The Emir of Zuru in Kebbi State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Sani Sami (retd), is dead.
He was aged 81.
The Kebbi State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Garba Umar-Dutsinmari, confirmed the monarch’s death in a statement on Sunday in Birnin Kebbi.
Sani Sami died on Saturday night in a London hospital in an illness.
He is survived by four wives and seven children.
Burial arrangements will be announced later
The most senior councillor and oldest member of the Kano Emirate Council, Abbas Sanusi, has passed away at the age of 92.
The late prince, who held the esteemed title of Galadiman Kano, died on Tuesday in Kano after a prolonged illness.
A longstanding figure in the Emirate, Abbas Sanusi had been a member of the Kano Emirate Council since the late 1950s. He was first appointed Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar Gida and District Head of Ungogo in 1959 by his father, Emir Sanusi I.
In 1962, during the reign of Emir Muhammadu Inuwa, he was promoted to Dan Iyan Kano, and later, under Emir Ado Bayero, he became Wambai of Kano. He attained the prestigious title of Galadiman Kano during the first reign of his nephew, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.
Born in 1933 in Bichi, the late prince began his education at Kofar Kudu Elementary School in 1944 before proceeding to Kano Middle School (now Rumfa College) in 1948.
Among his children is Abdullahi Abbas, the current chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kano Chapter.
His funeral prayer will be held at the Emir’s Palace, Kofar Kudu, Kano, at 10 AM on Wednesday.
The 15th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Bayero, has announced the cancellation of the Eid-el-Fitr Durbar celebration due to security concerns in the state.
Emir Bayero made this announcement while briefing newsmen at his Nasarawa Mini palace in Kano on Wednesday night.
He said that the peaceful coexistence of the people takes precedence over the Durbar celebration.
Emir Bayero had initially planned to hold the Durbar celebration, which would have coincided with his fifth year anniversary on the throne.
He noted that respected Islamic Clerics, elders, stakeholders, and his council members advised him to cancel the celebration to maintain peace.
Emir Bayero urged the people of Kano to use the Sallah celebration period to visit families and friends, and to observe the festivities in a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.
He prayed for Allah’s blessings and mercy during the month of Ramadan, hoping that the people of Kano would receive forgiveness and mercy.
The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has expressed his willingness to intervene in the Fulani crises in Nigeria, with the goal of finding a permanent solution.
Sanusi spoke at his Palace on Tuesday while receiving the leadership of Tapital Pulaku Njode Jam Nigeria, a Fulani group with members across the 36 states.
The emir emphasised that his efforts would require the full support of the Federal Government, leveraging their resources and authority to implement his strategy.
He acknowledged the sufferings of Fulanis in Nigeria, including isolation and cattle rustling, among others.
The traditional ruler recognised that some Fulanis have engaged in criminal activities, tarnishing the reputation of their people.
The emir proposed a joint intervention with the Federal Government to address the crises, particularly between the Fulanis and farmers, and to prevent further criminal activities.
He offered his personal support to the government in achieving peace and prosperity for Fulanis and all Nigerians.
The leader of the Fulani group, Ibrahim Buba-Jada, pledged their allegiance to Sanusi II, believing in his leadership and commitment to their well-being.
Buba-Jada highlighted the group’s extensive membership across the 36 states and their willingness to support the emir’s efforts to restore their reputation and contributions to Nigeria.
NAN
Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu of a Kano state high court, sitting at Audu Bako Secretariat, barred lawyers from granting interviews to journalists before, during and after her judgments and pronouncements in the ongoing Kano emirship tussle.
She ordered counsels from both the applicants and respondents to stop press interviews.
The Judge’s order stemmed from what she described as conflicting interpretations of her pronouncements and judgements allegedly by journalists, after taking interviews from lawyers.
According to her, since she has no powers to stop the press from doing their job, she would exercise her powers of stopping lawyers from granting press interviews.
“It is my order for you (lawyers) not to grant any interview with the press before and even after my ruling on the argument on the pending appeal on stay of proceedings filed by the first respondent.
” Even if I can not stop the journalists from doing their jobs, I have the power to stop you (lawyers) and that is my order, ” she said.
Kano state Attorney General, Speaker Kano State House of Assembly and Kano State House of Assembly (applicants) had approached the court to stop the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero and four others from parading themselves as Emirs.
