The newly reinstated Emir Sanusi Lamido II.
Nigeria’s second largest city and Emirate of Kano, which is also capital of the northern state of Kano, is reeling from the aftershocks of a major feud with all the hallmarks of a game of thrones as a former Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, who was dethroned in March 2020, has been reinstated by the government of the state.
The emir he succeeds, Aminu Ado Bayero, has been asked to vacate the throne, sparking outcry from Bayero’s supporters who insist that he is the rightful claimant of the traditional seat.
Sanusi’s dethronement followed the approval of a law by the then governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which amended the state’s Emirate Council Law, a piece of legislation that was purportedly conceived to whittle down the powers of Sanusi and allow for his dethronement “for total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the governor”.
The emir’s refusal to appear before a panel investigating allegations of corruption against him also deepened hostilities.
After the 2019 general elections, Ganduje, who is a powerful figure in the APC, split the Kano emirate into five and appointed four more emirs to weaken Sanusi’s influence.
Under a new government of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) the state legislators passed the amended Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024, approved by the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, which paved the way for Sanusi’s reinstatement.
It is believed that Yusuf’s support for Sanusi’s reinstatement has something to do with his ties to a former governor of the state and former presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who installed Sanusi as Emir in 2014 and has remained a strong political ally since.
An unconventional Emir
Sanusi has been a controversial figure in Nigeria’s political space for some time. Born into the Fulani royal family, he became the 14th Emir of Kano in 2014 after the death of his predecessor, Ado Bayero.
He became the governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank in 2009 before He was sacked in 2014 for revealing that $20bn in oil revenue was unaccounted for.
It is believed that his outspokenness was also the reason for his dethronement by the state government. His refusal to support the Ganduje’s re-election in 2019 was also a factor.
Traditional leaders in Nigeria frequently get drawn into political feuds because they are able to exert significant influence as they are seen as custodians of both religion and tradition, even as they possess few constitutional powers.
There are also opinions that the government’s action was influenced by critics of Sanusi’s non traditional approach to running the emirate.
His break from the usual traditional approach to addressing social issues in Nigeria’s northern region has been a major source of acrimony between him and the northern religious groups.
Long before he became Emir, Sanusi opposed the adoption of Islamic law in some northern states, arguing that there were more pressing issues that needed to be dealt with. This position was bound to set him against the core northern traditional elites.
He once said that the “ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam” in some parts of northern Nigeria has discouraged the education of girls, family planning and other progressive policies. These claims did not go down well with religious leaders in the region.
Sanusi was seen as a reformist and had been critical of some government policies – a stance that frequently put him at loggerheads with ruling politicians.
After his dethronement, Sanusi became a guest at major events highlighting the plight of the poor in the economically deprived northern region.
Tussle for control of the Emirate
The situation in the emirate is tense as a federal court order restrained the state government from removing Emir Bayero. Currently, even with the reinstatement of Sanusi, Bayero has defied the state government and refused to hand over the reins of power to his successor.
According to reports, he enjoys the support of the federal government over Sanusi, as Ganduje is now the Chairman of the ruling APC government.
Bayero says he is acting on the order from the courts that has blocked the state government from reinstating the former CBN governor and called for the maintenance of the status quo, which held that Bayero remained the substantive Emir of Kano.
However, some commentators have pointed out that the federal court order in question was not issued by a court of competent jurisdiction as issues of traditional institutions are under exclusive purview of state high courts.
Power and influence of the Kano Emirate
The Emir of Kano holds a respectable position as one of the most influential traditional rulers in Nigeria. The title is historically the second most important Muslim position in Nigeria after the Sultan of Sokoto, an exalted religious and traditional position.
The Emir possessed absolute power before British colonial rule when the Emirate became part of the British colonial administration. It has held limited constitutional powers since independence and is now seen more as custodian of religion and tradition but still revered in the mainly Muslim north.
Emerging rivalries
Beyond the feud between emir Sanusi and the former state government, Kano’s traditional rulership has been a theatre of rivalry between two ruling families in the city, the Sanusis and the Bayeros, both from the Fulani ethnic group and with strong blood ties.
In fact, Sanusi never fails to speak about his close relationship with his earlier predecessor and father of the newly deposed Emir Aminu, late Emir Ado Bayero, having been raised by him and even sharing a bed with Aminu.
Late Ado Bayero and Sanusi’s grandfather are siblings. Sanusi is like a nephew to Aminu Ado Bayero
The Emirate of Kano is witnessing its own manifestation of the game of thrones, with both great houses, those of Sanusi and Bayero, calling in the banners of their friends and allies.
With the newly deposed Emir Bayero holding on to his position, the emirate of Kano is faced with the unusual situation of having two rulers, each being representatives of powerful families with historic ties and networks, further complicating the situation.
The feud has exposed a new dimension that threatens to widen the rift beyond the claims by both families. There are signs that a seething cauldron of ethnic rivalry is emerging. For many in the city, the Bayeros and Sanusis hold on to an illegitimate claim to the Kano kingship, which they say rightly belongs to the Hausa ethnic group.
According to several opponents of the two families’ claims, the rightful heir to Kano monarchy today are members of the original Hausa families that controlled the city under the title of Sarkin between the 13th and 17th centuries.
These rulers were also victims of a pattern of dethronement that has been a major fixture of the rulership of the city for centuries. According to historians, the city’s kingship has witnessed 15 dethronements between 1290 and 2024, which has seen several ruling families lose their claims to the throne.
Prominent family names that have remained relevant in the scheme for power in the emirate are the Kutumbi and Rumfa Houses who remain rallying points for supporters of the Hausa claims to the Emirship.
Awaiting the aftereffects
Sanusi awaits the final outcome of the feud between the state and federal government over who wins the right to impose their whim on the state.
Reports of Federal assistance to Emir Bayero in his efforts to hold on to the throne and to stop Sanusi’s installation may have triggered a wider conflict in the state.
The state government is left in the cold as it is not able to match federal might, following reports that the police and other security agencies have refused to carry out the state governor’s instruction to arrest the deposed emir for refusing to vacate his office.
The available options are either the forceful eviction of Sanusi out of the royal palace he is expected to move into soon or the implementation of the state government’s order installing him as Emir.
The state is also watching if the arrest of the newly deposed Bayero, which it called for, will be carried out or he would be forcefully reinstated with federal might.
Whichever of these scenarios plays out, there will be active resistance from supporters of both camps.
