Garba Muhammad, chief of Lere, gets staff of office

Speaking after the presentation, Governor Yakowa praised the kingmakers for choosing Garba Mohammed to succeed his late brother, Alhaji Umaru Muhammad who died on January 23, 2011. According to the governor, the unanimous choice of Brigadier Muhammad made it easy for the government to appoint the new emir. The governor who said that the King […]

Speaking after the presentation, Governor Yakowa praised the kingmakers for choosing Garba Mohammed to succeed his late brother, Alhaji Umaru Muhammad who died on January 23, 2011. According to the governor, the unanimous choice of Brigadier Muhammad made it easy for the government to appoint the new emir.

The governor who said that the King makers’ choice was the best, praised the new chief as “a person who is well educated, very well experienced, very well exposed and very well connected.“ He expressed optimism that  Brigadier Muhammad will continue with the transformation of the Lere town.

According to Yakowa, he knows Lere very well, starting from when the late emir was a village head “and I have been part and parcel of the transformation that has taken place here.“ He called on the chief to bring his wealth of experience as a military officer,  former Military governor and former president of KACCIMA, to sustain the peace of the chiefdom. “The challenge before you is not just of leading the transformation of Lere chiefdom, but the entire Lere local government. The government and people of Kaduna state will be looking up to you to lead your fellow traditional rulers, district heads, various stakeholders, in working very closely with the state government in order to transform the state,“ he said.

Earlier, the new chief traced the history of Lere, from the Islamic jihad of 1804, when he said that a certain Fulani Wunti clan was already well situated between Zazzau and Bauchi. The land which was referred to as a vassal, was established by Muhammad Dabo Titi, who became the Sarkin Yakin Bauchi, he said.

Lere existed as an autonomous territory as a vassal of Bauchi and Zazzau provinces between 1808 and 1902 and it was one of the 10 post jihad vassal states of Zazzau which was recognised by the sultanate, he said.  However,  with the advent of colonial administration in northern Nigeria in 1902, Lere’s status was reduced over the years, he said, adding that when provinces were created, Lere was divided between Zazzau, Bauchi and Plateau provinces. According to the chief, the creation of Lere chiefdom in the year 2000 was as a result of the agitation of the people to restore the area to its post Jihad status. The decision to create more traditional institutions has been adjudged as one of the most significant achievement of that administration towards the attainment of harmony and peaceful co-existence, he added.