Other respondents to the case are Alhaji Nasiru Ado-Bayero (deposed Emir of Bichi), Dr Ibrahim Abubakar ll, (deposed Emir of Karaye), Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad-Inuwa, (deposed Emir of Rano), and Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim (deposed Emir of Gaya).
Other respondents are the Inspector General of Police, Director of Department of Security Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Nigeria Army.
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano, on Friday, has reserved judgement on the enforcement of fundamental rights of the 15th deposed Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado-Bayero.
Ado-Bayero, through his counsel M L Yusufari SAN, filed a motion exparte dated May 27, seeking the court to restrain the respondents from arresting, intimidating or infringing on his right.
The respondents are the Attorney General of the Federation, Attorney General Kano, Nigeria Police, Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police Kano, State Security Service, NSCDC, Nigeria Army, Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Airforce.
When the case came up for hearing, Counsel to the applicant, Michael Jonathan, SAN, said the court has jurisdiction to entertain the case because it was fundamental rights proceedings.
Jonathan filed an originating motion dated May 27, in support of affidavit and a written address.
He urged the court to hear the fundamental rights suit in the interest of Justice for the peace of Kano.
He also urged the court to dismiss the respondents’ preliminary objection on grounds of abuse of court.
Counsel to Kano State Attorney-General, Mahmoud Abubakar-Magaji, SAN, filed a preliminary objection dated May 30 and filed May 31 on four grounds on Kano Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024 and fundamental right.
He urged the court to dismiss and strike out the entire process particularly the originating summons of the applicant motion.
“It is a privilege being an emir not a right.
The applicant filed his application five days after he was dethroned as the Emir of Kano.
“My lord the purported right of the applicant does not exist. This court has no jurisdiction to entertain this case” Abubakar-Magaji said
Abubakar-Magaji also filed a motion on notice dated May 31, to set aside the exparte order it earlier granted retraining the respondents from arresting, intimidating or harassing the applicant.
Justice Simom Amobeda, said that the court would communicate the date for judgment to the parties.
The court had on May 28, ordered the respondents to ensure all rights and privileges of the applicant be given to him in the interest of justice and maintenance of peace in Kano state.
The court also restrained the 3, 4 and 5th respondents and all other respondents from denying the applicant to use his official residence and palace at the Emir’s Palace, Kofar Kudu.
The State House of Assembly on May 23, dissolved all the four newly created Emirate council’s in the state.
For the deposed Kano Emir, Aminu Bayero, it was not a matter of if but when. The moment the Supreme Court upheld Governor Abba Yusuf’s election in January, Bayero knew the governor would need the throne to pay his debt.
During the campaign, the governor promised that if he were elected, he would revoke the sharing of the Kano Municipal Emirate between two Bayeros among the four new emirs and restore the throne’s singular pre-eminence.
Of course, he won. But before the ruling of the Supreme Court in January affirming his election, two lower courts had ruled in favour of the APC candidate, increasing the probability that Yusuf might not get it.
But Yusuf defied the trend and got it. Since then, Aminu Ado Bayero has taken his case to virtually all notable traditional rulers in the country, begging them to beg President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save him. His last visit was to the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikuru Adetona. Neither the Awujale, the Sultan, nor any other traditional rulers he had visited could help.
The throne would be used to pay a debt foretold.
Nearly there
But the re-instated Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is not sitting pretty yet. Not even one side of his royal buttocks is hugging the throne in the main palace yet. He’s currently in a holding room, besieged by orders and counter-court orders about what should happen next.
A young man genuinely surprised by the drama in Kano asked what the fuss was about. Why should the country almost come to grief over who of two cousins – with ties and friendships that run deep – would become the emir? It’s a fair point.
There was a time in this country when the business of chiefs, obas, emirs—or any traditional rulers, by whatever description or name—was the concern of local governments.
How they were appointed, kept or removed was local. Their relevance or longevity depended mainly on how their communities perceived their compliance with the customs and traditions.
Burden of a legacy
Colonial rule exploited and undermined the system. However, the more significant damage was inflicted by the long years of military rule, which emasculated the states and local governments through a centralised system of administration that left the units bereft. Successive politicians have only paid lip service to federalism.
After the civil war and the national trauma that followed it, the military recruited traditional rulers, amongst others, to help heal the country and deepen their own legitimacy. They courted the institutions, propped them up, and invested them with responsibilities that made them more prestigious, prominent, and powerful.
