In the wake of the recent appointment of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II as the new Emir of Kano State, the Director General, media and publicity to Kano State Governor, Sanusi Bature has clarified that the reinstatement of the Emir is not driven by vindictiveness but by a commitment to correcting past wrongs and preserving the state’s cultural heritage.
Bature in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, highlighted the necessity of taking difficult decisions such as this for the benefit of future generations.
“I need to clear this impression that we are not after Ganduje. This is not a vindictive approach. What we are doing is to right the wrongs of Ganduje’s administration because Ganduje has done a lot more harm than good in Kano in the last eight years of his administration and part of what we promised was to make sure we correct the anomalies and make sure Kano is back to life. The state assembly was able to pass this into law with an intention to ensure that such bastardisation never happens again and to protect the cultural heritage of the state. Sometimes, we have to make hard decisions for the sake of the future generation because history will not forgive us if we did not do the right thing at the right time.”
He also reaffirmed that one of the reasons for the Emir reinstatement is to emphasise the fact that the traditional or religious institutions are not to be politicised.
“I think one of the primary reasons for reverting the law and reinstating Emir Sanusi is to tell the world that the traditional institution is not political and it should stay as such. If we allow this thing to continue, then there will be a time when every regime will have its own Emir or traditional rulers.
“We are politicians but we have to allow the traditional and religious institutions to stay away from politics and be able to advise the politicians and government in power on what is good for the people because they represent the people. What the governor did is in the best interest of the state and institution itself to avoid politicisation of such institutions.”
Further speaking on the order issued by the Federal High Court in Kano stopping the Kano State Government from enforcing the Kano State Emirate Council Repeal Law, the DG said the timing and intent of the order do not invalidate the reappointment.
“We need to understand that this is an ex parte order and it is given largely for probably protection of the fundamental human rights of the subjects involved in the case. The court order came many hours after the executive governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf made the reappointment. You can only respect a court order that came at the right time.
“This bill that was signed into law emanated from the state house of Assembly, it is not even an executive bill. His Excellency, having reviewed the content of the law and in fulfilment of his campaign promises during the 2023 campaign activities, he decided to restore the lost glory of Kano State. After over a thousand year history, the state has being bastardised by the previous administration of Ganduje, it is time to restore the lost glory of the state because our rich history and culture is what we are proud of and this decision of assenting to the law and also the decision to reinstate Emir Mohammadu Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano State has taken Kano back to the single Emirate system and was done in good faith by his excellency and in the best interest of the people of Kano because that is what they have been craving. During his campaign, he promised and on Thursday, he fulfilled it.
“The court order came at the time when the decision has been taken and the court order is to prevent something from happening. His excellency signed the law at about 5pm on Thursday and the court order came at around 11pm, so therefore, this is just something that came at a very wrong time and by law, the state is not bound by this court order. So, therefore the Emir has been restored and 48 hours was given to the former Emirs to vacate the palaces and I think some of them have already started vacating. So, this is, to us, a bygone issue.”
Chioma Kalu
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