“Before you acquire power, you should acquire the wisdom to use it well” – Tywin Lannister
TYWIN Lannister character of Game of Thrones said this, as one of his less famous quotes in the hit TV series. A highly capable administrator. He is a master strategist and is extremely skilled in manipulating people in getting what he wants. This quote came to mind when the drama in Kano over claims to the commercial city’s throne played out significantly few days ago.
Muhammad Sanusi II was reinstated as the 16th Fulani Emir of Kano by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on Friday, May 24, 2024. But by the morning after (May 25, 2024), Aminu Ado Bayero, who was deposed on Thursday, May 23, 2024, following the passage of the Kano Emirates Council (Amendment) Bill by the state House of Assembly, and its assent by Governor Yusuf, had staged a comeback.
Sanusi is not only married to a daughter of Alhaji Ado Bayero, he is also a second cousin to Aminu Ado Bayero; his father, the late Chiroman Kano, Aminu Sanusi being a nephew to the late Emir Ado Bayero. The two are now are at daggers drawn over who should occupy the exalted Kano throne that existed for hundreds of years.
Like Datti Ahmad, rightly puts it in one of his piece, “The drama and the intrigues in this fight by cousins, reminiscent of the Kano civil war fought between 1893 and 1895, has been described by many keen observers as “rather unfortunate”.
Therefore, its poetic to say, in this land of peace and harmony, and the time of democracy, the destiny of this great kingdom rests on the shoulders of some politicians and not the Royal kingmakers – how did we get here. I tell you how.
In 2019, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje created four additional emirates besides Kano: Bichi, Gaya, Karaye and Rano. Ganduje also appointed Wamban Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero as the first emir of the newly created Bichi emirate.
Beyond the symbolic elevation of Bichi Emir, the action created not only deep division among the royals but also along party lines. PDP adherents were seen as sympathetic to the cause of Emir Sanusi, who was battling to undo the balkanisation and restore his authority over the entire Kano.
The politics of the creation of new emirates was seen by the opposition (Kwankwaso and his allies had defected from the APC to the PDP) as political landmines buried by the Ganduje administration to perpetuate himself as a leading political gladiator after completing his 8th year as governor. Ganduje succeeded Kwankwaso, whom he had parted ways with few months into his first term in office, as governor of Kano State.
While the ruling APC was happy with the new emirates it created (at least they believe the people were happy with the decentration of traditional authority to their door steps), NNPP, with Kwankwaso as its natural leader, tailored its campaign around remedying the perceived wrongs of the government headed by Ganduje.
Little wonder that when the party won the 2023 governorship election in Kano many believed that scrapping the new emirates was a done deal. Calls for the reinstatement of Sanusi reverberated among the Kwankwasiyya faithful much to the embarrassment of the emir and APC supporters.
Personally, I use to be a big fan of NNPP leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; Kano Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf and Muhammadu Sanusi II, but over the last few days, all three of them have showed that they don’t love Kano and it’s people as much as I use to think they do.
I will start with Kwankwaso – A few days after NNPP won Kano, Kwankwaso said, the issue of four new emirates will be revisited by Abba’s administration and the right thing will be done. Most Kanawas like me were happy, because we all felt things will be done with decorum and wisdom whenever the matter comes up – not this political drama we are witnessing today.
It’s even more insulting that Kwankwaso told BBC Hausa, he knew nothing about what’s happening in Kano and he is yet to get a brief on the natter after 24 hours of Sanusi reinstatement – even my 13-year-old nephew exclaimed to the sound of that. We all know that everything happening in Kano is a script hand-written by Kwankwaso himself and nobody will tell me otherwise. To jeopardize the peace and safety of over 4 million people in Kano for the joy of one man is nothing but sheer loathe for the people of the state.
For Kano Governor, Abba Yusuf, it’s like he has decided to serve Kano for only one term because it’s an established fact that, this royal blunder will haunt him come 2027 and perilously so. When other governors like Dauda of Zamfara, Bago of Niger, Radda of Katsina and Namadi of Jigawa were busy commissioning hospitals, schools, power plants and other life-enhancing projects for their people, Abba is in Kano fighting an unnecessary war of royalties. To our disappointment, for almost a year, this man is yet to commission a single project to his name.
It is fine to dissolve the new created four emirates and maintain a single royal line in Kano but what has Aminu Ado Bayero done wrong? This is a man, whose father, the late Ado Bayero was born and bred in Gidan Dabo, he was also born and bred in Gidan Dabo – rule is all he knows – rule as a king. The people love him, he understands the Emirate very very well and he is widely seen as an icon of the Bayero dynasty – all Governor Yusuf needs to do is apply wisdom and let him continue to rule, that’s not a difficult decision to take unless of course, you have Abba as a governor.
For Muhammadu Sanusi II – Sanusi is a citizen of the world. And he was King for a few years, so that life ambition has been granted. So, for most of us who thought we knew this man, said ‘he won’t come back after the disgrace he went through the last time he was dethroned’. Therefore, for me to witness this grapple by Sanusi to return to Gidan Rumfa as the Emir of Kano left me ashamed and wondering – is this really the Muhammadu Sanusi we know and love. I am confused, what is this desperation from Sanusi to be King again?
And with the way he went about trying to delineate Aminu Ado as a bad Emir just hours after entering the Gidan Rumfa, making offensive comments against his cousin, also claiming that Aminu Ado and his family vandalized the ‘Gidan Rumfa’, and quietly watching his son, Ashraf Sanusi continuously attack Aminu Ado – sends one message – Muhammadu Sanusi is not ready to rule now and he is coming back with a vengeful mission.
Having said that, I wish to appeal to both families to exercise restraint in the interest of peace and stability, moreso as the matter has reportedly gone to Court and is therefore sub-judice. As it is, if they continue on this path, few years from now, the ascendency to the throne in Kano will become a thing of public vote not royal lineage.
I rest my case.
Kabara, is a writer and public commentator. Her syndicated column, Voice, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Mondays. She can be reached on hafceekay01@gmail.com