Life and times of a great ruler

The late Emir of Kano,Alhaji Ado Abdullahi Bayero, CFR, who passed away early yesterday was one of the foremost traditional rul­ers in the country. Born on July 25, 1930, he ascended the throne on October 15,1963 as the 13th Emir of Kano. Prior to his ascension, Bayero the highly revered monarch had served Kano state and the nation as a public official. The late royal father who reigned for 51 years started life as a public official when he secured appointment with the defunct Bank of British West-Africa as a clerk in 1947. He was with the bank until 1949 when he joined Kano Native Authority. Bayero was regarded as not only being one of the strongest and most powerful emirs in the history of the Hausa land, but was also re­nowned for his abundant wealth which he ac­quired through stock market investments and large-scale agricultural entrepreneurship both at home and abroad. Born to Abdullahi Bayero, a former emir, who reigned for 27 years, the late Emir took over the throne following the dethronement of his half brother, Muhammadu Inuwa in 1963. Bayero is one of the longest-serving emirs in the emirate’s history. Widely hailed as one of the architects of modern city state of Kano,it was during his tenure that the emirate not only transformed from a powerful native authority into a custo­dian of Hausa language and Islamic traditions, but also gradually transformed into an urban­ized industrial centre. A former Ambassador of Nigeria to Sen­egal, Bayero during his lifetime played host to official visits by many government personnel and foreigners. However in 1981, Bayero had a face-off with the then Kano state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi following irreconcilable differences between the two. A fall-out of that disagreement was the re­striction placed on the traditional homage paid by village heads to the Emir.The governor fur­ther excised some domains from his emirate. Another trying moment for the late royal fa­ther was in 1984 when , a travel ban was placed on him ,and his friend, the Ooni of Ife Oba Okunade Sijuwade by Major-Gen. Muham­madu Buhari led military regime. Known for his forthrightness, Bayero had on different occasions spoke out on some is­sues that are of national importance.Before his convoy was attacked by people suspected to be Boko Haram militants on 19th January 2013, Bayero spoke on the need for religious toler­ance. He also condemned insurgency describ­ing it as an act capable of threatening the na­tion’s peace. However during the deadly attack on his convoy by the gunmen, his two sons narrowly escaped death, while his driver and bodyguard lost their lives. Bayero had to be flown abroad for further treatment. The late Emir also spoke on the epileptic state of the nation’s mpower sector. Worried by the ugly development in the sector, Bayero ex­pressed concern that he problem of power sup­ply may cripple the nation’s economy, despite all efforts being made to re-invigorate it. While lamenting that many industries had closed down, he expressed dismay that the ugly development might stifle the nation’s quest for industrial and technological growth and devel­opment. Comparing the situation in Nigeria with South-Africa,the Emir recalled an occasion when he was in South-Africa for two weeks and didn’t experience power outage even for a second, but sadly noted that the same day he arrived Nigeria via Murtala Muhammed Inter­national Airport that the whole place was in darkness for over an hour as a result of power failure. Bayero was also vocal in his appeal to par­ents especially in the Northern parts of the country that they should allow their wards to acquire qualitative education so as to help them move along with the trends in the contemporary modern society, noting that both Islamic and Western education not only have their values but also was a right of very child. A former chancellor of the University of Ni­geria, Nsukka, Bayero was until his death the chancellor of the University of Ibadan. The eleventh child of his father and the sec­ond of his mother, Bayero started his education in Kano studying Is­lam, after which he attended Kano Middle School. He graduated from the School of Arabic Studies in 1947. He also attended Zaria Clerical College in 1952. In 1954, he won a seat to the Northern regional House of Assembly. He was head of the Kano Native Authority police division from 1957 until 1962, during which he tried to minimize the practice of brief­ly detaining individuals and political opponents on the orders of powerful individuals in Kano. Bayero became emir at a time when Nige­ria was going through rapid social and political changes. As emir, he became a patron of Islamic scholarship and embraced Western education as a means to succeed in a modern Nigeria. Al­though the constitutional powers of the emir were whittled down by the military regimes be­tween 1966 and 1979,Bayero however was able to keep up with his reforms without antagonism. Again, while The Native Authority Police and Prisons Department was abolished, and the emir’s judicial council was supplanted by another body, and local government reforms which reduced the power of emirs were carried out in 1968, 1972, and 1976, Bayero’s influence didn’t wane as he remained popular among the people. Described as a moderate, Bayero was also a bridge builder who developed close relationship with fellow traditional rulers in other parts of the country.His was also renowned for his open door policy.His palace was a place of succour for the needy,and the down trodden. A multi- linguist,the late Emir was fluent both in English-language and French.He be­came fluent in French after enrolling in a lan­guage school while serving as Nigeria’s ambas­sador to Senegal between 1962 and 1963.