A number of soldiers, especially from the North, where the traditional institution had grown from colonial rule to become something of a vital centre of political and religious authority, soon took traditional titles to reinvent and perpetuate their control, complete with the feudal and anachronistic levers of power.
Game of Thrones pro-max
A young man born into a modern world of merit, innovation and competence is right to question the sense in a country that advertises itself as a republic but is still obsessing over a wayward, neo-medieval concept called monarchy. The only thing that imitates what is happening in Kano is the fantasy TV series, “Game of Thrones”, based on George R. R. Martin’s book, A Song of Ice and Fire.
But that’s precisely the point about the pathology of the monarchy. Throne rule may be extinct in France and parts of Europe where monarchs paid for feudalism with their heads hoisted on spikes by wild mobs or it may be seriously challenged in a few remaining bastions like Britain, but the drama, the complex themes of power, loyalty and betrayal, remains a reality of our daily existence. That’s why Kano obsesses.
Powers behind the throne
Sanusi and Bayero fancy themselves as the centre of the drama. They’re not. Both men and their supporters are grist in a vast and complex power mill grinding through the heart of the politics of 2027 and beyond in the North. Whoever wins now will still yield the throne to pay a future debt.
It’s not Sanusi v Bayero. Or some karmic payback either way. It’s the leader of the NNPP Rabiu Kwankwaso v Abdullahi Ganduje and a few key members of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s cabinet who want to lead the North in 2027.
One insider described what is happening as a “skirmish”, insisting that the battle, which obviously consumed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, is only just beginning.
Coming war
After President Muhammdu Buhari’s catastrophic tenure and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s serial futile attempts at taking the presidency, the North has been asking itself if this is indeed the best it can offer. That soul-searching is at the heart of the jostling to produce credible leadership that can rally the region, if not for the next four years, then certainly for the next general election cycle.
In this coming battle, any potential contender who shows his hand early on may not be politically alive to tell the story. But that will not stop politicians from trying to succeed where El-Rufai was ambushed.
Kwankwaso is one such politician. With the victory at the governorship polls, he regained his political footing in Kano, the largest vote bank in the North-West, where his successor betrayed him. He has been trying, without much success, so far, to trash Ganduje, the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
What Kwankwaso may need to reinforce his grip as the potential pre-eminent political leader in the North, is to secure control of the Kano emirate. Whether given Sanusi’s own volatile history Kwankwaso would find him serviceable in this task is another matter. What is clear is that of the two devils, one is preferred.
Once the emirate is settled, Kwankwaso will return to the immediate task of worming his way into the ruling party. Why would he prefer the ruling party to the prospects of a mega-merger of PDP, LP and others? Because it’s a joke that offers no serious pathway to power, and those mooting the idea know it. Kwankwaso, too, knows it.
Why this skirmish matters
But he also knows that the only thing more combustible than having FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Rivers State Governor Simi Fubara in one room is having Kwankwaso and Ganduje in one room. The combatants, with the referee and spectators, are guaranteed a bloody ending. That’s why, after lining his political and monarchical ducks in a row, Kwankwaso’s next stop is Abuja.
Ganduje knows that this is a fight for his political life. And even though forces around the president detest Ganduje, they are united on the matter of blocking any potential leader from the North who is currently outside Tinubu’s inner circle. There’s no guarantee they would succeed but they won’t fail for lack of effort.
As it was in the “Game of Thrones”, expect more surprises, more twists and turns, more convenient alliances, treachery and betrayals. The monarchy may be damaging itself either from within or from outside pressure, but the lessons it teaches about power, about its absolutism and ephemerality, remain for all who have eyes to see.
Calm is gradually returning to the city of Kano following of tensions over the throne of Emir of Kano even Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II enters into the 6th day of his reinstatement even amidst legal action challenging his Emirship.
While the Sunusi camp insists he is the rightful Emir, having been reappointed by Gov. Abba Yusuf, a Federal High Court sitting in Kano issued an order countering his reinstatement until a suit challenging it was resolved.
According to reports, more District Heads and members of the Tijjaniyya Shura Council, a council of Islamic Sect, have affirmed their loyalty to him.
Other prominent individuals such as Khalifa Sayyadi Bashir, Khalifa Abdullahi Uwaisu, Sheikh Ibrahim Shehu Maihula and Barrister Habibu Dan Almajiri, have also endorsed Sunusi, who claim to the throne is being challenged in the court.
