Kano Emirship Crisis: Why we can't be loyal to Sanusi

Some evicted Kano emirate officials have explained why they have refused to switch their loyalty to the reinstated emir, Lamido Sanusi.

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Usman Dako, the ‘Galadiman Sallama’, is among the officials ordered to move out of their quarters in the palace on Monday, allegedly over their continued loyalty to the deposed emir, Aminu Ado Bayero.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the directive affected families who have lived in the palace for decades.

In a video circulated on Tuesday, Mr Dako said he was told by an official that Mr Sanusi had ordered the eviction of officials who were still reporting to Mr Ado Bayero at the mini palace in the Nasarawa GRA.

Mr Ado Bayero has occupied the facility since his sacking by the state government last year.

Mr Dako said his house inside the main palace was destroyed by thugs, who also allegedly harassed his wife and children.

“My grandfather died in 1949 and my father died in 1995. My father was born in this palace, I was also born in the palace, so don’t I deserve all the privileges and rights in the palace?

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“The people harassing us were not born in the palace. We know where they were and what they were doing before Emir Sanusi brought them close to him”, the official said.

“Several servants had shown disloyalty to past emirs, including late Ado Bayero, but none of them ordered their eviction from the palace. They never bothered about them. The emir would know this history of disloyalty in the palace, it’s not something new.

“The house they destroyed was allocated to my late father by the late Ado Bayero. This inhumane treatment was done by someone who claims to be a cleric. He is using the pulpit to preach but does not do not know what is rightful.

“You cannot do this to even non-Muslims. We are Muslims. Even our grandparents were Muslims when they were captured as slaves to serve in the palace, so we don’t deserve this treatment.

“Nobody can stop me from being loyal to Aminu Ado Bayero. His late father treated us well, wherever he goes, whether as emir or commoner, we will follow him because God had destined us to serve him and love him”, Mr Dako said.

READ ALSO: Emir of Kano Crisis: Ado Bayero’s loyalists evicted from palace

Another victim of the eviction, Danhabu Majidadi, also spoke in a video decrying the eviction.

The emirship crisis erupted in May 2024 after Governor Abba Yusuf dethroned Mr Ado Bayero and four other first-class emirs in the state and reinstated Mr Sanusi as the sole first-class Emir in Kano.

Mr Ado Bayero is challenging his removal from the mini palace where he resides, while Mr Sanusi is at the main Kano palace where the officials were evicted on Monday.

The affected officials are the Galadiman Sallama, Sani Kwano, Dan-Habu Maji-Dadi, Sule Makama, Sarkin-Yakin Dan-Rimi, and Sarkin Lema.

Others are Sarkin Tafarki, Baba Ta’aji, Oji Driver, Odiye Driver, and Bale na Sarkin Bichi.

The emirate crisis has put several officials, including district heads, council members and other senior traditional title holders, in a dilemma over who between the two to pledge their loyalty to.