The plots to remove the 14th emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, from office are being interpreted variously in different quarters. BASHIR MOHAMMED writes on the reasons behind the decision
At the time the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, succeeded the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero on June, 8, 2014, no one had ever foresaw it in the ruling Fulani dynasty in Kano.
Those on the top of the succession list and even battle included, the late emir’s eldest son, Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero, his younger brothers, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero and the present Galadiman Kano, Alhaji Abbas Sanusi, and a host of other notable contenders.
But of utmost surprise and wonder, was the eleventh hour decision of the Kano Emirate Council kingmakers whose fingers fell on the shoulders of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, and whose choice by them received the executive nod of the immediate past governor of the state Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who appended his signature, giving the seal of authority to ascend the throne to the man least expected to become the new emir of Kano.
His choice as one to succeed the late Ado Bayero had created tension and ruffled feathers, with hundreds of youths opposing the appointment, went to the streets of Kano in protest, a minor rampage over came by security agents in a jiffy, paving the way for the new emir to stay put in the saddle of authority.
With his appointment as the 14th emir of Kano in the ruling Fulani dynasty becoming firmly entrenched and the forces of stiff resistance almost put in check, Sanusi II, started to confront the establishment and issues of governance with full confidence and elation winning the heart of the people despite the initial revolt that greeted his ascension.
Sanusi, as noted by pundits, had his own admirers and loyalists who saw him as a fiery image of a genius planted in the saddle of authority that had the mastery of the Glorious Quran and western education combined together, a unique treasure needed in a person pulling strings in the most sprawling monarchy in Hausa land.
Many of his admirers and loyalists had the firm conviction that Sanusi has the effrontery to call the bluff of those who he perceives are on the wrong path in the corridors of power, knowing that he had possessed the gut and the intellectual capacity to do so.
His tough stand on national issues and the wheeling and dealings of the Buhari’s administration had almost pitted him against those who perceived his exploits as inimical to the interest of the monarchy, pronouncement never known to be the hall mark of his predecessors.
Things begun to take shape and assumed an extra ordinary dimension, when he read the riot act to President Muhammadu Buhari that he was risking repeating the errors committed by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, if he dare make the mistake of plunging Nigeria into economic instability.
Such an analogy had undoubtedly drawn the ire of Sanusi’s ardent critics and elicited front page lead stories in almost all the national dailies, with the Presidency and spin masters of the president becoming restive, pouring invectives on what they considered as vituperative comments from the man expected to mind his language.
On the home front, Emir Sanusi is also widely seen as one who had broken away from the age-long tradition of the Kano monarchy which the late Ado Bayero safeguarded its dignity yet maintained a reserved posture except in a situation where by the interest and dignity of his subjects was subverted.
Sanusi’s criticism of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s rail contract with a Chinese firm, was the climax of his psychological warfare with politicians in position of authority, which many view as an affront on the personality of the sitting governor, who has the power to appoint and dethrone an emir in the saddle of power.
Knowing his ideological disposition as a pacifist, there was never a time when Governor Ganduje made a public pronouncement as regards his reaction to the venom spat on him by the emir over the rail contract he had signed with the Chinese firm, only that the cold war was being carried out by Ganduje’s loyalists and a handful supporters of the Kano emir.
The people of Kano were made to believe that there was no love lost between the Kano emir and Governor Ganduje, when a revelation came from the Kano state Public Complaints and Anti- Corruption Commission that the Commission was set to probe alleged misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N6bn by the Kano emirate council without the permission and approval of the state government.
With the current investigation into the alleged financial impropriety suspended by the anti -graft outfit, on the premise that the Commission has no superior jurisdiction to forge ahead with the investigation since fresh allegations had been slammed on the emir as a result of the motion tabled on the floor of the House by a member of Kano state House of Assembly had opened another Pandora box for the emir following fresh allegations against his person, which led to the setting of an 8-man committee to investigate and submit its findings and recommendations to the leadership of the House in two weeks.
However, the decision taken by the leadership of the House, was motivated by the flurry of fresh allegations slammed on the monarch by member representing Nasarawa Constituency, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahamed Gama, who listed the eight-count allegations, for the House to consider as a motion of urgent public importance.
Narrating the allegations on a case by case basis, Gama alleged that he had an incontrovertible evidence that Sanusi had told a gathering that Governor Ganduje, in company of some select legislators had spent 30 days in China , while they only spent four days.
He also alleged that the monarch had lavishly depleted the emirate council’s funds without official approval and allegedly attacked federal government policies which in words, such criticisms could be channeled to the government in an amenable manner.
He further alleged that Sanusi had also threw caution to the winds by delegating his daughter to represent him at a function in Abuja, dressing indecently regardless of considering the fact that having come from a respected citadel of traditional authority, she was supposed to have exhibited a trait of moral discipline and decorum in addition to alleging that the monarch was also seen in illicit photographic appearance , an attitude never known to be in the character of the revered Kano monarchy.
The establishment of the 8-man investigation committee headed by the member representing Warawa Constituency, who is also the Chief Whip of the House, Alhaji Labaran Abdul, had undoubtedly elicited discordant tunes in Kano with supporters of the emir viewing the action of the leadership of the House as a classic case of an orchestrated design to victimize the monarch.
While on the other side of the coin, critics taking umbrage at the pronouncements of the monarch saw him as a gadfly who speaks to hurt one’s conscience, and that their opinion on probing the House member allegations against the monarch was explicit and supportive of the move to bring him to order.
If at the end of the committee’s investigation pundits concurred, the allegations against the monarch were found to be genuine and plausible, it would be a burden of proof on the shoulders of the leadership of the House to adopt and implement the recommendations of the committee, for the electorate to be convinced that they have the temerity to take a crucial decision at the most critical time.
The question on the lips of pundits and royal historians is what would be the ultimate fate of Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, after the investigation by the 8-man committee to probe the 8- count allegations.
Whether the monarch can survive the battle unleashed against him depends on Governor Ganduje’ disposition, hence, he is the only one to decide the fate of the Kano monarch, as bestowed on him by the constitution. The public is waiting with baited breath who will win the battle.
Sanusi’s criticism of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s rail contract with a Chinese firm was the climax of his psychological warfare with politicians