During his initial court session on Sunday, Emir Sunusi, whose Emirship is considered illegal by the Emir Aminu Ado Bayaro camp, received the fealty of 40 District Heads and prominent individuals within the council.
NAN who monitored the situation in Kano on Thursday observed that many residents of the city were going about their normal activities.
Although security agencies were seen at the Emir’s Palace and guest house where Bayero is currently staying, the residents of the city seem undisturbed by their presence.
Alhaji Kabiru Abubakar of Dakata Quarters said most of Kano residents were more concerned about their livelihoods than who becomes the Emir of Kano.
He expressed the confidence in the political and religious leaders in the state to resolve the matter very soon.
Hajiya Aishatu Danlami of Brigade Quarters commended the state government for banning protests, which she said prevented miscreants from taking advantage of the situation to cause mayhem.
Danlami praised residents of the city for resisting provocation from individuals seeking to create confusion in the state.
“Allah has spoken, and Sunusi is now in the palace, piloting the affairs of the Emirate. May Allah continue to guide him to bring about the progress we desire,” she told NAN.
Alhaji Abdullahi Yakubu said the return of Sunusi was a reflection of the desire of the people of the state.
Alhaji Musa Isa of Dala in Dala Local Government Area called on Aminu Ado Bayero, to accept the situation as the will of God.
Isa said there could only be one Emir at a time and urged Bayero to move on with his life as “Allah has spoken through the installation of Emir Sanusi.”
The Kofar Kudu palace of the Emir has been a beehive of activities with people from various parts of the city trooping to witness royal displays and performances.
These include traditional gun salutes for the Emir and the riding of well-decorated horses by palace aides.
Hawkers of various wares have also taken positions in front of the palace selling foods, drinks, textile materials, shoes and prayer mats, among others.
Praise singers and drummers also throng the palace daily, entertaining guest who come from various parts of the country to pay homage to the re-appointed Emir.
NAN
The Kano State Police Command says it has heightened its security presence to identified flashpoints in and around the metropolis to tackle any potential security threats in the state.
The state Commissioner of Police Usaini Gumel, made this known in an interview with NAN, on Wednesday in Kano.
Gumel said’:”equipped and armed personnel have been deployed to handle any unforeseen circumstances around the identified areas.
”The state government’s order banning all protests would be strictly enforced with vigor, adding that anyone found participating would be arrested and prosecuted”.
According to him, residents are advised to go about their lawful activities without fear, as the police and state security agencies have taken comprehensive measures to ensure the safety and security of the state.
He added that the security measures in place would deal decisively with any form of security threats in the state.
”We are equal to the tasks any person or group of people found fomenting trouble will be decisively dealt with accordingly.
”The police will not tolerate any form of violence or criminality, and anyone found with weapons will be arrested and charged with armed robbery”, he said.
The commissioner of police appealed to residents to cooperate with security agencies by reporting any suspicious individuals or activities, noting that this would ensure the sustenance of peace in the state.
”With a comprehensive security network in place, the police and state security agencies are committed to maintaining the peaceful atmosphere that Kano is known for”, he added.
A Kano State High Court has stopped Aminu Bayero from parading himself as the Emir of Kano.
The court has directed the Commissioner of Police in the State to evict deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero from the mini Palace in Nasarawa area of the Kano metropolis.
The orders were delivered by Hon. Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu of the High Court No. 7 on Miller Road, Kano.
The orders were sought by the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Speaker of Kano State House of Assembly, and the State House of Assembly in a suit against Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero and the four other deposed Emirs including Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar II, Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad Inuwa, and Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Gaya.
The order reads: “That an order is hereby granted to the extent that the Commissioner of Police Kano State should immediately take over the palace of the Emir of Kano situate being and lying at State Road Kano and evict the 1 Defendant/Respondent from the said palace pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice dated 24th May, 2024.
“That an order of this Hon. Court is hereby granted restraining the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Defendants from parading themselves as Emirs of Kano, Bichi, Gaya, Rano and Karaye in the interest of peace in Kano pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
“That an order is hereby made that 1 – 5 Defendants be served through the office of the Commissioner Police, Kano State who is to ensure immediate implementation of the order of the Hon. Court in the interest of justice.”
The court adjourned the hearing of the motion on notice to June 11, 2024.