KANO is at a precipice of a conflagration due to the disputed restoration of Muhammad Sanusi II as emir. Governor Abba Yusuf reinstated Sanusi and ousted his predecessor on May 24 after a new law. But Aminu Ado-Bayero wields power as emir at the Nasarawa tiny palace in the state capital weeks after his ouster. Yusuf should restore the tranquility in the state.
Already, there is divided loyalty to the two emirs. To further exacerbate the problem, state and federal high courts are giving inconsistent decisions over the lawful ruler of one of Nigeria’s famous emirates. The tensions continue to heighten with the Kano State Police Command implementing the governor’s prohibition against protests.
The bitter struggle began immediately after the 2019 general elections and culminated in March 2020 with the dismissal of Sanusi by the then-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje over claims of insubordination, and “questionable expenditures and financial misappropriation,” which he denied.
Ganduje later signed a Kano State Emirate Council bill into law. The law balkanised the emirate into five - Kano, Gaya, Karaye, Rano, and Bichi. He installed new rulers for them.
The Second Republic governor, Abubakar Rimi, ousted the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero in 1982. Rimi and Ganduje had attempted to unbundle the Kano Emirate into distinct councils, although their predecessors had returned to the status quo.
The late Bayero survived threats of dethronement from the former Sani Abacha regime, and investigations of mismanagement of funds by the then governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, in 2012.
In 1955, the Alaafin of Oyo, Adeniran Adeyemi II, was dethroned by the Action Group administration of Western Nigeria. In 1981, the then-Governor of Ogun State, Bisi Onabanjo, ousted the Awujale of Ijebuland, Sikiru Adetona, but was reinstated by the courts in May 1984.
When the Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo, protested about the terrible roads in Abeokuta in 2005, Governor Gbenga Daniel moved against him.
Indeed, the political class is cozy with traditional rulers if they are receptive to their interests. They are courted for their cultural and symbolic influence during elections but are dispensed with when they speak truth to power.
Sanusi and Bayero and their followers should not plunge Kano into turmoil. The lives and properties of Kano residents should not be cannon fodder for conflicts between cousins. When the courts get their acts right, they should obey the rule of law irrespective of who the gavel eventually favours.
Although Nigeria is a republic, traditional rulers nevertheless struggle to maintain their sense of imperial nostalgia without much official legitimacy. Traditional leaders are legally subject to state governments. The impact of Nigeria's royal fathers on culture and religion is still being diminished by modernity, despite the fact that many Nigerians hold them in high regard.
However, the job of traditional rulers is to maintain peaceful cohabitation within communities. They have the ability to mobilize community support for initiatives aimed at empowering and enlightening people as well as fighting insecurity.
Nigeria must so take a cue from Britain in this regard. The monarchical institution in Britain is preserved and kept apart from the country's constantly shifting political climate. The unwritten constitution of the nation has protected the monarchy's historical and symbolic reverence while allowing the royal family to participate in social welfare initiatives in a dignified, modest, and free-from-political manner.
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