Ciroman Kano: The Road Not Taken by Sanusi Bayero

Anybody who is conversant with the history of Kano Emirate Council knows that removing a traditional title holder from his position by an emir is not unusual. Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that, citing various reasons, previous emirs sacked many traditional title holders, some of them the biological sons of the emirs taking such decisions. […]

Anybody who is conversant with the history of Kano Emirate Council knows that removing a traditional title holder from his position by an emir is not unusual. Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that, citing various reasons, previous emirs sacked many traditional title holders, some of them the biological sons of the emirs taking such decisions.
Thus, the recent sack of Ciroman Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero who is the eldest son of the late Ado Bayero, did not surprise many people in the state.
The late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero removed his biological Son, late Alhaji Isa Abdullahi Bayero from his title of Dan-Darman of Kano. The late emir Sanusi (Muhammadu Sanusi I) also sacked his first child, Alhaji Tijjani Sanusi as Dan-Darman Kano while late emir Ado Bayero stripped Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan-Agundi of his title of Sarkin Dawaki Maituta and district head of Gabasawa, Daily Trust on Sunday, learnt.
On Wednesday October 28, 2015, the emir Muhammadu Sanusi ll removed the Ciroman Kano Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero over alleged disloyalty, and subsequently appointed Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero as his replacement. Nasiru is a younger brother of the sacked Ciroma.
Some months ago, Bayero had lost his title as district head of Gwale Local Government Area (LGA) to Alhaji Yahaya Inuwa Abbas, the Dokajin Kano, who was appointed new district head of the area by the current emir after he (Bayero) left his duty post for over one year.
A source within the palace hinted Daily Trust on Sunday that prior to his sack, two different letters were sent to Bayero by the emir asking him to return to his duty post, but he neither returned to his office, nor replied any of the letters. According to another source, a delegation comprising Bayero’s junior brothers was also sent to him with a view to convincing him to register his loyalty to the current emir and return to his duty post, an effort that did not yield any positive result.
Thus, a statement was issued last Wednesday by the council announcing his removal as Ciroma. According to the statement signed by Galadiman Kano, Alhaji Abbas Sanusi, his removal and subsequent appointment of the new Ciroma was in line with teachings of Islam which are the cardinal principles of the emirate.
The statement added that loyalty to a leader by his subjects is one of the principles of the Kano Emirate Council and that any traditional title holder in the state that cannot uphold this tradition should either resign from his office or title or be sacked by the emir.
“It would be recalled that since the present Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi ll was appointed emir on June 8, 2014, all the council members, district heads and other traditional title holders in the state have
registered their loyalty to the current emir except the Ciroma, Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero despite his position as a senior member of the council. It was based on this that the emir appointed Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero as the new Ciroma of Kano,’ the statement said.
Interestingly, as Daily Trust on Sunday reliably gathered, the father of the current emir, Alhaji Aminu Sanusi while he was Ciroman Kano, objected to the nomination of late Ado Bayero to be next emir after the dethronement of late Muhammad Inuwa who ruled for only three months. It is said that Ciroma Sanusi was relocated to Kaduna because of his protest over the nomination of late Ado Bayero as emir in 1963, but that the late Emir Bayero endured Ciroma Aminu for 37 years, as Aminu kept his title until he died in the year 2000. It was then, it is said, that the late emir appointed the ousted Sanusi Ado Bayero as Aminu’s replacement.

The ousted Ciroma, and the new one
Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero, a lawyer by profession, was first appointed Dan-Ruwatan Kano and district head of Gwale in April 1989 by his late father. Sanusi was later promoted to Tafidan Kano and Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar-Gida, the title said to be given only to the closest person to the emir. He remained in Gwale as district head up to 2000 when he was promoted to Ciroma following the demise of Sanusi.
Bayero was among the major contenders to the throne of emir after the death of Ado Bayero, but he lost to Emir Sanusi. He left Kano for Abuja and refused to register his loyalty to the current emir. But in a move that doused tension in Kano, the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration appointed Bayero as managing director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), except that he was removed recently as NPA boss by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Events that immediately followed the current emir’s assumption of the throne would suggest that the deposed Ciroma would have difficulty subjecting himself to the emir. From when the four Kano emirate kingmakers – Mukhtar Maje Adnan (Sarkin Bai), Sarki Aliyu (Makama), Nabahani Ibrahim (Madaki) and Bello Abubakar (Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta) started their deliberations on who was to become the new emir, the ousted Ciroma who was the crown prince while his father reigned as the emir and the current emir were the obvious front liners.
And when the kingmakers came out of what was regarded as thorough deliberations and Lamido Sanusi (who is now Muhammadu Sanusi II) was announced as the new emir, much of Kano was rocked by protests.
Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero’s supporters allegedly rose in anger and were for hours in various streets burning tyres and making everybody on sight to don green leaves in solidarity with them. They reportedly became quite unruly at some points, giving security agents hectic moments in efforts to maintain law and order.
The new Ciroma, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero, a graduate of Mass Communication from the University of Maiduguri, is the third child of the late Ado Bayero and the first he gave birth to while already on the throne.
Nasiru was first appointed Tafidan Kano and District Head of Waje on May 6, 1994. He was later transferred to Nassarawa Local Government Area as district head and then to Tarauni on the same status.
He was promoted to Turakin Kano and Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar-Gida in the year 2000 after Sanusi was appointed Ciroma in the same year. After the promotion to Turaki, the new Ciroma was transferred back to Nassarawa LGA as district head to succeed his late uncle, Alhaji Salihi Bayero (Dan Buran of Kano), who was until his death the district head of the area.

Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero is married to one wife with many children.
According to Professor Dahiru Yahaya of Bayero University Kano, the sacking of Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero was in order. He said that in Islam and in traditional norms, whoever refuses to register his allegiance to an emir or leader is considered a rebel and the offence was punishable by death in the past.
Professor Yahaya said the trend is the same in both traditional and modern system of governance. He recalled that when late General Sani Abacha assumed power as President, late Chief M. K. O Abiola did not recognize him as president, hence he was detained until he died.  Also when Khalifah Mu’awiyyah appointed his son a leader, he directed his subjects to come and register allegiance with his son before he (Mu’awiyya) died and those that refused to do so were killed.He said, “Because it is a tradition in Kano, the late Galadima, Alhaji Tijjani Hashim and the former Wambai now Galadima, Alhaji Abbas Sanusi have all registered their allegiance to emir Sanusi. They are all princes and seniors to both the emir and the former Ciroma but they complied with the system. Logically, even before he was sacked, Sanusi Bayero had automatically disqualified himself from being Ciroman Kano by refusing to register his allegiance to the current emir. The logic is that as the Ciroman
Sarki, he cannot stand without a King, therefore, since he did not recognize Sanunsi as emir, it means he is no longer Ciroman Kano because he doesn’t have an emir.”
Asked whether late Ciroma Aminu Sanusi, father of the current emir did not recognize late Ado Bayero when he was appointed emir, Professor Yahaya said, “Initially he did not but he later registered
his allegiance in public when he joined other senior council members for the traditional homage to Emir Bayero during his (Bayero)’s 25th anniversary; I was there when it happened and I saw Ciroma Aminu among the senior council members that greeted the emir at that time.”
He said that in Kano the title of Ciroma is only given to the princes because they cannot be given big titles like Galadima and Wambai.