WITH the death of the Emir of Kano,
Alhaji Ado Bayero, on Friday, the first question Nigerians asked was obviously
who takes over from him. The question becomes very necessary given the
background of the recent crisis between the Federal Government and the last
governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The former CBN
governor has never hidden his ambition to be emir of Kano after Ado Bayero. Now
that Bayero has bowed out, it goes without saying that prominent likely
successors to that throne of influence and prestige would rev up their engine.
Even as the late emir was being
buried in Kano on Friday, interested forces pitched tents in making
permutations and gauging opinions of the powers that be on who would get the
throne.
Names of likely candidates were
openly touted in Kano on Friday and these were Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and three
sons of the late emir. These are Alhaji Ciroma Lamido Ado Bayero (the eldest
son of the late emir) who is also the district head of Gwale local government
area of Kano. He is highly regarded as Bayero’s heir apparent given historical
foundations of majority of previous emirs who succeeded their fathers.
Another candidate being spoken of is
Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the district head of Dala local government area of the
state, a graduate of Mass Communication. Yet, there are talks also of Alhaji
Nasiru Ado Bayero, said to have been positioned by his father, the late monarch
for the position.
The stool is to be filled almost
immediately, sources have said.
But the battle for the stool is getting
hot among contenders who are said to have kickstarted lobbying immediately.
Sources confirmed to Saturday Tribune
that the governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, will play a major role in the
emergence of the new monarch as the kingmakers are to nominate three persons
for him to pick .
It was gathered that the governor
could return the list if he was not satisfied with any of the nominees.
A source said that the immediate past
CBN governor is planning to benefit from the cold blood between the Presidency
in Abuja and the Kano State government .
Sanusi is the son of Alhaji Mohammed
Sanusi, the Emir of Kano who was deposed in 1963. He was half brother to the
late Ado Bayero who took over in 1963 and died on Friday.
It was, however, gathered that the
late monarch would have preferred his son as successor such that his lineage
would be sustained.
A source told the Saturday Tribune
that Bayero would not want someone like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to succeed him
because of his relatively young age and that none of his children would smell
the throne if the former CBN governor took the stool.
It was, however, gathered that there
appeared an unstated rift between the late Ado Bayero and Governor Kwakwanso as
of the time of his demise.
A source said that the governor had earlier
in the week rejected the nomination of Alhaji Sheik Shalleh as Wazirin Kano.
The late monarch was said to have preferred Shaleh as the Wazirin but the
Government House objected, leading the kingmakers to agree with the government
decision.
It was gathered that Galadinma Kano
is also interested in the race for the Bayero stool, though sources said the
man has become old.
Said a source in the know: “Governor
Kwakwanso is going to play a huge role in the emergence of the new Emir of
Kano. The tradition is that the kingmakers will nominate three candidates and
the governor would pick one of them.
“But he can reject the entire list if
he does not want any of the three and then the search would start all over
again.
“Right now, there are feelers that
the governor and the late monarch had a secret disagreement, leading to the
rejection of the Wazirin nominee only this week. The contenders are so far
three in the race. You have the former CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the
son of the late monarch, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero and the man who occupies the
seat of Galadinma Kano. There are others who would start coming up any moment
from now.”
Bayero’s Fulani clan started ruling
Kano in 1819.
1. Abdullahi Bayero ruled for 27
years (1926-1953).
2. Muhammadu Sanusi (his son)
1953-1963
3. Muhammadu Inuwa (3 months) 1963
4. Ado Bayero (October 1963 - 2014)
5. ??
With the demise of Emir Abdullahi
Bayero in 1953, his eldest son, Sir Muhammadu Sanusi, was installed as the 11th
emir and the 54th ruler of Kano. Emir Sanusi was a very charismatic and
powerful leader whose tenure was marked by peace and continuous modern
development. He was a very learned Islamic scholar in addition to being an
astute administrator. Like his late father, he also led Friday prayers in the
Kano central mosque. It was during his reign that Queen Elizabeth 11 of England
visited Kano in 1956 where a Durbar was held in her honour. He was the first
Nigerian appointed as acting governor when the colonial governor went on leave
in 1958. He maintained the dignity, power and prestige associated with the
office of the Emir of Kano.
Due to irreconcilable differences
between Emir Sanusi and the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello,
he was removed as the Emir of Kano in 1963 and exiled to Azare, thus he was
nicknamed Sarki Murabus (Retired Emir). He died in April 1991 at the age of 86
in Wudil, near Kano. One of the Emir Sanusi’s sons who was Ciroman Kano,
Ambassador Aminu Sanusi, was also one of the first 12 Foreign Service officers
recruited in Nigeria in 1957. Ambassador Sanusi had a distinguished career in
the diplomatic service rising to become permanent secretary, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs before retiring. He gave birth to Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
The late Ado Bayero
Bayero was born to the family of
Hajiya Hasiya and Abdullahi Bayero and into the Fulani Sullubawa clan that has
presided over the emirate of Kano since 1819. He was the 11th child of his
father and the second of his mother. At the age of seven, he was sent to live
with Maikano Zagi. He studied the Qur’an and later attended the Kano Middle
School, and School for Arabic Studies, Kano.
He started his working career in 1947
at the then British Bank for West Africa, now First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
In 1949, Bayero joined the services
of the Kano Native Authority (NA), and attended courses at the Clerical
Training Centre, Zaria; and the United Kingdom, and rose to the rank of Chief
Clerk at the Kano Town Council.
He later joined partisan politics and
contested and won election into the Northern Regional House of Assembly in 1954
on the platform of the defunct Northern People’s Congress (NPC).
In 1957, he resigned his membership
of the House and took up the appointment of Wakilin Doka, Chief of Kano Native
Authority Police.
He was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador
to Senegal five years later, and became the Emir of Kano in 1963 while studying
French in Switzerland.
Bayero was the Chancellor of various
Nigerian universities, including the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; the
University of Ibadan, and University of Maiduguri.
He was the longest serving Emir of
Kano, and spearheaded the construction of many mosques and Islamic schools in
the emirate.
SOURCE Tribune