Kano’s ‘Diarchy’ And Paradox Of Monarchism In Republican Nigeria – Independent Newspaper Nigeria
As at today, there are two emirs purportedly running the traditional affairs of the Kano emirate. On the one hand is Emir Aminu Bayero and on the other hand is Emir Sanusi Lamido, both laying claim to the throne as dictated by the respective forces lurking behind them and pulling the strings.
As things are now, the two cousins tussling for the throne are fully aware that their eventual staying in office depends on who comes tops amongst their respective human benefactors rather than it being due to some divine endorsements as they usually tell us. So, until we can definitely tell where the swinging pendulum rests, it is safe to say that, for now, the Kano emirate is saddled with two equally matched emirs at the helm, something which political scientists and constitutional analysts technically call a Diarchy.
One thing is however certain: whatever eventually happens to the two contenders, the Kano emirate has been substantially drained of its royal aura, having been turned into an item of political chess game which then puts it squarely at the mercy of the vicissitudes of Kano partisan politics.
When former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, summarily dethroned Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from office as the Emir of Kano on the 9th of March, 2020, I wrote to express my surprise about the unnecessary attention that the removal was getting in the public place as if something big had happened. This is because it should have already been well-known to anyone with some knowledge of the legal and political processes through which an Emir emerges and indeed, every other traditional ruler in the country; everything, other things thereafter appertaining to the “royal” offices are wholly at the pleasure of whoever happens to be the governor of the state.
If there was any doubt about that, then, the recent “re-enthronement” of the previously dethroned Emir Sanusi by the new Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, and the subsequent judicial circus that has dogged the “sacking and reinstatement” drama which has now led to the incongruous scenario in which two emirs, Sanusi and Bayero, are laying claims to the Kano traditional stool just like littles kids fighting over toys, should have made it clear that under the present constitutional dispensation, traditional rulers are nothing more than robots acting at the mercy of their state governors, irrespective of the recent assurances offered by the Vice-President while addressing a regional summit Katsina.
As I explained in the piece published immediately after the initial dethronement of Emir Sanusi Lamido II, in 2020: “It remains a juridical and, indeed, a conceptual incongruity that, in one breath, a nation could be claiming some relationship with republicanism while at the same time professing monarchism, two political concepts that are mutually exclusive. It is therefore preposterous that we still make hypocritical allusions to the serviceability of an otiose system that we all know can no longer realistically coexist on equal terms with the modern governing constitutional order.
Historically. before the advent of colonialism and the subsequent evolution of the modern Nigerian State, the territories now comprising Nigeria were ruled by monarchs, (kings and princes) who sometimes claim divine right to rule. Excepting for the eastern parts of the country where some forms of “republican” governance existed, monarchism was the dominant governing machinery in most of the territories.
Because there cannot be two sovereigns within a single polity, the conquering imperialistic colonialists proceeded to subjugate the various traditional rulers and promptly subjected them to their own suzerainty by force or by guile. Those who attempted to resist the colonial usurpation were promptly executed or dethroned and banished to distant lands.
Eventually, the traditional governing institutions collapsed and the various kingdoms were subjected to a humiliating debellatio and the erstwhile royal overlords suddenly became subjects or mere subordinates of the colonial authorities especially through the “Indirect Rule” arrangement and it was only those whom the new colonial authorities could determine their unflinching allegiance and pliability that were given “staffs of office,” a symbolic replica of their lost glory which was withdrawable whenever they misbehaved or manifested rebellious dispositions.
Hiding under the indirect rule system, the now institutionally castrated “monarchs” somehow managed to mislead their peoples about the reality of their helplessness, especially as they continued to answer their honorific titles of their “royal highnesses” or “royal majesties” which were now totally bereft of all the original incidents of royal sovereign powers. To make matters worse, the succeeding post-colonial native politicians are even more determined to give vent to the fact that their powers have long gone and they are now reduced to merely running government errands and making themselves available for ceremonial purposes.
Traditional rulers, devoid of any significant constitutional roles however continue to “enjoy” customary and cultural respects within their ancestral domains and, of course, the occasional lip-services about their relevance to communal security and peace. Those who dared to breach the political nonpartisan codes had their fingers burnt as they were promptly put in their places by their overzealous political paymasters through dethronement and/or banishment.
