‘I never dreamt of becoming Emir of Bauchi’

No. That’s how Allah works. Everything belongs to him. He gives power to whoever he will and whenever he wants. I have never held any position, even as class monitor.    WT: Have you ever dreamt of becoming Emir of Bauchi and how did you succeed your late father among 20 contestants? Well, as I […]

No. That’s how Allah works. Everything belongs to him. He gives power to whoever he will and whenever he wants. I have never held any position, even as class monitor.   

WT: Have you ever dreamt of becoming Emir of Bauchi and how did you succeed your late father among 20 contestants?

Well, as I have told you before, it is Allah that makes a king. He gives power to whom he will. But as Hausa people have a saying that if you are a son of an emir your ambition is to become king. But I have never dreamt of becoming Emir because I have my elder brothers ahead of me and by our culture and tradition, the elder brother is the one who usually succeeds his father.

But in my own case you see how Allah works. Since we are praying for his bounty and mercy he decided that I will be the one to succeed our late father. My becoming Emir is just from Him. I didn’t expect it.

WT: The Emir of Bauchi has another title of Sarkin Yakin Musulmi meaning Warlord of the Sultanate. How did the Bauchi emirate get this title?

The title came to Bauchi right from the first Yakubun Bauchi who is a disciple of Mujaddadi Shehu Usman Danfodiyo. Among the Shehu’s disciples, Yakubu was obedient, disciplined and hardworking. There was trust and understanding between Shehu Usmanu and Yakubu. He directed Yakubu to go and face war in any part of the country during Jihad and whenever Yakubu received Shehu’s message he left everything and follow Shehu’s instructions, and because of this title Yakubu earned respect for himself and in the hierarchy of Daular Usmaniyya Sokoto Caliphate, if you call Sultan, it is Emir of Gwandu, then Yakubun Bauchi. The title means a lot to Bauchi people. Bauchi emirate contributed a lot towards the development of Islam in northern Nigeria.

WT: How did you feel when you were appointed new Emir of Bauchi?

I thanked Almighty Allah, who in His wisdom and mercy gave me this post and helped me to be the successor of our late father. But I was a little bit worried and uncertain.  But with Allah’s help, everything came easy and I will do my best to be fair and just to all my subjects as my late father was.

WT: What are the challenges you are facing?

What I want you to understand is that it was very difficult to find someone as fair-minded as the late Emir, but the major challenges are how we will continue to emulate him and build on his good works, like uniting our people irrespective of religious or ethnic groups, building peace and stability among our subjects and community and carrying all along so that we will be able to sustain and improve upon the good works he has started, to build upon the legacies and essential qualities he left for us. This is my greatest challenge.

WT: Your ascension to the throne comes at a time of conflicts in some parts of Nigeria, particularly Niger-Delta, Jos and the menace of youth restiveness in Bauchi and some neighboring states…

Prayers are needed to bring peace and unity among various ethnic and religious groups in the country, and even I myself needed public prayers to enable me emulate my late father’s peace making effort. But I will continue to support and cooperate with the government in their effort to end these societal problems and I will also work together with the government to create more employment opportunities to our teeming unemployed youths in other to reduce conflicts and youths restiveness in our society. I commend the Federal government effort to restore peace in the Niger-Delta region and Jos.  

I am appealing to our teeming youths to fear Allah in whatever they are doing and to be of good behaviour to their families and their state because they are our leaders of tomorrow. Bauchi is well-known for peace, so we will continue to sustain the peaceful coexistence amongst our people and we want the people to assist us with prayers. We will inform the government with whatever comes up and we will advise them accordingly.

WT: what is the Emirs hobby in his life?

You see, I come from a Royal family, but I have no hobbies except to see myself or someone reading the Holy Qur’an and Dhikr. But playing or acquiring wealth are things that you will leave behind because you will not die and be buried with them.     

I was born on October 14, 1970, in Bauchi,  I attended Kobi Primary School Bauchi between 1976 to 1982,Government Secondary School Toro 1982 to 1987 where I obtained my Senior School Certificate Examination. Then I proceeeded to Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic  between 1991 to 1995 where I obtained National Certificate of Education (NCE) and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University between 1996 to 2001  where I obtained BSC in building technology.

I worked in Nigerian Ports Authority between 2002- 2006 and before my appointment as the new Emir of Bauchi I was working in Nigeria Sao-Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority. I am married with two children.