By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Against the backdrop of the reinstatement of Muhammad Sanusi as the Emir of Kano, on Thursday May 23, 2024, by the State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, protesters on Friday, May 24 stormed the Presidential Villa and the National Assembly with a call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and prevent the Royalty crisis from further escalating.
This is even as Governor Yusuf, despite a restraining order from a Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Friday, presented Emir Sanusi with his reinstatement letter.
The presentation of the letter of reinstatement which took place at a short, but colourful ceremony at the State’s seat of power, marked the formal recognition of Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano by the kano State authorities.
The protesters whose messages were contained in their various placards, noted that they were worried that the brewing crisis associated with the struggle for the soul of Kano Royal Stool, if not contained, has the potentials to snowball into big national problem.
The leader of the protesters and Convener of the Concerned Patriots of Nigeria CPN, Abdullahi Muhammed Saleh ,said Governor Yusuf, by instigating the hurried amendment of the Emirates laws, as well as dissolving existing traditional leaderships across the state, has elevated his abuse of power to a new height.
” A lot has been going wrong in the state ,but the Concerned Patriots of Nigeria,had thought it best to allow Kano to sort out its thorny issues .
“However, Thursday’s brash actions of Governor Yusuf of Kano state, who sacked five Emirs to reinstall Malam Muhammad Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano has awoken us to the urgency of raising the alarm about the destructive excesses of the State Governor
“Since being sworn into office, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.has a string of loutish acts that run like a hardened criminal’s rap sheet, all in the name of rubbishing his predecessor in office.
“He started with a demolition spree that has served to impoverish the people whose lives he took an oath to improve .Thus he proved himself to be anti-people .
“The Government then attempted to destroy the structures of political parties in the state .The impish fanaticism with which he pursued this illicit mission saw him intrude in to structures of political parties ,including hiring some charlatans who purportedly suspended the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress APC Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who is interestingly his predecessor .Thus ,proving himself to be anti- democratic.
“This latest stunt of sacking five Emirs to install his acolyte was achieved by manipulating the Kano State House of Assembly which he has successfully turned into a rubber stamp for endorsing his illegal acts .
“He has eroded the autonomy guaranteed by the separation of powers as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is inconceivable that any right thinking person will descend low to the point of manipulating traditional institution for political gains.
“The humiliation meted out to the five Emirs was most unbecoming and we have cause to believe that Governor Abba Yusuf has set the stage for using the traditional institution as ancient and esteemed as that of Kano for a political seesaw will continue since his successor will revert to the five Emirates .The Kano Governor has thus proven himself to be the anti traditional leader .”the CPN noted.
The group has, therefore, urged the Kano State Governor to quickly retrace his steps, concentrate on delivering good governance to the people, and save the state from falling in the abyss .
The Concerned Patriots also lampooned the State Legislators for lending themselves to acts capable of undermining their state.
” They ( law makers ) have cemented their place as a conclave of shame to have reverted into a mere rubber stamp for the megalomaniac tantrums of the State Governor.” the CPN stated