One insurmountable structural obstacle on the path of those who think that a return to monarchism in whatever form is still possible in Nigeria is the fact that the territorial boundaries of modern Nigeria have no bearing with the previous scope of powers territorially exercised by the precolonial monarchs. For example, there was never the “King,” “Oba” or “Emir” of Nigeria to whom we can legitimately return the lost powers. Proper monarchism has become practically otiose and constitutionally unworkable in contemporary Nigeria because of the radically changed political and territorial landscapes.
The now deposed Emir Sanusi II is an integral part of the northern oligarchic establishment who also relishes his association with southern socialites and the Lagos corporate community. Being an educated personality, he certainly understands that what we gleefully eulogize as “royalty” in present day Nigeria is actually nothing but the relics Emir Sanusi nialism and the subsequent evolution of the modern Nigerian State, the territories now comprising Nigeria were ruled by monarchs, (kings and princes) who sometimes claim divine right to rule. Excepting for the eastern parts of the country where some forms of “republican” governance existed, monarchism was the dominant governing machinery in most of the territories. Because there cannot be two sovereigns within a single polity, the conquering imperialistic colonialists proceeded to subjugate the various traditional rulers and promptly subjected them to their own suzerainty by force or by guile. Those who attempted to resist the colonial usurpation were promptly executed or dethroned and banished to distant lands. Eventually, the traditional governing institutions collapsed and the various One insurmountable structural obstacle on the path of those who think that a return to monarchism in whatever form is still possible in Nigeria is the fact that the territorial boundaries of modern Nigeria have no bearing with the previous scope of powers territorially exercised by the precolonial monarchs Emir Bayero kingdoms were subjected to a humiliating debellatio and the erstwhile royal overlords suddenly became subjects or mere subordinates of the colonial authorities especially through the “Indirect Rule” arrangement and it was only those whom the new colonial authorities could determine their unflinching allegiance and pliability that were given “staffs of office,” a symbolic replica of their lost glory which was withdrawable whenever they misbehaved or manifested rebellious dispositions. Hiding under the indirect rule system, the now institutionally castrated “monarchs” somehow managed to mislead their peoples about the reality of their helplessness, especially as they continued to answer their honorific titles of their “royal highnesses” or “royal majesties” which were now totally bereft of all the original incidents of royal sovereign powers. To make matters worse, the succeeding post-colonial native politicians are even more determined to give vent to the fact that their powers have long gone and they are now reduced to merely running government errands and making themselves available for ceremonial purposes. Traditional rulers, devoid of any significant constitutional roles however continue to “enjoy” customary and cultural respects within their ancestral domains and, of course, the occasional lip-services about their relevance to communal security and peace. Those who dared to breach the political nonpartisan codes had their fingers burnt as they were promptly put in their places by their overzealous political paymasters through dethronement and/or banishment. One insurmountable structural obstacle on the path of those who think that a return to monarchism in whatever form is still possible in Nigeria is the fact that the territorial boundaries of modern Nigeria have no bearing with the previous scope of powers of a once glorious institution which is now devoid of its spiritual and political essence. The continuous relative prominence of the Emirate system in northern Nigeria is essentially due to its historical entanglement with the Islamic religion especially following the Othman Dan Fodio’s jihadist conquest.
There is however no doubt that Emir Sanusi II deeply relishes the opulence and grandeur of the throne, what with his large harem recently enlarged by the addition of an under-age damsel (now 18) with so many children in tow; his extremely glamorous regalia, the expensive ferrying of his RollsRoyce to occasions outside of Kano and the retinue of palace praise-singers in his unusually large entourage – the same parasitic opulent lifestyle of the northern establishment which he so bluntly ridicule. A “Megxit” move such that saw the British royals, Harry and Meghan, walked away from the opulence of the monarchy would have better validated Sanusi’s vaunted progressive credentials as his advertised uncomplimentary disposition towards the Northern oligarchy sounded hypocritical for which he has just paid a heavy price.
Curiously, there has been enormous outpouring of mischievously contrived sympathies, a false sense of an imminent risorgimento for a moribund monarchy since his dethronement, more like an opportunistic political weaponisation of a personal misfortune than a genuine expression of institutional solidarity.
That said, I completely disagree with his post-dethronement banishment which is clearly unconstitutional. Emir or not, every Nigerian is entitled to his fundamental human rights. The stark irony now, however, is that we are actively deploying the core republican values of egalitarianism in the defense of a monarchical edifice that is itself the very antithesis of liberal constitutionalism – a system inherently skewed against the dignity of the “commoners.” So, unless we are deceiving ourselves, there is not much left in the circumstantially otiose monarchical system beyond its aggrandizing histrionics – a scarecrow farcically projecting an ignoble past.”
