– Emir of Kano Mohammadu Sanusi 1 was dethroned in 1963 and banished to Azare in Bauchi state over issues with the then premier of Northern region
-His dethronement followed a recommendation by the probe panel set up by the premier of Northern region and Sadauna of Sokoto
– The present Emir of Kano, Mohammadu Sanusi 11, is also being probed by the state house of assembly and there is the likelihood that he may go as his grandfather
“The government has accepted to implement the recommendation of the probe panel set up by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the premier of Northern region, that you should be removed from office. Do you have any response to this?” The then governor of Northern region of Nigeria, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, asked Muhammadu Sanusi 1, the then Emir of Kano in 1963. The Emir responded “nothing.” Consequently, he was dethroned as emir of Kano and banished to Azare in Bauchi state for 20 years before he died.
Even though the whole probe, dethronement and subsequent confinement in Azare, where he was even allowed to choose his exile location, was well cloaked, it was largely believed that it was a result of power tussle between the Emir and his distant cousin Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto.
Sir Kashim had reluctantly summoned the Emir to deliver the verdict on the prompting of the Sardauna of Sokoto, despite the fact that he had pointed out the likelihood of the action being followed by political crisis. However, the refusal of Muhammadu Sanusi I to show any emotion or even offer any response, gave him the confidence he needed to proceed, and brought out an already prepared resignation letter for him to sign, which was signed without a word.
It is believed that the rift between the hitherto close friends and distant cousins had begun in 1962 when Sir Ahmadu Bello had bypassed the Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi I, to choose Sir Ibrahim Kashim as the governor of Northern Nigeria, even though he had acted in that capacity while the incumbent was away on leave in 1961, and was generally considered by the public to have been more suited for the position. This slight did not go unnoticed, and it marked the beginning of what was to become a huge political crack in the wall.
The embattled Emir of Kano, Mohammadu Sanusi 11
After this, there were petty attempts on both sides to get the better of the other. One particular incident of interest was a formal occasion in the race when the emir of Kano stole the spotlight by arriving in full splendor and pageantry after the Sardauna had been seated and the whole assemblage had to stand up for the Emir in traditional homage and honour. It was one too much for the Sardauna to bear.
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The leadership of the Emir of Kano and the Sultan had also stepped on the Sardauna’s sensitive spot when they protested directly to the British governor of Northern Nigeria about the interference in local affairs of Northern People’s Congress party stalwarts, thereby bypassing the Sardauna. For a man who neither forgot not forgave easily, the premier was clearly not happy with both men.
The already shaky relationship between the two powerful rulers assumed another dimension over a domestic matter when one of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi’s sons divorced his wife who was the daughter of the Emir of Gwandu, the Sardauna’s distant cousin.
Another occasion was in 1959 when the North celebrated its internal self-government. The Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi, had expected that he would sit in the ‘royal box’ with the Sardauna, the Sultan and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Henry and Princess Alice, who had embarked ‘on a tour of Eastern Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons and Lagos, but he had simply been told to sit somewhere else.
Another ground was the Emir’s opposition to the provincial bill passed by the Sardauna’s government which culminated in the appointment of some house of assembly members as provincial commissioners who enjoyed not only the rank of ministers in the regional government, but were also given official precedence over the emirs. It would seem that insult was added to injury when the provincial commissioner for Kano was a Sokoto man, one Alhaji Aliyu, Magajin Gari of Sokoto, who happened to be of Sokoto royal slave origin. For the Emir, this was the height of it.
The Sardauna further passed a land tenure law which transferred certain highly lucrative powers of land allocation from the emirates to the regional government thereby striking at the Emir’s purse. This was too much for the Emir as Kano was the hardest hit being the most economically important to the regional government.
Governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
The tussle, ZENITHBLOG.com learnt, culminated in dethronement when the administrative board of enquiry set up by the Sardauna to look into the affairs of the Kano emirate, probed and recommended that the Emir of Kano be dethroned. Needless to say, the report of the enquiry seriously implicated the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, in a series of improprieties and actions considered detrimental to order and good governance.
Judging from the crisis that followed after the dethronement, the Northern public obviously felt that even if there was actually an embezzlement, which was common in those days, it could have been overlooked, or in extreme cases a private warning would have been sufficient, instead of setting a record in history by dethroning the ruler of the emirate which the Sardauna did to top his scorecard.
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It therefore brings a clear sense of political dejavu that a similar scenario is replaying itself; this time between the grandson of the dethroned emir, and current Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, and the northern political establishment. Less than a week ago, when it became public knowledge that the Kano state house of assembly has set up an eight-man committee, headed by the Chief whip of the house, Alhaji Labaran Abdul, to probe Sanusi II, it simply portrayed the picture that history was set to repeat itself.
Similar to his grandfather’s case, the issues being raised are based on alleged misconduct and alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the Kano emirate council, although the allegations listed against him give one another cause to wonder what indeed might be the root cause of this falling-out between the house of assembly and the emirate.
One of the issues for which he may be probed is an allegation that he spread rumour on the trip of the Kano state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to China recently to hold discussions on a light rail project in the state, which the speaker of the state assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum said: “Was capable of tarnishing the governor’s image, the state government and that of the assembly.”
