There has been a rumble in the sultanate. It is about the alleged plan by the Sokoto State Governor, Ahmad Aliyu, to depose the revered Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III.
It is a vacuous and disturbing piece of news, especially to the Muslim world in Nigeria, because the Sultan is no ordinary paramount ruler like his ilk. As the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs(NSCIA), the Sultan doubles as the spiritual head of all Muslims in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern(MURIC), Prof. Isiaq Akintola, squealed on the governor’s alleged plan in a statement penultimate Monday. The alleged move was sequel to the controversy and tension that have enveloped Sokoto State over the deposition of at least 15 monarchs for various offences, which MURIC described as “flimsy.”
“Nigerian Muslims reject any thought of deposing the Sultan,” Prof. Akintola said, adding: “Feelers in circulation indicate that the governor may descend on the Sultan any moment from now, using any flimsy excuses used to dethrone the 15 traditional rulers whom he removed earlier.”
The MURIC leader reminded Governor Aliyu that the Sultan’s role is not only traditional but also religious, extending beyond Sokoto to cover all Nigerian Muslims as their head. “MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps,” Prof. Akintola admonishes. “The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional. It is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.”
The alleged deposition plan against Sultan Abubakar, who would be 68 on August 24, this year, is obnoxious and unthinkable. And it is a direct consequence of the noxious contradictions in the relationship between the traditional institution and the political leadership in the country. Traditionally, the traditional rulers, as life occupants of imperial thrones exercising ethereal powers, are regarded as the fathers of all.
That is why everybody, including the political leaders, prostrate or stoop to greet them, depending on the culture of the particular community. In the ancient times, they were revered as the second in command to the Supreme Being. So, they wielded the power of life and death over their subjects. In these modern times, however, the spiritual significance of their position has become somewhat ceremonial. But in many communities, they still wield enormous influence.
Conversely, in political terms, they have to submit the same authority that confers spiritual dominion on them to the political leadership in their domains. Even in many instances, local government chairmen exercise political authority over the same custodians of traditions and cultures that everybody revers. What a contradiction! What a hypocritical, ludicrous contraption!
This obnoxious set up has tended to place the traditional institution at a disadvantage and stirred a ding dong between the monarchy and political leadership. The monarchs have thus become a game of dice in the hands of their political overlords, especially the governors, who toss them at their whims.
This is the upsetting arrangement that has tended to bastardize the traditional institution. Because of political control, most otherwise revered traditional rulers have become, more or less, the puppets and lackeys of political leaders, especially governors.
The state chief executives’ more-than-passing interest in and suffocating stranglehold on the traditional institution is largely dictated by political expediency. The governors and other political leaders most of the time corral monarchs in their jurisdictions to get votes during elections because they (monarchs) control the grassroots.
And where a particular monarch decides to be impartial or maintain aloofness because he sees himself as the father of all the contestants or holds any allegiance to any interest other than the governor’s, he has courted trouble and he most likely gets the boot, if the governor is the vindictive type.
This was exactly the fate that befell the erstwhile Emir of Kano, outspoken Malam Lamido Sanusi Lamido, who was given the boot for allegedly openly showing sympathy to the opposition during the administration of former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who is now the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Emir Sanusi was deposed and banished until he was reinstated recently.
Even then, like the proverbial bird perching precariously on a rope, his fate is still fluctuating in uncertainty. Emir Ado Bayero, who took the throne after Sanusi and was asked to vacate the same throne for the latter’s return, has refused to bow without putting up a titanic fight. Vested interests have been digging in from both sides and they have been perennially in and out of court, upstaging the serenity of Kano.
Could the drama playing out in Sokoto be akin to the Kano cauldron? Before MURIC raised the alarm about the alleged deposition plan against Sultan Abubakar, the relationship between him and Governor Aliyu was said to be frosty. Nobody volunteered to explain what could have gone amiss between them, but the governor’s victory mantra after winning the 2023 governorship election to succeed Aminu Tambuwal, was said to be: ‘New governor, new sultan,’ suggesting perhaps that the plan to axe Sultan Abubakar was not a fluke after all.
