Ado Abdullahi Bayero (1930-2014)

As one of Nigeria’s most prominent and respected Muslim leaders, his demise understandably touched many Nigerians, particularly in Kano where activities ground to a halt in respect.Ado Bayero was born on July 25, 1930, to the then Emir of Kano, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero who reigned for 27 years. He began his early education in Islamic […]

As one of Nigeria’s most prominent and respected Muslim leaders, his demise understandably touched many Nigerians, particularly in Kano where activities ground to a halt in respect.
Ado Bayero was born on July 25, 1930, to the then Emir of Kano, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero who reigned for 27 years. He began his early education in Islamic knowledge after which he attended the Kano Middle School. He graduated from the School for Arabic Studies, Kano in 1947. He later went to the Zaria Clerical College in 1952.
Alhaji Ado Bayero worked as a banker, police officer, Member of Parliament and diplomat.  He was a former ambassador to Senegal, the position he held at the time of his appointment as Emir of Kano. He was a former Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Until his death, he was the Chancellor of the University of Ibadan.
Ado was named Emir in October 1963 by the Northern Region Government to succeed Muhammadu Inuwa, who reigned for six months.
Ado Bayero quickly established himself as a wise manger of human affairs in a huge cosmopolitan city that Kano had developed into, with its mix of small traders and ancient mercantile families, radical breed of politicians of both the conservative and the progressive camps, the burgeoning western-educated middle class.   His astuteness earned him the sobriquet ‘Damo Sarkin Hakuri’ given to him by his loyal and admiring subjects, and the respect and appreciation of virtually every segment of his vast domain and beyond.
He had a few brushes of course, but most these were with the politicians. For instance in 1981, the administration in Kano State of Governor Muhammad Abubakar Rimi got a measure of the emir’s standing in the community when it queried him for travelling to Zaria without the governor’s permission. It was only just that the riots that broke out were quickly contained after the query was withdrawn.  
One of the most notable characteristics of the late late Emir of Kano was the friendship he cultivated across religious and ethnic and regional divides throughout his reign.  Former rebel leader, the late Ezeigbo Gburugburu Emeka Odumegwu underlined that bond when one of the first acts he performed on returning to Nigeria from exile in 1982 was to proceed to Kano to visit the Emir Ado Bayero; the pair had developed that bond in the turbulent days that precipitated the Nigerian civil war when Ojukwu was a young brigade commander in the ancient city.  
 In the biography Prince of the Time the author, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, quotes former military president General Ibrahim Babangida as saying that Ado Bayero was unique among Nigeria’s traditional rulers because he never asked for favours from those in the corridors of power.
Emir Ado Bayero’s reign witnessed phenomenal changes in the economic, educational and infrastructural and social transformation of Kano.  With increasing democratisation and representative government, traditional authority anywhere, including in Kano, has ipso facto been on the decline. In spite of these inevitable effects that this had, the majesty and utility of traditional institutions has continued to be of relevance in contemporary times. It is the dignity and wisdom that Emir Ado Bayero brought to bear in the administration of the emirate that invested his reign with much respect and admiration. And a grateful nation bestowed him with honours.
The late Emir Ado Bayero will no doubt be fondly remembered for having kept faith as custodian of the rich culture and tradition of Kano and preserver of the emirate as a great centre of Islamic teaching and learning.  He is survived by 62 children. If an epitaph were to be written in his honour, this would be inscribed in the hearts of the numerous people who came in contact with him during his reign, and it would be: Here lays one of the greatest architects of modern Nigeria. Ado Bayero left footprints that should guide those who come after him in the huge task of administering the Emirate of Kano.