THE DECENTRALIZATION OF KANO EMIRATE:
THE DREAM THAT NEVER WAS
BY
MUDASSIR ALIYU YUNUSA
mudassiray@gmail.com
It appeared to be a shock and
incredible to many when the news of creating additional four Emirate councils
broke out from Kano Assembly. The bill was initiated by some legal
practitioners who demanded the State Assembly to enact a law that will enable
the decentralization of Kano Emirate Council. The bill without any hitch has
passed all processes and received immediate attention of the Governor who assented
to it in less than forty eight hours of its inception. It is believed to be one
of the fastest bills to be so initiated, treated and passed into law in the
state.
When I got the news, I
thought it was just a rumour but the story received high intensity on both
social and conventional media. The issue has generated a mix of reactions from
within and outside the State. While Some consider it as a mere expression of
grievances by the state government over what allegedly happened between the
emirate council and the state government( precisely the Emir and the Governor)
during 2019 electioneering processes, others saw it as the right decision to
carve additional emirate out of the most populous kingdom in west Africa. But
to me the issue has defeated my emotions for the fact that I personally put my
concern on the creation of State out of Kano just for our people to derive so
many advantages and privileges enjoyed by other states that are not as big as
one third of Kano in terms of population. But I have never dreamt of
dismantling the prestigious emirate north of the Niger. My reason is that in
Kano we have witnessed various efforts, movements and agitations for the creation of state(s) out of Kano, but
the idea of decentralization of Kano emirate council into five(5) has never
came to my mind. Though a Hausa adage is saying ‘In da ranka ka sha kallo’
meaning ‘as you live long you will see
many surprises'
Historically, Kano emirate
has been affected negatively by political winds right from first republic, when
the political forces in northern regional government led to the dethronement of
one powerful, and famous Emir who accords respects among his contemporaries,
and who was also treated with prima even by the colonial masters despite
ranking 3rd in the Seat of Caliphate (after Sultan of Sokoto and Emir of Gwandu),
that is Emir Muhammadu Sunusi (the first). His dethronement was as a result of
some political misunderstanding between him (the Emir of Kano) and the Premier
of Northern region Sir Ahmadu Bello in 1963, a scenario that brought chaos
and disorder in Kano.
During second republic,
Mallam Aminu Kano, the founder of NEPU SAWABA and PRP was the leader who
dominated the political scene in Kano with massive support from talakawa, at
that time most of the elected or appointed political office holders are loyal
to him mainly from NEPU down to PRP. In
1981 Mallam Aminu Kano was mainly blamed by many as a person who influenced the
creation of more Emirates in Kano by Governor Abubakar Rimi. At that time Auyo,
Ringim, Karaye and Gaya emirates were created and their district heads elevated
to become emirs and subsequently the 3 months suspension to the Emir of Kano
was another confusion created by political forces in the state. Though the
action was seen as a mere politics by PRP which was seen as replica of NEPU SAWABA particularly with the belief of
how NEPU has been molested by traditional rulers who supported NPC during first
republic. But what happened then was not seen as controversial as the recent
decentralization of Kano emirate by the current administration.
Another misunderstanding that
exists between the state government and Kano emirate was the removal of Mallam
Nasiru Muhammad Nasir (Chief Imam of Waje) who was turbanned as Wazirin Kano by
Late Emir Ado Bayero and his council of chiefs, but immediately disapproved and
seceded by Governor Kwankwaso, an action that bring disharmony to the late Emir
and the Kano emirate entirely.
The selection of Emir Muhammadu Sunusi II as the successor of
Late Ado Bayero was seen by many people as another political weight that affect
Kano emirate, though he ( Emir Sunusi) was among the principal contenders and
the Governor has the right to select any person among the names submitted to
him by the king makers, but it was believed by many to be subjected by
political circumstances happening between The Governor and the Government at
the centre. However, the selection of Emir Sunusi has generated various
criticisms, strong rejection, riot and violence demonstrated by some people in
Kano describing the selection as a deliberate political action by Governor
Kwankwaso to infuriate, enrage and defeat the desire of the ruling party who
preempted the State Government's formal announcement through sending a
congratulation message to one of the contenders.
The recent saga that led to
the creation of Four (4) additional Emirates (Rano, Gaya, Karaye and Bichi) by
Ganduje administration has generated heats and debates in Kano and other part
of the country. Where some are saying the dichotomy is the worst among all
political atrocities that happened between Government and the emirate while
others has view it as the right decision to bring the people closer to
government.
Therefore, with the above
historical background on how politics has been affecting Kano royal house, I
observed that 3 civilian Governors in Kano; Rimi, Kwankwaso and Ganduje have in
one way or the other quarreled with Kano emirate while 3 others Sabo Bakinzuwo,
Kabiru Gaya and Ibrahim Shekarau have never had a row with Kano emirate.
Finally, I suggest that
political antagonistic and hostilities between the Government and the emirate
council should not be condoned by the good people of Kano state, and a bill of this nature which affects the
totality of the population should be subjected to public hearing before
implementation not just accomplished within very limited time. Our politicians should always respect the
constituted authority and age long cultural heritage of our society
particularly by making some constitutional provision purposely to cater for
traditional rulers. On the other hand, all emirate councils should be purely
politically neutral and embrace all and sundry irrespective of their social and
political differences.