Could the revered monarch have drawn the ire of the governor during the 2023 election and he now moves to extract his pound of flesh by seeking to dethrone the monarch for a more pliable alternative?
Well, we do not want to speculate but we believe that the Sultan’s position is too prodigious and institutional to be subjected to the grimy vagaries of local politics. To do so will be demeaning and contemptuous of its essence, which, as we noted earlier, encapsulates the paramount rulership of the Sokoto Caliphate, with a historical luxuriance dating back to over two centuries and the spiritual leadership of the entire Muslim population in Nigeria.
Besides, Sultan Abubakar carries himself with the regal poise and magisterial grace that befit his imperial calling. A former military officer who served his nation meritoriously, the 20th sultan exudes an impeccable character and integrity. He is a quintessence of uprightness who commands a cult following all over the country.
He is a social crusader, who fights for justice and defends the hapless poor at every opportunity, even though his background is aristocratic. These leadership traits particularly endear him to the larger population in Nigeria. Such a personality does not deserve to be treated with scorn.
The governor had denied the alleged move to depose the respected monarch but whatever it is, His Excellency has not completely forgiven him(Sultan)because the state government has already begun moves to whittle down his powers. An executive bill has already passed second reading at the state’s House of Assembly, seeking to amend Section 76 of the Sokoto Local Government and Chieftaincy Laws to strip him of the power to appoint district and village heads.
The state’s Attorney-General(AG), Muhammad Nasiru Binji, explained that the proposed amendment was to “synchronize the legal framework with customary procedures.” Binji said during a public hearing on the bill at the House of Assembly last Tuesday that the Sultan had no power to appoint district and village heads, adding that Section 76 of the chieftaincy laws that gives him that power contravenes Section 5(2) of the 1999 Constitution.
“Section 5(2) of the Constitution,” the AG argued, “stipulates that the executive power to appoint in the state is vested in the governor directly or through his deputy, commissioners or any government agent assigned by the governor. But there is no power given to the Sultanate Council to appoint.
“Section 76(2) of the Sokoto Local Government and Chieftaincy Laws gives the Sultanate Council the power to appoint district and village heads in the state but with the approval of the sitting governor. To give the Sultanate Council the power to make appointments is contrary to the provisions of this section.
“That is why it is now presented to this honourable House to amend this section to revert to the tradition and the age-long practice where the Sultanate Council recommends to the governor persons to be appointed as district heads, persons to be appointed as village heads, and not the other way round.
“In the proposed amendment, the Sultanate Council, as in Section 76(1), will retain the function to recommend to the governor, while the power to appoint will now be with the governor.”
The AG’s explanation is couched in beautiful verbiage, but the motive is indecorous. The nub of the amendment sought is unambiguous. It is to strip the Sultan of his age-long customary power to appoint district and village heads to reduce him to a lame duck. Even though he can still recommend candidates to those positions post-amendment, the governor, who is the approving authority, reserves the right to jettison all his recommended candidates and pick his own.
By implication, the allegiance of the the district and village heads so appointed will now naturally shift from the Sultan to the governor, thus reducing the respected monarch’s sphere of influence, as he will become a figure head! This is highly ignoble and scurrilous. The Sultan, going by his clout, does not deserve this sordid incivility.
Credible northern leaders, lovers of the traditional institution, notable Islamic scholars and opinion moulders are enjoined to rise up and intervene to save the sultanate from being imperiled. Let them prevail on Governor Aliyu and the state legislators to call off their onslaught against the monarch.
A slap on Sultan Abubakar is a dent on the Muslim ummah. Let the Sokoto political leadership stave off the ongoing amendment of the state’s chieftaincy laws, so the eminent traditional ruler could retain his customary powers and influence. To this end, we buy into MURIC’s recommendation that the relevant laws be reviewed to exempt the Sultan from deposition, instead of stripping him of his powers.
In other words, let the state House of Assembly add ‘except the Sultan of Sokoto,’ to Section 6 Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria, which empowers the state governor to depose emirs, including the Sultan. Let the Sultan be!
