EMIR ADO BAYERO: ANOTHER TRIBUTE

The story of Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero is indeed the story of the transformation of the Kano Emirate from the authority that controlled the society to the status of community leadership that earned its Islamic legitimacy through service to the people and commitment to the ideals of the Islamic Faith. The Emir lived for […]

The story of Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero is indeed the story of the transformation of the Kano Emirate from the authority that controlled the society to the status of community leadership that earned its Islamic legitimacy through service to the people and commitment to the ideals of the Islamic Faith. The Emir lived for almost eighty four years (1930-2004), almost fifty one (1963-2004) of which were at the helm of Kano’s traditional authority.  He was a leader of Muslims of all shades of opinions, not only in Kano but in many parts of Nigeria and the world.
The Jihad of ShehuUsmanDanfordio made Islam the ideology of the people and the state. Sarkin Kano Ibrahim Dabo established the Sullubawa Dynasty. Abdullahi Bayero (ruled 1926-1953) and his son Muhammadu Sanusi (ruled 1954-1963) harnessed the connections of the Tijjaniyya to resist colonial annihilation of Islamic culture. Ado Bayero put Kano at the national and global stage when he became one of the most influential Muslim leaders in the world.
Various groups sought the Emir’s blessings in their activities largely because of his influence and the fact that he was among the most respected of Nigerians. Allafrica.com, one of the leading African news websites, described him as Nigeria’s “most prominent traditional ruler”. Both at the national and the international arena, he was regarded as a wise counsellor because of his experience and diverse cultural linkages that made him a bridge and an asset in promoting mutual understanding and conflict resolution.
Alhaji Ado Bayero’s first major challenge was negotiating between the ruling Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) elite and his family because of the forced abdication of his elder brother Sir MuhammaduSanusi; and he did that with maturity and distinction. Before he became the Emir, he had been appointed Ambassador in an attempt to pacify the situation. When he ascended the throne, he was cautious in his relationship with the Regional Government which had lost most of its support in Kano because of the abdication of Sir Sanusi. The short-lived Kano Peoples Party was formed as a result of this grievance.
During the second Republic (1979-1983), Kano State was ruled by the radical and left-leaning Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) (an offshoot of the more radical Northern Elements Progressive Union, NEPU), and it was anti-traditional rulers. The politics of the PRP in the Second Republic could be analysed within the context of class struggle between the ruling class (the sarauta) and the commoners (talakawa). This struggle could be traced to the NEPU years when it was fighting against the sarauta and its patron, the colonial state. Ironically, NEPU stalwarts in the First Republic all regarded Wakilin Doka Alhaji Ado Bayero as a just and fair person, but when they took power in the Second Republic while he was the Emir, he became their adversary; this was because their struggle was against the sarauta as a class, and not necessarily against the Emir as an individual. Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero managed the crisis in a dignified manner.
Subsequent civilian administrations did not openly antagonise the Emirate probably because the experience of the first civilian administration, under the PRP, was a lesson learnt. Therefore, relationship between the Emirate and the government was cordial, or cautious. Most, if not all the subsequent governors of Kano State, sought favours from the Emir to appoint some of their kinsmen as Hakimai or District Heads.
Apart from his support for the Local Government Reforms, as a result of which most other traditional leaders across the country gave their support, Ado Bayero participated actively in sensitising the people to accept free and compulsory primary education introduced by the Federal Government, which needed local government support and participation. (Kano today has the highest public primary school enrolment of 1.9 million pupils as at the last enumeration). The people accepted his call to enrol in schools because of the confidence they had in him as the greatest supporter and patron of Islamic education. He had supported more Islamiyya Schools than any other leader in Nigeria. The people of Kano always prayed for him because of this. Indeed he was attacked in January 2013 after he had commissioned an Islamiyya School at Murtala Muhammad Mosque, one of his last assignments. He had commissioned and supported hundreds of such in the fifty years he had been at the helm.
In Kano, he did everything possible to support all efforts geared to the socio-economic development of his people. As the Chief Executive of the Native Authority before the Local Government Reforms under which he controlled land allocation, he discharged his duties with equity and sense of justice. This encouraged investment and consolidated Kano’s commercial pre-eminence in northern Nigeria. Because of his status and the confidence they had in him, many investors came to Kano. A very recent example is the Ado Bayero Shopping Mall, the first ultra-modern shopping mall in northern Nigeria, a major private sector initiative with investors from all parts of the world. It has brought leading African retail giants such as Shoprite and Game to Kano. He was a mentor of his people.
During this reign he appointed 120 Hakimai (Titleholders); no other Emir in the history of Kano has ever achieved that – of course none survived as long. He worked with thirty Hakimai who were appointed by his predecessors, and two others who were appointed by the State Government without his consent. The sarauta system in Kano like kingship in most other places has survived for over one thousand years despite several transformations because it has been able to adapt to changing circumstances. Sarkin Kano Muhammadu Rumfa established the Tara ta Kano (Council of State) and also introduced new titles.
The titles before Rumfa were mostly instituted by the Bagaudawa descendants of Bagauda. The original titles of Kano had ‘Dan’ as the prefix, (meaning ‘son of’). According to the Kano Chronicle, they included Dan Buram, Dan Isa, Dan Baba, Dan Akasan, Dan Kududdufi and others like Dan Darman and Dan Goriba. All other titles were introduced later; some were of Kanuri origin (e.g. Galadima), Arab origin (Waziri) or Hausa origin (Madawaki, Makama, Dan Iya and Dan Lawal).
Ado Bayero introduced twenty three new titles to accommodate various segments of the Kano society into the sarauta. Most importantly, he reinstated families that were earlier marginalised. Since the establishment of the Sullubawan Dabo Dynasty, only the title of SarkinBai has not changed from the lineage of DaboDambazau but other titles have been shifted. It is on the record that Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero revived two lineages – the Jobawa who were left out of the Emirate Electoral College from 1959 to 1984 and the Sullubawan Tuta who have been out of the entire sarauta from 1915 to 2007.
May Allah bless his soul, grant him eternal peace and protect his family.
Finally, this Column recalls prescient words uttered by the late Alhaji Ado Bayero once during HawanNassarawa. It was reported that as he dismounted at GidanNassarawa (burial palace of the Emirs), he was said to have addressed his entourage: “Yaukunkawo mu nan da bushe-bushe; wataranzakukawo mu da koke-koke!” (Meaning: You have today brought us here with trumpets and merriment; one day you will bring us here with wails and cries!” Indeed, that came to pass on Friday June 6, 2014. We wail the more!