KANO: WHEN POT IS BLACKER THAN KETTLE

Life is about change. We used to be the ones who called the shots; then a time came when we were consulted before decisions were taken; then another time came when we were only informed after decisions have been taken; then finally came a time when the decisions would be taken and actions undertaken before […]

Life is about change. We used to be the ones who called the shots; then a time came when we were consulted before decisions were taken; then another time came when we were only informed after decisions have been taken; then finally came a time when the decisions would be taken and actions undertaken before they would remember to inform us. We have seen it all. Such is life.” -Late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero.

LET US PRAY: Yesterday here in Kano, special prayers were held to remember late Emir Alhaji Ado Bayero who died five years ago this week, and to also pray for divine protection of the current Emir Muhammad Sanusi the Second, who is at the moment facing ferocious onslaught from the political class, in an epic battle on, interestingly, PROBITY! And so, may Allah forgive Ado Bayero and protect Muhammad Sanusi from the vicissitudes of politics and politicians.

INCONCLUSIVE EXISTENTIAL BATTLE: When the story of the creation of new Emirates in Kano broke, it was already Ramadan. It is the tradition of this Column not to talk politics during the holy month of Ramadan. Now that Ramadan is over, here we are! We all have fallen victims of an inconclusive existential battle between birds of the same feather that are now not flocking together. A query has now been issued to Emir Sanusi to answer within forty eight hours (expiring today, actually) on why the Kano State Government would not implement the recommendation of the Kano State Government’s Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission to suspend the Emir in continuation of its investigation into the misappropriation of some N3.4 billion over the years 2014 to 2017. Readers may recall that the same investigation had started back in 2017 at the Commission, but was ‘halted’ when the Kano State House of Assembly started its own investigation into the same matter around the same time. The Commission, claiming to defer to superior authority (House of Assembly) ‘suspended’ its own investigation. Now, Governor Ganduje, who has also been accused of pecuniary embarrassment himself, has turned around to seek to protect the Kano citizenry from the pilfering of their commonwealth. Good for goose. Good for gander.

URBAN VERSUS RURAL: Today’s Column should have been our usual ‘BARKA DA SALLAH’ (Happy Sallah) which appears twice a year on this page at Eid el Fitr (Karamar Sallah) and Eid el Kabir (Babbar Sallah), with all the humour and mirth the writer can muster to celebrate the happy occasions. But here in Kano this Sallah, there is nothing to be ‘Barka’ for, as the fun of the celebration and the spirit of the happiness, have been brazenly stolen by the decision of the Kano State Government to suspend Hawan Nassarawa and Hawan Dorayi, two of the Kano Emirate’s resplendent Durbars (horse pageantry) witnessed by millions, including visiting diplomats. Children especially look forward to the Hawa (literally ‘Ride’, or Horse Ride) as part and parcel of the Sallah festivities. Alas! Meanwhile, Governor of Kano State Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who denied us the spectacle of the Hawa, left Kano with his entourage to witness other ‘Hawas’ in the four new Emirates he recently created – Bichi, Gaya, Karaye and Rano, while we here in Kano were left to imaginatively create our own diversions to celebrate the Sallah while it lasted. To wit, a diplomat friend who came all the way to Kano with his family specifically for these Durbars, had to make do with visits to secondary places of interest. Haba Mallam?

POWERFUL POWERLESS COURTS: Our courts are powerful. Indeed they are because a court of the proverbial competent jurisdiction stopped the investigation of the Governor by the Kano State of House of Assembly which had empaneled a committee to peruse, scan and study those Dollar Videos to ascertain authenticity. When the court made its pronouncement calling on the investigation to stop, the Assembly promptly complied and stopped in its tracks. Powerful court! Powerful brakes! But our courts are also powerless. Indeed they are because another court of equal competent jurisdiction as the first one issued an injunction ordering the Kano State House of Assembly, the Governor and their agents from proceeding with their creation of those new emirates. The Assembly didn’t stop. The Governor didn’t stop – claiming that the deed had been done BEFORE the court order. Ikon Allah! Court!

RIMI FUNERAL PRAYER: When the leading elites of Kano die, the choice of place for the Janaza (Funeral) Prayer) has always been Kofar Kudu, the Emir’s Palace. When the late Kano State Governor Muhammad Abubakar Rimi died back in 2010, this Column celebrated him. It fell on late Emir Ado Bayero to conduct the Janaza Prayer on Rimi’s remains. This Column at that time went down history lane to remember what happened between the duo (Governor and Emir) back in 1981 when the former sought to whittle down the influence of the latter by creating new emirates out of old Kano State. Yet here was the one standing on the other in the most solemn of occasions. When this writer met the late Emir in a private meeting not too long after the death of Rimi (readers may recall late Emir Alhaji Ado Bayero was this Column’s Reader No.1), he had said that after reading that comment about his leading that funeral prayer, he had shed a tear or two. Allah Ya jikansu both.

KANO’S SOCIALIST ROOTS: What many people, especially from outside Kano, do not sometimes understand is that Kano is such an enigmatic place always surprising generalisers. For example, an academic friend from the South called to ask this writer why the Kanawa are not seen on the streets protesting for and/or against the Dollar Videos and the decision of the Government to query the Emir. First, the cosmopolitan nature accommodates all shades of opinions. Second, the politics of Kano, courtesy of NEPU and PRP and Mallam Aminu Kano, has generally been ‘a little to the left’ and so, by 1979 when PRP won the elections of the Second Republic, the battle line was drawn. Haraji and Jangali (Poll and Cattle Taxes) were the first to go as the government sought to reduce the ‘feudal’ influence of the Emirate (much milder than the Bolsheviks who shot the Czar)! In 1981, it came to pass that Governor Rimi used his discretion to break up the powerful Emirate (and, for good measure, created Auyo Emirate to downsize Hadejia, the second largest Emirate in the old Kano State. Kano can swallow more. But this time around, there is no philosophy behind what is happening today between Government and Emirate.

ELITE PLAY SAFE: What is the Kano Elite (Boko, Ulama, Business) doing about all this? Well, on this matter there appears to be no elite consensus. This is because most rent-seeking elite depend on government for survival (contracts, board appointments, Sallah Ram, Umra and Hajj, etc.), and so even if they feel outraged, they would rather play safe and keep quite than rock the boat.

LET’S PRAY AGAIN: Late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero used to constantly pray such: “Allah ba mu lafiya da zama lafiya” (‘May Allah give us health and peace’) and, depending on the season, would add “Allah ba mu damina mai albarka” (‘May our rainy season be fruitful’) or “Allah ba mu wucewa lafiya” (‘May we survive beyond the season’) for the dry and hot season.”

And so we pray: ‘Allah ba mu wucewa lafiya’ through this Second Term, Top and Bottom! Amin!