Aliyu Askira, Samuel Aruwan, and Adebinpe Afunku
Immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was yesterday named as the new Emir of Kano.
He succeeded Alhaji Ado Bayero, who died on Friday.
Sanusi, aged 52, is now the 14th emir of Kano in the Fulani dynasty.
He is the grandson of Alhaji Sir Muhammadu Sanusi, the 11th emir who ruled between 1954 and 1963 when he was deposed by the Northern Regional government.
Sanusi’s announcement as emir came after two days of tension and speculation over who would inherit the throne.
The names of four candidates for the emirship had been forwarded to the state governor by the emirate’s four kingmakers, according to tradition.
The fate of the candidates was sealed by the governor, Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, in the afternoon yesterday when the announcement was finally made at the government house by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Engineer Rabi’u Bichi, who said: “Under state customary law, the kingmakers, comprising the Madaki, Sarkin Bai, Makama and Sarkin Dawaki Maituta, had sat down and forwarded three names to the government to choose the one that will succeed the late Emir Ado Abdullahi Bayero.
“Out of these three names the government has approved Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Dan Majen Kano, and former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as the new Emir of Kano.”
The kingmakers were present at the briefing.
When the announcement was made, the new emir’s supporters went into wild jubilation while those opposed to his candidature broke out into violent protest.
The protest had been presaged by an earlier rumour that the late Ado Bayero’s eldest son, the Ciroman Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Ado Bayero, another favourite for the throne, had been nominated.
Many in Kano had believed that the contest was actually between the two Sanusis.
The two are close blood relations as the late Ado Bayero was the younger brother of the late Emir Muhammadu Sanusi.
The Ciroma was said to be named by his father after Muhammadu Sanusi.
Nonetheless, some young men took to the streets yesterday, holding tree branches and burning tyres as they chanted: “Ba mu so”, that is, ‘we don’t want it’.
By nightfall, however, the city fell silent as the protesters diispersed and went home.
Shortly before Lamido Sanusi was named as emir, security was beefed up around the city to contain any possible breakdown of law and order.
Some Government House officials alleged that the earlier rumour about Sanusi Ado Bayero being nominated was orchestrated by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Kwankwaso had earlier yesterday addressed reporters shortly after a visit by the four kingmakers to his office, saying that barring any last minute change in plan, the new emir would emerge later in the day.
He, however, declined to answer further inquiries on the succession race, stressing that the government was set to announce the emir.
“The kingmakers, led by their chairman, are here to condole with me over the death of our emir and I want to assure you that we will announce the new emir on Sunday,” he said.
The kingmakers were the Sarkin Dawaki Maituta, Alhaji Bello Abubakar, the Sakin Bai, Alhaji Mukhtar Adnan, the Makama, Alhaji Sarki Ibrahim, and the Madaki, Alhaji Yusuf Nabahani Ibrahim.
Blueprint gathered that the kingmakers submitted their shortlist of four candidates, two each from the Muhammadu Sanusi lineage and the Ado Bayero lineage to the governor.
The kingmakers were also said to have recommended the son of the late emir, who also doubles as the Ciroman Kano, to succeed his late father, stressing that the choice remains a stabilising factor for now.
They were said to have told Kwankwaso that their nominee’s appointment, if made, would assuage the restive populace over the governor’s recent quarrel with the late emir regarding a tussle over the appointment of Wazirin Kano.
They reportedly told the governor: “We carefully assessed the situation and believe that the only way to avoid crisis is to honour the late emir with appointment of his son.”
Interestingly, the eldest of Sanusi’s three wives, Sadiya, is the daughter of the late Ado Bayero. “If women could aspire to the throne, she was qualified to also vie for the emirship,” one palace insider told Blueprint last night, adding, “Sanusi Lamido’s older children, one of whom is a university graduate, are therefore the grandsons of the late Emir Ado Bayero.”
Born on July 31, 1961, Sanusi was educated at King’s College, Lagos (1977), and earned Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1981), and also has a first class degree in Sharia and Islamic Studies from International University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan.
From working as a lecturer at the university in Zaria, where he taught Economics, he joined the banking industry in 1985 at Icon Limited (Merchant Bankers), a subsidiary of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of New York, and by January 2009 had risen to General Manager, to the Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s oldest and biggest bank.
Before joining First Bank, Sanusi was Principal Manager in the Credit and Risk Management Division of United Bank of Africa and rose to the position of General Manager.
Sanusi was the first northerner to be appointed CEO in First Bank’s history of more than a century.
He was nominated as CBN governor by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on June 1, 2009 and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate on June 3, 2009.
His tenure, amidst global financial crisis, was marked by revolutionary innovations that sanitised the industry.
The global financial intelliegence magazine, The Banker, published by the Financial Times, conferred on Sanusi two awards, the global award for Central Bank Governor of the Year, as well as for Central Bank Governor of the Year for Africa.
TIME magazine also listed Sanusi in its TIME 100 list of most influential people of 2011.
Sanusi fell out with the Jonathan admionistration when he blew the whistle when he alleged that $49.8 billion was missing from the account of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) domiciled with the CBN.
The government suspended him on February 20, 2014, four months before the end of his tenure as governor, and began a court proceeding against him.
Meanwhile, Northern delegates in the ongoing National Conference last night rejoiced with Sanusi on his ascension as Emir of Kano.
In a statement issued by its spokesman, Anthony N.Z. Sani, the Northern Delegates Forum said: “May this be an opportunity for the new emir to continue the good works by his predecessor of bringing the people of Kano state together so that they can live up their potential.
“This is because of fact of history that peace and the good things of life are not natural order of things, they are often attained through ceaseless and consciously directed effort.
“The late emir laid good foundation upon which the new emir can build.
“The Northern Delegates Forum therefore prays God to provide the new emir with what it takes to provide order and direction to the people of Kano.”
Also, Ogun state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has congratulated the new emir.
Amosun hailed the choice of the erstwhile CBN governor, who he said would bring his wealth of experience to bear in the appointment.
In a press release by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mrs Olufunmilayo Wakama, Amosun urged the emir to follow in the footsteps of the predecessor by bringing further development to the emirate and the state as a whole.
“As an accomplished technocrat, I believe the new emir will use his influence to foster peace and attract more development to the emirate and indeed the state,” he said.
He expressed happiness at the choice of the new emir and prayed to Almighty Allah to grant him the wisdom and understanding to discharge the functions of the exalted and revered office.