Emir with passion for golf, good deeds & greenery

The blare of trumpets slice through the air, praise singers begin to chant and drummers test their drums. The sounds echo to us in the quiet hall where we are seated. We are in the palace of Alhaji Nuhu Muhammad Sanusi, the Emir of Dutse, and he is marking his 20th anniversary on the throne […]

The blare of trumpets slice through the air, praise singers begin to chant and drummers test their drums. The sounds echo to us in the quiet hall where we are seated. We are in the palace of Alhaji Nuhu Muhammad Sanusi, the Emir of Dutse, and he is marking his 20th anniversary on the throne of his forebears.
Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State is in a festive mood and people gather to celebrate an emir who is famous for many things including his simplicity and genuine connection with the ordinary folk. There are many horses just outside the palace together with a huge crowd of men, some of whom are dressed in the finery normally  worn by palace officials. They will all participate in a durbar which will hold the next morning.
Emir Sanusi  recalls  the moment 20 years ago when he was announced as the new emir of Dutse “I can remember Monday 11 December 1995 very well. We were asked to congregate at the palace and that the government will soon announce the new emir. They read a letter announcing that I am the new emir. But to be honest I wasn’t happy. The weight of responsibility which the position suggests is enormous. That night I couldn’t sleep. I  was thinking of the responsibility that now rests on me. I have overcome that, and I am happy and  glad that I am emir.”
He had his work cut out for him with his ascension to the throne. There were many issues on the ground which needed urgent attention “The underdevelopment of Dutse town was a constant problem.Its the state capital, but many of the local governments around are better developed. Fortunately, we did our best.We encountered the destruction of the environment by poor people who cut the trees for firewood. So, because they don’t have employment, they want to destroy the ecology. I then decided to rectify the ecological aspect of it, by planting more trees than they cut. I was planting 6,000 trees every year within the town, and this is why Abuja does not have the type of greenery and shade that we have here, and some of this interest led me to develop a  passion for  golf. I am an environmentalist. If you drive to the old palace, watch   both sides of the road, there was nothing there at a time. There were gullies there and the road was threatened to the effect that there might have been no road to the palace.”
How did he turn around the situation and save the palace from being cut off from a part of the capital? “I bought neem  seeds and planted them in the beds. Now, we have a nice lush green forest leading to the palace. I went around all  the villages  and towns within my 7 local governments, and I encouraged  them to plant trees, and I think we have achieved a lot.”
He explains the reasons which led him to develop interest in the game of golf “I was looking for a pastime so that I will remain fit, because I had lived an active lifestyle,even after my university education. I was in road construction, mechanical engineering and so on. When I became emir I had to find something that will keep me physically fit. I have friends and fellow emirs who are golfers. They tried to introduce the game to me. I was following the emirs of Suleja, Birnin Gwari and Kazaure to Kaduna, and I became more interested in the sport. But soon I realised that going to Kaduna every weekend was hectic. So, I decided to set up my own golf course. Now, people say my golf course is much better than the Kaduna golf course.”
The golf course at Dutse sits on 120 hectares, it has 60 odd number of trees, and 45 earth dams. On the  course, Emir Sanusi adds “I also have several wild animals there. They roam freely and I don’t feed them. These animals and birds include Ostriches, Impala, deer, camels, aqua species and crocodiles.” He says that there are a number of young Fulani boys in Dutse who have grasped the game of golf, and will become professionals very soon.
Next, he speaks on efforts which have been made to improve the status of women “We have opened community schools for women who have not received education. There  they will learn how to read and write. We also have classes for young people who have no education so that they can learn to read and write. We hope that in the next 5 years some of these schools would have grown.”
The  payment of zakat has been very successful within the emirate. Emir Sanusi states “The instrument of zakat is the  Islamic injunction on all of us, that is those who have enough money, to distribute to the poor. This started here 18 years ago. When we started we were making about N27m a year for the poor. Last year we had N167m which we distributed to the poor. With every passing year we have seen an improvement in the collection of zakat, and this is helping the economy, and helping those who are poor and who need help.”
A  few years ago, he did something which  is  a practical example  of his faith in Nigeria. With the consent of their parents he adopted 16 boys from the Niger Delta area to bring up in his palace “I adopted them because we want our children to be exposed to other people. Otherwise, they would have  an education, but  they won’t  know Nigeria. So I thought of getting people from other parts of Nigeria to come to Dutse. I am proud to tell you that that 3 of them are in the university, 3 are graduating from the secondary school this year, 5 have graduated from the secondary school and are looking for admission into the university.”
On the success of the effort, he  says “The mixture has paid off well. They are part of my family here. We consider them as part of the family. They go inside every room, even my room. I encourage them not to forget their languages, for I don’t want them to be assimilated. I want them to  have a positive impression of the north,so that when they go home people who don’t know what the north is, will learn from these boys who will be our ambassadors. Whatever we do in the family in the palace, we  do it with them.”
On the practice of democracy in the country, he expresses a thought “I am very worried. Our democracy is still very fragile and we need to do more. We need to educate our politicians so that they understand that politics is a game. Today, you  win, tomorrow you may leave. But many politicians don’t want to leave and this has created problems for many people. Today, you find a politician talking as if he has never been anywhere in his life. A leader is supposed to be  a unifier.”