A former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University and Emeritus Professor of English, Professor Munzali Jubril, has provided the actual reason His Royal Highness, Sanusi Muhammadu Lamido Sanusi II, was removed as the Emir of Kano.
Prof. Jubril, who revealed that he taught the current Emir Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, during his university days, said Sanusi’s humiliation was not because of his criticism of the economic policies or other activities of the government of the day as widely believed. He said Sanusi’s perceived role in the last election led to his downfall.
Jubril stated this when he appeared as a guest yesterday on a programme “The Morning Show” on Arise TV.
He went on to explain that the political split between former Kano Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and his godson, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje before the mid-term of Ganduje’s first term is the remote cause of the conflict between the Emir and the governor, adding that the Governor perceived the Emir as supporting his former principal (Kwankwaso) against him (Ganduje)
“Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero is a graduate of Mass Communication of Bayero University, Kano and I was privileged to be one of his teachers at the time he was a student.
“I think the most sub text is the political undertone. When Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was appointed Emir of Kano, the present governor, Ganduje, was deputy to Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and it was that government that was favourably disposed to Lamido Sanusi, sufficiently, to appoint him as Emir.
“So, up to the end of Kwankwaso regime, there was no problem. Then came a political split between the godfather and the godson. That is to say between Kwankwaso and Ganduje before the mid-term of Ganduje’s first term.
“That split is probably the remote cause of the conflict between the Emir and the governor because the governor perceived the Emir as supporting his former principal against him and especially when it came to the last election in 2019, the governor perceived the Emir as lending his weight to the PDP which is the new party of Kwankwaso.
“I think this is the most important sub text to answer your question directly. So, yes, his personality might have played a role but I believe that a lot of people talk to him and I believe that within the period of six years of his reign he did change, somewhat because in the last one year or two, he was only talking about social issues; but earlier on, he would take on the economy and by implication, be critical of the government of the day and its economic policies.
“I think there may have been one or two occasions when he even criticised some policies or proposed policies of the government of Kano State. But I think people talk to him a lot and I think he did change.
“So, I don’t think in the last one year or so that could have been cited as a reason. I believe that it is the political undertone and his perceived role in the last election that may have led to his downfall,” he stated.