The grandfather of Emir of Kano, Mohammhadu Sanusi 1 receiving the colonial visitors to his palace
The speaker stated: “The emir, during his speech in Kaduna, alleged that the Kano state governor and his entourage, including me as the chairman of the house committee on works, wasted one month in China seeking for a loan to construct the light rail project. The emir’s statement was not true, we spent only four days in China, and our visit was to find out the capacity of the company to handle the rail project. His
On the issue of alleged misappropriation of funds, for which the Kano emirate council, which Sanusi chairs was already being probed by the Kano state public complaints and anti-corruption commission, the former chairman of the apex bank is accused of misappropriating N6 billion. An accusation to which the emirate has already responded with a statement that it had only spent “N4.3 billion since the enthronement of Sanusi as the emir of Kano, as the emir only met N1 billion when he was enthroned a couple of years back.”
Another issue of misconduct for which he is to be crucified was his downgrading the honour of the Kano emirate council by assigning his daughter to represent him at a function organised by the #BringBackourGirls# group in Abuja, especially since she failed to wear the full traditional regalia to represent him at a function organised by the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group in Abuja, with the speaker saying that such had never been seen in the traditional home.
They argued that there were other members of the emirate council who could have been sent in her place. “The mode of dressing of the emir’s daughter at the event was an embarrassment not only to the emirate council but the entire people of Kano,” the speaker had lamented.
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For anyone who followed her appearance at that function, it can easily be construed that her words gave them more cause for alarm, than her untraditional regalia. At the function, Sanusi’s daughter Shahida showed herself to be the true daughter of her father as she spoke without coating her words with sugar. She was reported as saying; “My father is not afraid of giving up his throne if it stands in the way of speaking the truth.
“Those who think that my father would keep quiet because he wants to hold on to his throne, I think they don’t know my father. I know that he has always wanted to be the emir of Kano but to him, if it comes between what is right, what his conscience tells him and choosing the throne, he would happily give up the throne. My father has always been a part of one controversy or the other and it’s normal for us. We are not scared anymore.”
President Muhammadu Buhari and Emir Muhammadu Sanusi 11
Not deterred by people’s reaction or lack of it, she stated that her father would always fight for progress, liberty, justice and equality. “Those who think they know my father should know that he will never be silenced by blackmail and intimidation. He lost his position once as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and I remember his quote that you can suspend a man but you can never suspend the truth. I know he does not mind being the most unpopular emir so long as he speaks the truth.”
Listening to her speak, one clearly gets to understand why the state legislators were convinced that there were “many responsible members of Kano emirate council members” who could represent the emir at the event instead of his daughter. “This is the first time we are witnessing this kind of representation in the history of Kano emirate council,” he stated without mincing words.
The accusation which seems to convey the true reasons for the probe is the statement that he, Sanusi, was: “getting involved in political issues, the misappropriation of the emirate council’s funds and making statements against President Muhammadu Buhari.” This act, they said, contravened the culture of traditional institution.
With these said, Gama, therefore, appealed to the house to investigate the activities of the emirate council with a view to correcting things. Accordingly, speaker of the house, Alhassan Rurum, set up a 7-member committee to investigate the allegations. He mandated the committee to study the law establishing the traditional institution for possible amendment and report to the house within two weeks.
Members of the committee include Abdul Madari representing Ajingi constituency (chairman); Baffa Babba-Dan’Agundi, representing Kano municipal (vice chairman) and Kabiru Dachi representing Kiru constituency.
Many reasons why Emir Sanusi may be dethroned as his grandfather was dethroned in 1963
This act, therefore, put a stop to the investigation being done by the Kano state public complaints and anti-corruption commission over alleged embezzlement of over N6bn in three years. As was stated by the chairman of Kano state public complaints and anti-corruption agency, Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado: “The commission has suspended its investigation pending the outcome of the assembly’s. This is because according to the section 16 of the commission’s law, we are prevented from investigating any matter that is before the atate assembly, executive and or court of law.”
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Notably, in recent weeks, Sanusi has been against top northern leaders for their conservative Islamic values, which, over time, have stood against development. In fact, he took a swipe at people who indulge in child marriage and, against the norm, advised against polygamy if there is no money to support such. Not a man to tolerate superstition in the age when other countries are making waves in high tech and modern medicine, Sanisi came down hard on the Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, who reasoned that the meningitis outbreak was God’s judgment for the people’s sexual escapades!
Sanusi advised fellow Muslims to “stop allowing human beings appropriate their religion for selfish reasons.” He also threatened religious and traditional leaders in his domains to stop beating their wives, failing which they would lose their titles. This open criticism was viewed by some political leaders as not only too blunt, but also a direct attempt to undermine state authorities which resulted in underground moves for his suspension and subsequent dethronement.
For most public and political analysts, the probe is not unusual, especially since the emir is a public figure, and once held a public office as governor of central bank, where he also pointed fingers at others accusing them of embezzlement and misappropriation.
The issue, however, is that the legislators have made a slip by making mention of matters which have no bearing with financial dealings but rather point to the fact that they are disturbed by Sanusi’s radical posture or statements. Perhaps, it is as Sanusi once said that his grandfather was his hero and one of the strongest influences in his life; hence the similarity in their bluntness, a trait which can already be seen in his daughter, Shahida.
On the other side, it is being hinted that five northern governors – Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, Nasiru El-Rufa’i of Kaduna, Kashim Shettima of Borno, Aminu Masari of Katsina and Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger have brokered a truce at a peace meeting in Kaduna penultimate Friday between Governor Ganduje and the emir.
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