The only disappointment with the hurried passing of the emirate balkanization bill by the Kano State House of Assembly is that they broke Kano’s motto: ko da mai ka zo, anfi ka – literally that Kano is naturally ahead of you in anything. The existing record of subterfuge in bill presentation and passage belong to Ekiti State that under Digbolugi Ayo Fayose, received, read and passed a budget in minutes. Those were the days when minority members lorded it over the majority. Yoruba elders would say – ki ni oju o riri – nothing is new under the sun.
His Majesty, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s record in reputation sustenance is incomparable to the accounts of his ‘elected’ state governor Abdullahi Ganduje. In a social media reaction to the controversy last week, I had written that the Emir has more kilograms of integrity in the nails of one finger than Ganduje would have at the end of his tenure or even his life. The battle in Kano is about anything the true definition of integrity a word that has lost both meaning and significance in our country today.
Since the dissolution of the House of Chiefs at the end of the First Republic, the state and the monarchy have been called incompatible, although politricians tend to want traditional rulers to act their script. Recently, the Zamfara governor announced he’ll be deposing Kings if there’s brigandage in their domain. Kano’s monarchs have no history of squirm when it comes to taking a stand against tyranny even one with federal backing. Emir Sanusi’s grandfather was exiled by a regime then in power.
In 1981, the late Abubakar Rimi queried Emir Ado Bayero. Kanawas responded in anger, resisting the denigration of the office of their age long tradospiritual head. The result was the torching of virtually everything with the imprimatur of the state. Yours sincerely was a staff of Radio Kano then. The burning and looting that greeted the riots led to the unfortunate gruesome murder of Dr. Bala Muhammed who was Rimi’s political adviser and late husband of the irrepressible Najaatu Mohammed. Rimi also balkanized the Emirate granting seniority to some pro-government rulers. Sabo Bakin Zuwo later reversed the decision. So, somebody please tell Ganduje that he would not be the first governor to tamper with Kano tradition. This is one reason why Kanawa’s hardly grant second terms to their governors. When all this is over, somebody is going down as a serial traitor, not just to tradition but to the trust of friends – ask Kwankwaso!
Ganduje did not score first in whittling down the influence of a conscientious natural ruler. He shares that title with Authority Isiaka Ajimobi of Oyo State who broke down the geographical sphere of influence of the Olubadan of Ibadanland by elevating Baales, or head of clans into Kings. The case is still in court. At the end, Ajimobi lost out in the political power game, because in most parts of the world, treachery to tradition is a grievous offense.
Ganduje’s bill was rushed through the rubberstamp Kano House of Assembly, the same one that developed cold feet when Ganduje’s controversial sleaze videos surfaced on social and mainstream media. Suddenly, Amr SLS is under probe even for gifts that did not cost either the state government or the emirate a farthing. The arrowhead of this witch-hunt accuses the Amr of sacrilege. That he sent his own daughter to represent him at a BringBackOurGirls gathering in Abuja instead of sending a titled chief. That the said daughter whose head and body were properly covered was not appropriately dressed. This is misogyny dressed in religious garb.
The nagging question is not if but when Ganduje removes Emir Sanusi. The Emir in the eye of the public probably doesn’t expect to stay on the throne of his forebears till death do him part. I have never met the Amr in person, but his public records are evident. Basically, he lives what he preaches. He is a modernist who would love to be remembered as the head of a modern state that is traditionally sound, morally upright and socio-politically advanced. By his own desire, he has fulfilled destiny, which was to be the ruler of his people. History is on his side.
Sanusi had the opportunity to rise to the highest peak in the corporate world, but he followed his dream. If he had joined party politics as some are now advocating, no other candidate could have beaten him to the presidency. Every man must realize his calling and stick to his path or choose the road to infamy and public ridicule. Who is afraid of an Emir with no vote in government and nothing but a moral voice in the public? Only the guilty are frightened by their shadows.
History is the final judge and it’s brutal ruling is eternal. Sanusi, even as a public official left no one in doubt as to where he belongs – with reason first and foremost knowing that reason follows the people. The world is watching how this witch-hunt would go and what would be Ganduje’s final action. For now, let me say that it is better to reign in the hearts of people who know the value of integrity than to be garlanded by people with no ounce of honour.
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