The Commissioner for Information
in Kano State, Comrade Mohammed Garba, has offered explanations as to why the
Governor of the State, Abdullahi Ganduje, fell apart with the Emir of Kano,
Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II.
He also explained the vision that
informed the creation of additional emirate councils in the state in an
interview with Sun.
Garba said that the revered
monarch got involved in partisan politics contrary to the tradition of the
throne.
According to him, “What happened
actually as a result of the creation of the new emirates.. you should remember
that it was not the governor that initiated the petition. It was a group of
lawyers who felt that there was the need for them to have additional emirate in
their own area.
“And they wrote to the Kano State
House of Assembly and the State House of Assembly, from the information
available to us, read the petition or whatever submission that was submitted to
them and they felt that all the issues raised by the concerned citizens and
lawyers are serious issues that should be looked into.
“The State Assembly decided to do
their own constitutional responsibility by looking at it, initiating a bill, did
one or two corrections, went through the normal process of the Assembly. At the
end of third reading, they presented it to the executive.
“If you remember the
pronouncement of the Speaker when they were presenting this bill to the state
governor.
“He said that they strongly
believed in the bill, that should the governor fail to assent to the bill, they
would come back to the House and use a two third majority to pass the bill,
which means that the Assembly is completely convinced.
“And they came to the State House
and made a presentation to us and the governor looked at it critically and we
felt that in the interest of the people of Kano, especially those who are
living in some of these local government areas and the rural areas, we felt
that it is something that would further develop these areas bearing in mind
that some of the local governments in our neigbouring states like Jigawa – look
at Ringim emirate for example.
“I remember when Kano was with
Jigawa State, Dutse was a hamlet. I know Duste then because I schooled in
Sumaila.
“There was no light , there was
nothing in Dutse. But when Duste became an emirate and eventually a state, look
at the level of development!
“Look at the creation of Ringim
which was the last of the emirates that were created. Go to Ringim today and
see the level of development.
“So when the late Abubakar Rimi
attempted to have these emirates in 1981 /82, if these emirates were
recognised, especially the three emirates of Gaya, Karaye and the other one, if
they were recognized by that time, believe you me, by now in terms of
development of these areas, you will be very surprised.
“Another area we looked at was
the challenges of the present day. And we looked at our own area and the level
of insecurity that Nigeria is facing today.
“We have read from the newspapers
, we have heard from the security agencies that most of the bandits, quite a
number of them, have relocated to Kano.
“And we know that the traditional
rulers have a crucial role to play in terms of checking the movements, the
access of people and what have you.
“And we felt that in order to
have an effective monitoring system of people, there is need for us to ensure
that we have traditional institutions that are much more closer to the people
than what is obtained with the centralized traditional system.
“The governor looked at it and
the issue of how they can advise him in terms of infrastructural development,
road networks, in terms of water resources , in terms of education – we are
lacking in education.
“The number of out- of- school
children is quite alarming in Kano. And we felt that these traditional rulers
have a serious role to play.
“Honestly, we looked at all the
advantages of having the emirates recognized and we felt that there is no need
to waste time. So the governor decided to assent to it.
“But unfortunately while the
process was ongoing, some people felt that there was no need to decentralize,
some people felt that there was a personal problem or even a political problem
between the Emir of Kano and the governor of Kano.
“The Emir as a person, we believe
that he has the right of choice.
“But by virtue of his current
position, he has to be cautious in whatever he is doing because he is now a
father to everybody. He is a religious leader and he is a community leader now.
“Where there is a problem, even
if it is between the governor and some prominent people in the state, it is the
Emir that is expected to invite them and intervene.
“That is what is meant to be the
father of all. But when the Emir is partisan, practically partisan, I think
that that is the problem.
“But we don’t even see it from
that way and that is not even the reason.. We are more concerned about the
development of the state.
“Honestly, even his partisanship
has no meaning because even with his partisanship, we were able to win the
elections.
“And after winning the election,
the governor was very unhappy because there was no reason why he should be
partisan against him.
“This is because their
relationship has been very cordial. He has not offered a single advice which
the governor refused to implement.
“The governor felt that if there
was any problem, if there was any crisis, if there was anywhere the Emir wanted
changes, in terms of advice, he has a lot of access.
“The governor has a lot of
respect for him. Whenever the Emir comes to the Government House, the governor
would escort him to his car. When he comes to programs late-ideally, the Emir
should be there before the governor.
“But in most cases the governor
would be there before the Emir . And whenever he comes the governor would stand
up and greet the Emir.
“So as far as we are concerned,
whatever is due to the Emir as a father and as a traditional ruler has been
given to him.
“Even after the election, despite
the fact that we know that this man has fought us seriously, the governor
accommodated him.
“He went to the palace twice. At
a time when we were told that he was indisposed the governor went there at a
personal level.
“He went there also for a special
prayer for peace and then, he went for the weeding of 1500 couples. The
governor was able to forget his partisan role.
“As far as we are concerned we
did not do it (create emirates) in order to destroy any history or any legacy
or whatever the forefathers of these Emirs built.
“We want it to be more effective,
we want to make sure that the traditional institutions are more involved in
terms of the administration of the state.”
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com