• Bayero is our emir, protesters insist, Arewa group urges dethroned leader to vacate Kano
Supporters of the deposed Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, Sunday, took to the streets of the city, calling for his reinstatement and demanding that Governor Abba Yusuf comply with a recent court order.
As the situation in Kano remained fluid, the reinstated Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, stepped out of the main palace in the city to a warm reception from the people.
Sanusi rode on a royal horse and gesticulated at the crowd who responded with: “You’re the only Emir we know.”
He also met with some district heads, council members, vigilantes, women groups and well-wishers who were at the palace to pay homage.
The development happened as a large group of young protesters marched through the streets of Kano and Gaya, expressing their discontent with the deposition of Bayero.
The demonstrators, carrying placards with messages such as “Abba Kabir Yusuf, Obey Court Order” and “Aminu is still our Emir,” lit bonfires and sang anti-government slogans.
However, the protest remained peaceful, with police officers refraining from dispersing the crowd.
The protesters had gathered after a special prayer session and continued their demonstration along major roads, including the road near the government house.
The protests were sparked by the repeal of the Kano Emirates Council Law by the Kano State House of Assembly last Thursday.
The law, initially enacted in 2019, divided the Kano Emirate into five jurisdictions and led to the dethronement of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.
Governor Yusuf signed the new law on Thursday, dissolving the additional emirates of Rano, Gaya, Karaye, and Bichi, and restoring the traditional Kano Emirate.
Following the repeal, the governor directed the monarchs of the dissolved emirates to hand over to the Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdulsalam Gwarzo, who oversees the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
It was reported that other dethroned Emirs – Alhaji Nasir Ado Bayero (Bichi), Alhaji Kabiru Muhammad Inuwa (Rano), Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar II (Karaye), and Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Abdulkadir (Gaya), complied with the directive.
They were also said to have vacated their palaces at midnight on Thursday.
However, Bayero who was not around during the incident, returned to the city on Saturday and moved into a palace in the Nassarawa area of the state.
A retinue of soldiers rode with him from the airport to the palace.
On Friday, it was reported that Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court granted an order filed by the Sarkin Dawaki Babba of the Kano Emirate, Aminu Agundi, stopping the Kano State Government from enforcing the Kano State Emirate Council Repeal Law which dethroned the five emirs in the state.
But the state government ignored the order and went ahead with Sanusi’s reinstatement even as the governor threatened to report the judge to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum for granting the order. He claimed that the judge granted the order while he was in the United States.
Miffed by Bayero’s return to the mini-palace in Nassarawa, the governor ordered the arrest of the deposed monarch but the police authorities said they would enforce the court order.
One of the protesters around Gidan Nassarawa in Kano, Mohammed Idiris, told journalists that all they demanded was the immediate return of Bayero to his throne.
“We are in support of the return of Aminu Ado Bayero back to his seat. We don’t know any other person. He is the man of the people. And that is why we are calling for him to be returned to his seat with immediate effect,’’ he stated.
Also, residents of Gaya on Sunday protested the decision of the state government to dissolve the Gaya Emirate.
The protesters condemned the action of the government and the state House of Assembly.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions, chanting anti-government songs, and alleged injustice, saying the dissolution of the emirate had political undertones.
However, a non-governmental organisation, Arewa Social Contract Initiatives, advised the Bayero to vacate the ancient city in the spirit of peace and stability.
The group, which summoned an emergency meeting of its members in the 19 northern states, said the sudden return of the dethroned emir ‘’was cooked to ignite serious civil unrest in the city.’’
Group faults Bayero
The National Chairman of the group, Sani Darma, in a communiqué after the meeting on Sunday in Kano, noted that “Aminu Ado Bayero’s actions have negated the tradition of the Emirate Council which he belongs to.”
He reminded Bayero that history would never be kind to him if he acted as the source of uncertainty and chaos which might consume many lives in the state.
He said, “Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the dethroned Emir of Kano, should remember that the same person he is challenging today vacated the same seat for him and even disappeared far away from Kano, but he accepted what happened in good faith without causing any uproar. Why are you not replicating his actions?”
Darma further advised Bayero to borrow a leaf from his siblings and even his very close brother, the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado Bayero, who quietly left Kano without doing anything that could jeopardise public peace.
“Look at the Emir of Bichi and other emirs; nobody heard anything from them. They respectfully left and vacated their thrones without causing any havoc. That is a clear love for Kano,” he said.
“We are totally against the ill-advised actions of the dethroned Emir Aminu Ado Bayero. We strongly advise him to, as a matter of urgency, relocate and if he has any reservations of what had happened, he should channel it appropriately from wherever he is, but not Kano,” the group counselled the aggrieved former monarch.
It reminded the deposed emir that when Yusuf was campaigning he had promised the people that if elected, he would change the Kano emirates to its former status as a single emirate.
“And here is the governor fulfilling his campaign promises; No wonder Kano people are so calm and happy with the development. As you move around, one will see nothing has changed. People are happily going about their normal businesses.
“Somebody cannot sit in Abuja or wherever and decide the fate of Kano. The fact that Kano, with its attendant volatility, remained peaceful and calm, clearly shows that Emir Sanusi is being accepted wholly.
“For this, we are advising Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero not to buy the idea of plunging Kano into chaos. His actions right now show that he is harbouring a personal desire at the detriment of Kano peace and stability,” Darma alleged.
In the meantime, the Northern Youth Assembly has written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to be wary of some people in his government planning anarchy in Kano State.
The letter was also copied to the United Nations Office, Abuja, the European Union Mission, ECOWAS, the United States Embassy, the British High Commission, the US Congress and the European Union.
The letter, signed by Dr Ali Idris, President and Dr Garba Abdulhafiz, Secretary General, dated May 25, 2024, said the change in the emirate law in Kano State was a product of the law passed by the state house of assembly, noting that any attempt to subvert it by Abuja would result in chaos.
