Traditional institutions need to be protected – Varsity don
In this interview, Kasim Aliyu Shitu, a lecturer in the General Studies Directorate of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, spoke on the breaking/ creation of emirates in northern Nigeria and how it affects history and tradition. He also suggested the way forward. The breaking of emirate councils by governors is on the rise; […]
In this interview, Kasim Aliyu Shitu, a lecturer in the General Studies Directorate of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, spoke on the breaking/ creation of emirates in northern Nigeria and how it affects history and tradition. He also suggested the way forward.
The breaking of emirate councils by governors is on the rise; what is your view, especially looking at the history of emirates?
In northern Nigeria, emirates are a product of history, although today, most of them are offshoots of the Sokoto jihad. There was a traditional ruling system even before the advent of the Sokoto jihad. When Shehu Usman Dan Fodio came, there was a lot of transformation because most of the emirates today came into being after the jihad. He appointed his disciples as flag bearers. And it has been like that, even when the colonial masters came, particularly in northern Nigeria.
They met many of those emirates and preserved them, although there was some level of interference. Some emirs were dethroned because of their resistance to foreign rule and European influence, and things like that.
I think Nigeria first saw interference politically during the military era. I think local government reforms were carried out and the powers of emirs were to some extent eroded because they were somehow subdued and brought under the control of local government chairmen. Until the period before the reforms, the emirs were very powerful and influential because they were the custodians of the norms, cultures and values of the people. The people had high regard and respect for them more than the governors.
Despite modernisation, people still respect their emirs; however, their powers have been subdued, to the extent that now, an emir cannot travel out of his domain without notifying the local government chairman.
Although I am not a lawyer, I think what the governors do today while balkanising the emirates is to explore some provisions of the constitution that gives them certain powers. An example is what happened in Kano under former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje when he created new emirates. He set up a committee and there was some kind of public hearing, then he took it to the State House of Assembly and the emirates were created.
This is what is happening in Bauchi. When the issue of creation of new emirates and chiefdoms came up, the governor set up his committee and the agitators were asked to submit memoranda to the committee. And not long, in the media, the committee had submitted a report to the governor and recommended the creation of 13 emirates and chiefdoms. It was also in the media that I heard that the governor thanked the committee and said he would hand over the report to the House of Assembly, who are the representatives of the people, for legislation. I think that last week, there was some kind of public hearing by the state House of Assembly, but to our understanding, it was inconclusive because there were lots of back and forth and agitations. Certain people were not happy with certain arrangements, but within the week, we heard that new emirates had been created.
Some of these creations are a response to the agitations by certain dominated groups who wanted their independence under their own emir, district or village heads. I am sure that whoever did this knows that it is an additional burden because palaces must be created for these new emirates. Vehicles and all the necessary demands and logistics must be given to them to enable them function as emirs and emirates.
I have listened to opinions of people – that the process was too hasty – which may cause some kind of agitation leading to some kind of legal tussle subsequently.
Some agitators are happy while others feel otherwise because it creates additional burden and division among people who have lived together for hundreds of years.
I believe there are other processes that need to be done before the creation. For example, for emirates created in Toro from Bauchi Emirate, there is the need to do some kind of demarcation of the domain of each emir and separate them from Bauchi. Same applies to other places. So there may be issues that may continue to come up, like demarcations to know where the powers of an emir starts and ends.
Although I have not studied what happened, I listened to people’s views and many said emirates should not be created without resorting to history of the people, their affinity, culture etc.
As a historian, I know that part of the conflicts we have in Africa is linked with part of the scrambling by colonial masters. For example, Nigeria historically has links with some parts of Cameroon, Niger and Chad. The history of the Kanem Bornu Empire extends into Cameroon, Chad etc.
When the colonial masters came to divide these countries, according to the map they created, they didn’t look into the affinity, history, norms and culture of the people. They just did it to serve their interest.
If you want to create an emirate you need to do it based on historic realities because that’s the only way people would have some sense of belonging. It will also help to address the problems of rancour and agitations, but if not done properly, it would create more problems. Look at Kano after Ganduje: the present governor wants to revert it to status quo. We hope it would not happen in Bauchi. My concern is that the Bauchi governor did this when he has less than two years in office. Whether we like it or not, by 2027 he might not be the governor; and we don’t know what another governor would do. This back and forth affects the sanctity and respects traditional institutions enjoy.
But governors often mention agitations, increase in population, marginalisation and need for inclusiveness as their reasons for creating emirates; do you agree with them?
In Bauchi, people of Tafawa Balewa Sayawa have been agitating for a long time; and their case is still in court. They have a right to agitate, but in doing so, you have to consider a lot of things. Population is one, but there is a root in tradition. Some would like to ask how it was done 100 years ago. But we are in a democracy and its beauty is that people ask for their rights. I have no problem with people agitating for their rights, but if we must listen to them, we need to do it scientifically, in a way that it will not create more problems.
Some people query the process…
In some cases, some governors are abusing the processes; others do it for political rivalry or bitterness. Some governors feel that a certain group did not vote for them or they have different opinions. In such cases, they create emirates or districts in the same domain of his opponents. And if it is done in that line, it must not be for personal vendetta but for the benefit of the people.
Creating additional emirates has its advantage but should not be done through abusing the processes. That’s why a lot of people are feeling that traditional institutions are abused. We know that the people occupying traditional stools are highly respected, but today, they don’t have the powers they had in the past, simply because of the abuse of process by the politicians, especially the way they create additional emirates, dethrone traditional rulers, or how their affairs are being handled.
How do you think they can be protected?
We need to have a constitutional backing for the traditional leaders. Their positions need to be clearly spelt in the constitution. They are the custodians of value and tradition because they have overseen institutions that stood for thousands of years. Kanem Bornu has a history of more than 1,000 years, and the Sokoto caliphate has over 100 years.
Traditional rulers are important. The constitution needs to be reviewed so that their powers and responsibilities are recognised constitutionally. Secondly, emirs should be protected from being humiliated by politicians because today, they are under local government chairmen; and we all know who controls them.
Obas and emirs need to come together and agitate for their constitutional rights. There is no political leader that doesn’t need their support during campaigns; and even where we have a security breach, it is through the traditional rulers that governors restore law and order. They also need their support on government programmes like education, health care etc, to succeed. Britain has a constitutional monarchy. We should also protect our emirs the way they do it in Europe and some Middle East and Arab countries. We need to protect our traditional rulers.