Lamido Sanusi,Others Queue To Replace Emir Of kano

WITH the death of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, on Friday, the first question Nigerians asked was obviously who takes over from him. The question becomes very necessary given the background of the recent crisis between the Federal Government and the last governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The former CBN governor has never hidden his ambition to be emir of Kano after Ado Bayero. Now that Bayero has bowed out, it goes without saying that  prominent likely successors to that throne of influence and prestige would rev up their engine.

Even as the late emir was being buried in Kano on Friday, interested forces pitched tents in making permutations and gauging opinions of the powers that be on who would get the throne. 

Names of likely candidates were openly touted in Kano on Friday and these were Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and three sons of the late emir. These are Alhaji Ciroma  Lamido Ado Bayero (the eldest son of the late emir) who is also the district head of Gwale local government area of Kano. He is highly regarded as Bayero’s heir apparent given historical foundations of majority of previous emirs who succeeded their fathers. 

Another candidate being spoken of is Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the district head of Dala local government area of the state,  a graduate of  Mass Communication. Yet, there are talks also of Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero, said to have been positioned by his father, the late monarch for the position.

The stool is to be filled almost immediately, sources have said.

But the battle for the stool is getting hot among contenders who are said to have kickstarted lobbying immediately.

Sources confirmed to Saturday Tribune that the governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, will play a major role in the emergence of the new monarch as the kingmakers are to nominate three persons for him to pick .

It was gathered that the governor could return the list if he was not satisfied with any of the nominees.

A source said that the immediate past CBN governor is planning to benefit from the cold blood between the Presidency in Abuja and the Kano State government .

Sanusi is the son of Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi, the Emir of Kano who was deposed in 1963. He was half brother to the late Ado Bayero who took over in 1963 and died on Friday.

It was, however, gathered that the late monarch would have preferred his son as successor such that his lineage would be sustained.

A source told the Saturday Tribune that Bayero would not want someone like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to succeed him because of his relatively young age and that none of his children would smell the throne if the former CBN governor took the stool. 

It was, however, gathered that there appeared an unstated rift between the late Ado Bayero and Governor Kwakwanso as of the time of his demise.

A source said that the governor had earlier in the week rejected the nomination of Alhaji Sheik Shalleh as Wazirin Kano. The late monarch was said to have preferred Shaleh as the Wazirin but the Government House objected, leading the kingmakers to agree with the government decision.

It was gathered that Galadinma Kano is also interested in the race for the Bayero stool, though sources said the man has become old.

Said a source in the know: “Governor Kwakwanso is going to play a huge role in the emergence of the new Emir of Kano. The tradition is that the kingmakers will nominate three candidates and the governor would pick one of them.

“But he can reject the entire list if he does not want any of the three and then the search would start all over again.

“Right now, there are feelers that the governor and the late monarch had a secret disagreement, leading to the rejection of the Wazirin nominee only this week. The contenders are so far three in the race. You have the former CBN governor,  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the son of the late monarch, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero and the man who occupies the seat of Galadinma Kano. There are others who would start coming up any moment from now.”

Bayero’s Fulani clan started ruling Kano in 1819.

1. Abdullahi Bayero ruled for  27 years (1926-1953).

2. Muhammadu Sanusi (his son) 1953-1963

3. Muhammadu Inuwa (3 months) 1963

4. Ado Bayero (October 1963 - 2014)

5. ??

With the demise of Emir Abdullahi Bayero in 1953, his eldest son, Sir Muhammadu Sanusi, was installed as the 11th emir and the 54th ruler of Kano. Emir Sanusi was a very charismatic and powerful leader whose tenure was marked by peace and continuous modern development. He was a very learned Islamic scholar in addition to being an astute administrator. Like his late father, he also led Friday prayers in the Kano central mosque. It was during his reign that Queen Elizabeth 11 of England visited Kano in 1956 where a Durbar was held in her honour. He was the first Nigerian appointed as acting governor when the colonial governor went on leave in 1958. He maintained the dignity, power and prestige associated with the office of the Emir of Kano.

Due to irreconcilable differences between Emir Sanusi and the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, he was removed as the Emir of Kano in 1963 and exiled to Azare, thus he was nicknamed Sarki Murabus (Retired Emir). He died in April 1991 at the age of 86 in Wudil, near Kano. One of the Emir Sanusi’s sons who was Ciroman Kano, Ambassador Aminu Sanusi, was also one of the first 12 Foreign Service officers recruited in Nigeria in 1957. Ambassador Sanusi had a distinguished career in the diplomatic service rising to become permanent secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs before retiring. He gave birth to Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

The late Ado Bayero
Bayero was born to the family of Hajiya Hasiya and Abdullahi Bayero and into the Fulani Sullubawa clan that has presided over the emirate of Kano since 1819. He was the 11th child of his father and the second of his mother. At the age of seven, he was sent to live with Maikano Zagi. He studied the Qur’an and later attended the Kano Middle School, and School for Arabic Studies, Kano.

He started his working career in 1947 at the then British Bank for West Africa, now First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

In 1949, Bayero joined the services of the Kano Native Authority (NA), and attended courses at the Clerical Training Centre, Zaria; and the United Kingdom, and rose to the rank of Chief Clerk at the Kano Town Council.

He later joined partisan politics and contested and won election into the Northern Regional House of Assembly in 1954 on the platform of the defunct Northern People’s Congress (NPC).

In 1957, he resigned his membership of the House and took up the appointment of Wakilin Doka, Chief of Kano Native Authority Police.

He was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to Senegal five years later, and became the Emir of Kano in 1963 while studying French in Switzerland.

Bayero was the Chancellor of various Nigerian universities, including the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; the University of Ibadan, and University of Maiduguri.

He was the longest serving Emir of Kano, and spearheaded the construction of many mosques and Islamic schools in the emirate.