Lamido II are portentous with all the potential of spiralling beyond the state’s borders.
By dethroning Emir Aminu Ado Bayero and abolishing the four new emirates created by the All Progressives Congress, APC, governor Abdullahi Ganduje in 2020, as well as reinstating Muhammadu Lamido Sanusi II, Governor Kabir Yusuf is clearly implimenting a cardinal agenda of his party, the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP, for Kano State.
Having failed in his bid to get his protege elected as governor in the titanic battle for the control of Kano State and coming at a time that his position as the national chairman of the APC is being seriously challenged, it is an understatement to say that the Ganduje is going to fight like a sounded lion.
He will go for broke. He will unleash all the arsenals at his disposal in his political war chest. In the language of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, those now at daggers drawn in Kano are engaged in a “do or die” situation. He will very surely take the advantages available to him as the leader of the nation’s ruling party. Talk of the “federal might” and all of its connotations in the context of the unfolding political quagmire in Kano.
For instance, few will believe Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the NSA, that he had no hands in the stealthy return of deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero to Kano. If indeed it is the truth that the weight of the NSA was not used to facilitate the operation, then, surely, an authority superior to the NSA must have been involved. It couldn’t have been possible, attempted or accomplished. It was just too audacious, daring and sophisticatedly executed far above the capacity of forces at the lower rungs in the hierarchy of power.
Further, what with the heavy security presence around the Nasarawa palace and the Rumfa palace where the two contending Emirs are respectively taking abode? What about the involvement of the military in the operation? That is, asking the rhetorical question of: Who has the constitutional powers of deploying the Army for internal or external operations?
President Olusegun Obasanjo was widely known to have given his blessing to the then Kebbi State Governor Adamu Aliero in the dethronement of Jokolo as Emir of Gwandu. Ganduje’s sacking of Emir Muhammadu Lamido II in 2020 was not done without the blessing of President Buhari, in spite of the latter’s feined non involvement. Even in a military regime, Colonel Yakubu Mu’azu as governor of Sokoto State, did not on his own, dethrone late Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki. He was merely carrying out the order of his superior, General Sani Abacha.
In other words, while technically, the appointment, discipline and, removal of traditional rulers, falls within the constitutional powers of the states, in practice however, a state governor cannot independently effect the dethronement of certain categories of traditional rulers without the consent or tacit support of the federal government.
With its huge voting population, Kano State is a massive electoral treasure trove that every political party will aspire to control. The other political parties will not, therefore, remain mere spectators in the ongoing political cum regal game of two contending princes to the throne. The year 2027 is a factor at play.
Legal professionals: lawyers and judges, will be particularly involved in what is appearing as a long-drawn and celebrated battle in the law courts. We expect, as we are already witnessing, a flurry of amazing and conflicting verdicts by the judges. That is of course, in addition to the high wired talks in dark recesses of the inner chambers.
For as long as it lasts, mass media practitioners, just as the legions of “public commentators” and the innumerable clans of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, hirelings, interlopers, friends and foes will also come forth to be counted among the variegated interest groups flocking to prey on the intriguing logjam.
While it lingers, the apprehension in informed quarters is the palpable prospects of the smouldering embers exploding into a wild inferno. There are already reports of pockets of protests marked by “peaceful” processions and the burning of tyres. There is no gainsaying the importance of nibbing the looming crisis in the bud.
The rest of the nation should be wary of the prospects of Kano State going up in flames. Given its very huge population, its cosmopolitan nature, a state of anarchy in Kano State could beget intense social dislocation, loss of property, means of livelihood, bloodbath and deaths.
The hawks orchestrating the debacle do not appear to be conscious of the potential dire consequences of an overwhelming breakdown of law and order in Kano. Those now beating the drums of war do not seem to mind that the crisis has the potential of escalating to the point when a state of emergency becomes an option.
But it is critical that all is deployed to avert a state of emergency in Kano. Usually a volatile society, and coming at a time of seething high level of despondency and frustration, due to pervading, agonising poverty, a state of emergency in Kano State at this point in time may inadvertently turn out to be a spark in a tinderbox. So much of our cherished values and assets will be at the risk of going with the tide.
Be it as it may, however the imbroglio is ultimately resolved, whichever way the pendulum swings at the end of the day, neither of the two principal actors, Muhammadu Lamido II and Aminu Ado Bayero will be the biggest losers. The northern traditional institutions will turn out to be the real casualties.
The traditional institution in the north of the country will have been dealt a shattering blow. Before now, it was one of the defining features of a region and its people. It was as well, a major source of the respect and recognition accorded a people and all that they stand for in the national and global arenas. With the tragic drama in Kano, this glorious era is fading fast into the oblivion.
Before now, the Kano emirate in its regal splendour and grandeur especially stood out as the flagship of the traditional institution in the north. That was unfortunately, as it is, before it was assaulted and demeaned by the avoidable squabbles of some people driven by their cravings for personal honour and glory.
The 2020 sacking of Emir Muhammadu Lamido II, the balkanisation of the Kano emirate from one to five emirates, and, the recent sacking of the five Emirs consequent on the abolition of their emirates, will be remembered by future generations as phenomenal turning points in their history. Will the history be kind to the architects of these events? Sadly, the perpetrators will have been long gone.
Ayuba Ahmad writes from Kaduna State.
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