The many battles of Kano traditional rulers with politicians

Thursday’s repeal of the Kano Emirates Council Law, which saw the sacking of the five emirs and the appointment of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano revealed how politics continued to determine the reign of traditional rulers in the foremost emirate.

Since the First Republic, emirs of the ancient city have had to contend with the whims of some political leaders holding forth in the territory.

The first to taste this bitter pill was the 11th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, who had a running battle with the northern regional government headed by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto.

Relations between Sanusi and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) government led by Ahmadu Bello was said to have turned sour when senior members of the party in Kaduna became disenchanted with the emir’s towering personality, and rising influence.

A probe panel set up by the northern regional government headed by D.J.M Muffet, the sole commissioner recommended the forced resignation of the 11th Fulani Emir of Kano.

On March 28, 1963, the then Regional Governor, Sir Kashim Ibrahim received the letter of resignation tendered by the embattled emir, which the government accepted.

Sanusi, was subsequently deposed and banished to Azare in Bauchi State, where he maintained a low profile.

He was succeeded by his uncle, Muhammadu Inuwa, son of Emir Abbas and younger brother to the late Emir Abdullahi Bayero, whom Sanusi succeeded.

His ouster created political tension in Kano leading to the formation of Kano People’s Party (KPP), which clamoured for the creation of Kano region, independent of the Northern Region.

KPP members were largely sympathetic to the deposed emir.

The Action Group, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, tried to make political capital out of the seemingly declining political fortune of the NPC in Kano ahead of the 1964 general election.

Emir Inuwa’s reign was short, as he died on the throne six months later. Inuwa, however, managed internal rebellion from older children of the deposed emir.  

Ado Sanusi, who held the traditional title of Daniya, was promoted to Galadima by Emir Inuwa, a position he rejected and instead tendered his resignation. This action angered the emir who decreed a dismissal instead.

Ado Bayero, a younger brother to Sanusi, was appointed Emir of Kano by the northern regional government on October 22, 1963, to succeed Muhammadu Inuwa.

He was the longest reigning emir in the history of Kano emirate after the Sokoto jihad, but he also had collision with politicians in the course of his reign.

After the military coup of January 15, 1966, the enormous powers of the native authority, which was under the emir, was reduced and this was compounded by the local government reform of the 1970s, depriving the emir of full control over local government councils.

After the 1979 elections, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) government led by Abubakar Rimi, had a bitter relationship with the then Emir Ado Bayero. The PRP was an offspring of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), whose agenda was for the emancipation of the poor from oppression, over taxation and the overbearing influence of the emirate.

Governor Rimi’s query issued to the emir led to riots in Kano in July, 1981. To further reduce the powers of the emir, Rimi created new emirates of Gaya, Rano, Dutse and Auyo, giving them first class statuses as emir Ado Bayero.  

The emirs of Kazaure, Gumel and Hadejia, now in Jigawa State, were also upgraded to first class status.

In 1982, Governor Rimi relocated the deposed Emir Sanusi from Azare in Bauchi State to Wudil, near Kano, raising suspicion that he wanted to reappoint him.

However, respite came the way of Emir Bayero following the 1983 election, which saw the defeat of Rimi by PRP’s Aliyu Sabo Bakinzuwo.

The first action of Governor Bakinzuwo was to remove all the emirs appointed by Rimi and demoted them to their previous positions.

Ado Bayero will go on to survive many military administrations, including the Abacha regime that allegedly planned to balkanize Kano State, allegedly in pursuance of the self-succession bid of the military ruler.

Oral accounts had it that when Bayero got wind of the plot, he reportedly called the Commander-in-Chief to personally say ‘thank you’. Perhaps, many in Kano believed, that killed the plot.

Ado Bayero was the lone emir in the state after the creation of Jigawa, which saw the movement of Kazaure emirate to the new state. 

His long reign came to an end on June 6, 2014, following his death after 50 years on the throne.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who had been removed as CBN governor by ex- President Goodluck Jonathan, succeeded him on June 8.

Late Ado Bayero’s eldest son, Lamido Sanusi Ado Bayero, left Kano in protest of the appointment.

And in 2015, the new emir, who changed his official name to Muhammad Sanusi II, stripped Lamido Ado Bayero of his title of Chiroman Kano, and in his stead elevated his younger brother, Nasiru Ado Bayero, to the position and made him the district head of Nasarawa.

Sanusi also elevated Aminu Ado Bayero to Wambai from Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar Gida.

After the 2019 election, which was won by Ganduje, five new emirates were created on May 8.

This action was believed by many to be targeted at the then 14th Emir, Sanusi, whom the governor believed opposed his re-election and was critical of his policies.

The creation of the new emirates was challenged in court by two members of the State House of Assembly, who contended that due process was not followed  and Justice Usman Na’Abba voided the law establishing the emirates.

But it was a temporary respite as Governor Ganduje assented to a new law establishing the emirates on December 5, the same year.

One of the beneficiaries of the new law was Aminu Ado Bayero, who was made emir of the newly created Bichi emirate.

Legal fireworks ensued thereafter over the new emirates culminating in the deposition of Emir Sanusi and his banishment to Awe in Nasarawa State on March 9, 2020.

Aminu Ado was subsequently appointed Emir of Kano. 

The 2023 election in the state changed the dynamics around the new emirates as the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) led government made its intention known that the emirates created by the previous administration would go.