“Deny it to a king?
Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”
– William Shakespeare in King Henry IV Part 2, Act III, Scene 1 – Cousin in, cousin out;
“Cousins may not be siblings, but they are family all the same.” – Bryon Pulsifer
Wambai (later Sarki) Muhammad Abbas was not only the grandfather of Khalifah Muhammadu Sanusi I but of Sarki Ado Bayero (1930-2014) also known by the epithet “San Kano”, both sons of the 11th Fulani Emir of Kano, Abdullahi Bayero Who in turn were fathers to respectively the 14th and 15th monarchs.
Back in 1963, Ambassador Aminu Sanusi also known by the epithet “Nadawaki Aminu” flew in from his assignment in Algeria to help amicably agree upon the granular details of exile conditionalities regarding his ousted father (Sanusi I) at Azare in present-day Bauchi State with then Kaduna powers that be.
The career diplomat would subsequently pay his respects to his newly enthroned half-brother “San Kano” accompanied by a request to maintain his Ciroma title.
It was graciously granted for life.
Inversely, when “Lamido Babuwa” ascended the Kano throne in 2014 then Ciroma (who had succeeded Sanusi II’s father and heir presumptive of “San Kano”), Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Ado Bayero neither paid his respects nor requested the continuation of his title. He was therefore stripped and relieved of all royal responsibilities.
But with the ascension of his younger brother as the 15th emir the 1984 Nigerian Law School graduate was conferred as Wambai (the title vacated by the new monarch) that came with full restoration to the emirate council.
The moral in the attached photograph featuring Kano’s most preeminent cousins is the game of musical chairs – