Celebrating with His Highness Ado Bayero The Great 

By the end of October , 2008 , His Highness Alhaji (Dr) Ado Bayero, The Emir of Kano, will be on throne for 45 years. The charismatic Emir is considered the greatest of traditional rulers in the whole of West Africa, and the greatest also of all Emirs that have ruled Kano from Habe Dynasty to the Fulani Dynasty as he has accomplished great works during his reign the like of which could only be accomplished during the epocs of Muhammadu Rumfa, Sarki Suleimanu and Abdullahi Bayero.

Charisma, dignity, elegance and honour had centralised the reign of Alhaji ( Dr) Ado Bayero which proved the way for him to be a colussus, added to his regalia and splendour, have won him acclaim and dignity to the language, costumes and other customs of Hausa and Fulani people of Kano.

The traditional institution has personified into Ado Bayero and made him a shining star among holders of office in the traditional institution. No royal father within Nigeria and her neighbours commands the respect that the Emir of Kano does over his subjects.

His vast experience in leadership has helped Kano to be a centre of remarkable achievements in development, rising from defunct Northern Region to full -fleged state and sprouted from antique trans-sahara route to a momentous commercial, and industrial centre in Africa, and of course , all kind of international businesses.

The concern of the masses is his central view since his youthful days. He was identified as a helper, supporter and defender of the masses which issue has led the authorities of that time to brand him as " a radical " and in their opinion he was too close to the masses to serve the intrest of the establishment. He used his position as the Chief of the Northern Authority Police (Wakilin Doka) in an era when abuse of human rights was at it's peak in Nigeria to protect the poor, oppressed, suppressed and downtrodden from abuse of powers by politicians, goverment functionaries, members of the Raoal court, the alkalai and the Native Authority Constabulary.

There are so many narrations of how he saved innocent poor souls from notoriously reckless abuse of power , such as the case of a man brought from Ringim Town (now in Jigawa state) to Kano whose offence was that he pinned a NEPU badge on his chest. Ado Bayero asked the arresting officer if NEPU was not a registered political party? The officer said it was, and he ordered the officer to release the man. So also the narration of a man from Jahun (now also in Jigawa state)who was arrested and brought to Kano on the accusation of abusing the Sardauna of Sokoto. Ado Bayero asked the man who brought the arrested person if he was the Sardauna? The man said no. He then ordered the release of the detainee. Another man was said to have abused the Emir of Kano. He told the arresting officer that the Emir was his father and as the Emir's son , he had decided to forgive the man.

The courageous activities of Ado Bayero to reduce the oppression against the poor led the Northern People's Congress (NPC) to accuse him of being a secret member of the Northern Element Proggressive Union (NEPU) which had been formed by the late Mallam Aminu Kano in a bold effort to mobilise the masses and check the abuses of the citizen's right. They silently removed him as Wakilin Doka and appointed him as Nigeria'a Ambassador to Senegal.

Tolerance, patience, and ability to accomodate have earned Ado Bayero a unique respect and honour from all Nigerians and citizens of neibouring countries. Regardless of the part of the country one comes from the South-West, South-South, South -East or other parts of Northern Nigeria- he will find Kano to be a second home. And no tribe or people from other parts of the country have ever accused him of partisanship in molesting or maltreating them. So also from religoius point of view , non -Muslims have never complained that the Emir has, in anyway, used his position to harass or deny them their freedom of worship. Even among the Muslims no sect or group will accuse him of having a sinister agenda to persecute their members for his, or other sect's intrest. These qualities endear him to all in love , respect , understanding and total acceptability to his royal leadership and service.

Uniqueness of his leadership style has made Kano to be home to many Nigerians, Africans, Asians and Europeans as there are equal oppurtunities for all , irrespective of where you come from, your tribe, religion, social status and political affiliation. The people of Kano have learnt from him the importance of respecting and honouring guests, and this has led Kano to be Nigeria's League of Nations where there is equality and oppurtunity for all.

As a Prince Ado Bayero was an exception among their Royal Highness - Kano Princes - of those days. He was simple, humble and law abiding. When he was a student of Kano Middle School (now Rumfa College) as other Princes from Royal Families of Kano were reported to have been sent special meals from the home throughout their stay at the Middle School, but Ado Bayero shunned that luxury and stuck to the meals provided by the school. It was reported that he once said " a student was a student , prince or no prince". Some Princes were also reported to have been flouting school regulations continously, which offence led them to have brushes with the school authority. On his part, Ado Bayero obeyed school regulations, served his seniors and even washed plates used by them. He actively participated in all school works like sweeping lanes and dormitories, and other activities to maintain cleaniness in the school.

Another distinct quality of Ado Bayero is that all hius children do attend public schools right from the primary up to the secondary school and higher institutions in the country. He has refused to segragate his children from the children of the masses , which manner is the norm among other traditional rulers , politicians and elites of today. His children also mix with other children in the community, either children of the rich or poor in their day to day activities, unlike other elites who cut-off any sort of relationship between their children and childrens of the have-nots as they attend separate schools right from nursery up to secondary schools and higher institution, and presently even the type of employment they occupy.

Dr Bayero's sense of judgement with justice and equity has led so many people to go before him to solve their disputes. He listens and attends to their complaints where cases that would have spent years in courts could be solved within minutes.

Education, especially building of Islamic schools, are his major priorities and he also donates huge amounts of money to build such schools within and outside Kano. As indication of his great concern for religous knowledge, the great Emir needs no long notices to attend any occasion for an Islamiyya or Islamic secondary school. His conern and intrest for education is motivating the youths of Kano to seek for knowledge especially those in Islamic schools as they look forward to the day they will graduate and have the honour of coming face to face with His Highness to receive their certificates.

As Nigeria's Heads of State testify Ado Bayero is among a few royal and religious leaders that have never requested , asked or begged for any favour for themselves while in office. This shows that Ado Bayero is not the type that uses his office to beg , solicit or ask for personal favours.

We pray that may His Highness Alhaji(Dr) Ado Bayero have more years for Kano to continue to delevope. May Allah give him more strength in faith and health. Ran Takawa, San Kano , ya dade.

YoursFaithfully

Shehu Mustapha Chaji

shehuchaji@yahoo.com

08038222575

Robot  Villager

# 1 Celebrating with His Highness Ado Bayero The Great By the end of October , 2008 , His Highness Alhaji (Dr) Ado Bayero, The Emir of Kano, will be on throne for 45 years. ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 20.10.2008 04:19

allaccess  Villager

# 2 =Robot;281101>Celebrating with His Highness Ado Bayero The Great By the end of October , 2008 , His Highness Alhaji (Dr) Ado Bayero, The Emir of Kano, will be on throne for 45 years. ...Read the full article. therein lies the problem of this country; we always celebrate people who are directly responsible for our demise. this man has supervised the killing of innocent Christians in his domain without doing anything about it. He owns oil wells in a region of Nigeria that he has no right owning in the first place he is partly responsible for sharia in a secular society. As far as I am concerned he is nothing but a jihad commander in ceremonial dress the sooner Southern Nigeria isolates the north and totally cuts off this man's crude oil supply the better. Posted by allaccess| 20.10.2008 07:15

Aristarchy  Villager

# 3 You people just continue to wallow in unnecessary inferiority, unnecessay mediocrity, unnecessary praise singing. Since the eminent monarch came to the heavenly throne. Here are a few questions to ponder ? Do you have a world class university i Kano ? Do you have world class Universities in Kano ? Do you have world class transportation in Kano ? Do you have consistent unitterupted electricy in Kano ? Is the education system in Kano competitive in the world ? If you go to the average market place, would you encounter absolute order, cleaniness as opposed to chaos, stench, disorder and cholera ? Do you have a world class airport ? Are your posts delivered to each home promptly, as opposed to ??? Is Kano well industrialised and competitive as would be expected of a 1000 year old civilization such as yours ? Black people stop being daft and stop wallowing in mediocrity Charles Sogbesan Posted by Aristarchy| 20.10.2008 07:23

toksyleigh  Villager

# 4 Dear Aristarchy: You people just continue to wallow in unnecessary inferiority, unnecessay mediocrity, unnecessary praise singing. Since the eminent monarch came to the heavenly throne. Here are a few questions to ponder ? Do you have a world class university i Kano ? Do you have world class Universities in Kano ? Do you have world class transportation in Kano ? Do you have consistent unitterupted electricy in Kano ? Is the education system in Kano competitive in the world ? If you go to the average market place, would you encounter absolute order, cleaniness as opposed to chaos, stench, disorder and cholera ? Do you have a world class airport ? Are your posts delivered to each home promptly, as opposed to ??? Is Kano well industrialised and competitive as would be expected of a 1000 year old civilization such as yours ? Black people stop being daft and stop wallowing in mediocrity Charles Sogbesan Black People wallowing in inferiority complex! Where have you been living my brother, black people especially Nigerians loves mediocrity and we love to immerse ourselves in it, we bathe in it and we drink it everyday. Try asking Nigerians tough questions about themselves on this site and all you will get will be curses, abuse because they hold some Chief, King or Professor in very high esteem as if those people are infallible; ask Thomas Ozodi Osuji he will tell you how many curses he has recieved from his kinsmen in the last week alone! I'll bet you the only reason why Ado Bayero is still alive, well and on the throne is that he goes to Germany and America to treat the smallest sniffles or aches on his body; his Children and Grand and Great Gran kids are probably in Yale and Harvard on the backs of his subjects while his subjects live in abject poverty and guess what? Tell those subjects that will declare a fatwa or some Chineke crap or your ass and curse you till the sun comes down. When it comes to Nigerians and Black people ignorance is in-breed. On another note, I heard that Anita Baker (the has been American Singer) and another rapper whose I can't remember now pulled a 419 on Nigerians recently; hee hee hee hee:):):) God help us all, Goriola Abamieda Jr. Posted by toksyleigh| 20.10.2008 08:49

ttonjo  Villager

# 5 "The emir is honest and good. We like him better than these politicians," says Auwal Dankaka, a 30-year old street trader. "The governor may be stronger, but I would vote for the emir over him." The above statement by an illiterate 'street trader' in Kano, has totally summarised what is wrong in northern Nigeria in particular, and the whole of Nigeria, in general. Lack of education!! If people are well informed and properly educated, they will be able to demand for their rights and demand for accountabilities from their 'representatives' instead of relying on an 'old and outdated' traditions. It is a pity! I could recall just a few years back, when the Queen of England, (who is the ceremonial Head of State), and most of the senior Royals, just like your almighty Emirs in the north, used to have a 'tax free' lifestyles. Then it got to a stage sometimes around 1990s, the UK citizens started questioning their politicians and put pressure on them to compel the Queen and some of the Royal families to start paying tax. Well, the rest, as the saying goes is now history. The Queen of England now pays tax like the rest of us. It is high time for we Africans to wake up from our slumber and demand for the best instead of relying on dying traditions and unnecessary mediocrity and praise singing mentality. Stop being a victim, stop being second class citizens to your fellow black man. Wake up Africans, use your brain and free yourself from all these praise singing syndrome which majority of us are suffering from. Wake up!!! Posted by ttonjo| 20.10.2008 09:14

emj  Villager

# 6 Charisma, dignity, elegance and honour had centralised the reign of Alhaji ( Dr) Ado Bayero which proved the way for him to be a colussus, added to his regalia and splendour, have won him acclaim and dignity to the language, costumes and other customs of Hausa and Fulani people of Kano. The traditional institution has personified into Ado Bayero and made him a shining star among holders of office in the traditional institution. No royal father within Nigeria and her neighbours commands the respect that the Emir of Kano does over his subjects. Yep, Thanks Shehu for doing the honors....you are right on the money...no other traditional ruler commands the sort of respect that His Royal Highness Alhaji(DR)Ado Bayero does over his subjects....i join u Shehu in celebrating his life and times/reign. We pray that may His Highness Alhaji(Dr) Ado Bayero have more years for Kano to continue to develop. May Allah give him more strength in faith and health. Ran Takawa, San Kano , ya dade . Amin....mungode allah PS>>.....miss the Durbars like somethingelse:arrow: Posted by emj| 20.10.2008 18:04

akuluouno  Villager

# 7 Villagers, I would have opposed Prof Atthahiru Jega, one of the most respected authorities in Political Science from Nigeria, if the author would provide instances where His Eminience Ado Bayero The Great has affected the development of sports including Horse riding, music including Islamic music and arts, science, philosophy including the art of governance in Kano in particular and in Nigeria in general positively. I may be ignorant here so I need more education. I read that he came to the throne as a very young man. During the crisis in the 60's I recall the Ojukwu assured him of his safety and peace in Kano following the love and respect that the Ojukwus father and son shared with Ado Bayero and his father. I know that the Emir is a principled man and would like him to use the wealth of his experience and power to affect his Emirate positively so that Kano will reclaim its historic pride of place as a centre of commerce, learning and scientific development during the transSaharan trade. As a people we should respect and cherish our culture. But the custodians should not turn culture into an instrument of atavism but should shine the light to make it a source of progress and devlopment just like the British, the Chinese and the Japanese, to name but a few. Recall that most giant leaps in human thought emanated from palaces of great Kings. Long live His Eminience Ado Bayero The Great. May your reign be Long:D:D Posted by akuluouno| 21.10.2008 03:51

TEchi  Villager

# 8 The Emirs are just like any traditional rulers in any part of Nigeria. Be it in Ndigbo land or Yoruba land. And all they do all over Nigeria is to rip off and often time oppress the people through their hench men. Northern Nigeria just like any other part of the country is fraught with these undenible cumbersome, and oppressive traditional rulers. Most of them often connive with government officials to impede progress in the local region through their corrupt practices. When any region of the country is in distress we are all distressed. We must begin to see our country as one entity. If I remember correctly the last time I was home, I went from Enugu to Onitsha and then to Kano, Abuja, Ondo and Lagos. The Traditional rulers are all over. Although some impede progress more than others but it still the same. And we as a people live all over the country. We have Ndigbo in Hausa land, and Hausa in Ndigbo land and so on. We also intermarry the same way regardless of the obstacles. The praise singers are all the same every where. It is not a bad thing for this writer to do this piece. One must always look back at one's tradition no matter how oppressive. It is when we remember where we are from that we learn how to change things. Posted by TEchi| 21.10.2008 10:07

denker  Villager

# 9 Emir Bayero Donates N2m To Qur’anic School The Emir of Kano Alhaji (Dr.) Ado Bayero has donated N2 million to Madarasatul Qur'an Wa Sunnah, Islamiyya school. He also called on parents to redouble effort towards quality education of their children through monitoring and sending them to school. The emir gave the donation during the Qur'anic graduation ceremony of 34 students, held at the school's premises. He charged the students to seek more knowledge in order to become good ambassadors and commended all who contributed towards the progress of the school. Earlier speaking, chairman of Kumbotso Local Government, Alhaji Manniru Babba Danagundi, who was represented by the Councilor of education, Malam Naziru, said the council is giving priority to education and hailed the emir and other Muslims for contributing to the school. Also in their address respectively, the Headmaster of the school, Malam Jumaludeen Mika'il, and the PTA chairman, Alhaji Umar, traced the history of the school to1996, saying the school has 750 students with 12 teachers and 7 classes. In another development, Alhaji Ado Bayero has enjoined the general public to imbibe the lesson of disciplined moral uprightness contained on a book entitled Wasan Hausa Ko Tabara. The emir made the call through the district head of Dala, Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar Gida, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, during the launching of the book, held at Sheikh Ahmad Tijjani Islamic Centre, Kano. Bayero, while stressing the need for the general public to embrace discipline, urged parents to be watchful of the films their children are patronizing. Different Islamic scholars, members from the state Sharia Commission and Film Censorship Board, emphasised the significance of discipline in life, and then enjoined Muslims to abide by the teachings of the Holy Prophet. Meanwhile, men of the mobile court attached to the Kano state censorship Board have raided about ten musical studios and film production companies situated at the Kannywood heartland along Zoo road in Kano municipality in the wee hours of yesterday. The officers of the mobile court conducted door to door invasion of offices of the production companies as well as musical studios around Zoo road, Ni'ima house, Sheka and Court road and arrested owners of the businesses. The business owners were taken to mobile court on censorship activities sitting at the Malam Aminu Kano Airport in the metropolis. Nine persons were said to have been arraigned before the court, which sat last night presided over by Chief Magistrate Mukhtari Ahmed. They were charged on one count charge of operating film production companies that are not duly recognised by the board. Among the arraigned persons, LEADERSHIP gathered, were Ibrahim Danko of S and A studios, Baba Karami of Karami productions and Garzali Yakubu of Annaseeb studios. The case was heard in the court's chamber where the charge was read to the accused persons. Two of the accused, Baba Karami and one Murtala Turaki, were said to have presented their evidence of registration with the censors board and thus released. However, the remaining seven persons were convicted. In his ruling, the presiding judge Chief Magistrate Mukhtari Ahmed sentenced the defaulters to three months imprisonment with option of N15,000 for breaching the Kano Censorship laws. He also ruled that the convict should serve one month prison term or pay the sum of N5,000 as compensation to Kano state Censorship Board. When LEADERSHIP visited Zoo Road, which is the nerve of filming activities in the state, offices of some of the affected companies were seen sealed with a poster of the censorship board announcing the closure of the premises and warning against reopening of the offices. comment: so wetin we dey talk....bayero is doing his best...:p:D http://www.leadershipnigeri... Posted by denker| 22.10.2008 08:40

mesonigerian  JJC

# 10 =ttonjo;281178>"The emir is honest and good. We like him better than these politicians," says Auwal Dankaka, a 30-year old street trader. "The governor may be stronger, but I would vote for the emir over him." The above statement by an illiterate 'street trader' in Kano, has totally summarised what is wrong in northern Nigeria in particular, and the whole of Nigeria, in general. Lack of education!! If people are well informed and properly educated, they will be able to demand for their rights and demand for accountabilities from their 'representatives' instead of relying on an 'old and outdated' traditions. It is a pity! I don't see how mr.Auwal Dankaka would automatically be labelled illiterate by uttering such statement, the irony is the British citizens today prefer their constitutional monarchy to any political arrangement like a (ceremonial) president! guess why, because they trust the monarchy better than they do politicians who consistently maintained low-favorability rating in the polls. Whether you agree with Dankaka or not the debate should be on the basis of the effectiveness or otherwise of monarchical government vs a democratic one...and not a license for an literate person like you to insult his intelligence...what has democracy done for Dankaka? perhaps he has lost everything since this type of democracy emerged...how much has the gov contributed to dankaka's life...am sure there're but can you name govornors in the north that have done well for their people...am sure if Dankaka can actually take part in democracy he would appreciate it better, but you can't blame him for not appreciating democracy since he had never experience it and i doubt if many in Nigeria have enjoy this democracy, and thats the pity! I could recall just a few years back, when the Queen of England, (who is the ceremonial Head of State), and most of the senior Royals, just like your almighty Emirs in the north, used to have a 'tax free' lifestyles. Then it got to a stage sometimes around 1990s, the UK citizens started questioning their politicians and put pressure on them to compel the Queen and some of the Royal families to start paying tax. Well, the rest, as the saying goes is now history. The Queen of England now pays tax like the rest of us. I'm not sure where and how you got your history from but your info is all over the place to brush up abit i suggest you look up the the Paliamentary Civil List- and Windsor Castle fire...the only member of the royal family who pays tax is the prince of wales and that is because he's exempt from the civil-list goodies...and even charles does'nt pay cooperate tax eventhough he runs the Dutchy of Cornwall. I think the English monarchy is precisely the wrong example for you to use. If you really want to know the contention between the Paliament and the Monarchy over taxation and appropriation is probably the longest running political domestic issue in English history since the creation of Paliament. Before you bash northerners and their heritage you need to understand both its positives and negatives (am sure as a reasonable man you will appreciate the duality of human nature) and make your statement according to reality otherwise you come across as a rant. Posted by mesonigerian| 24.10.2008 09:36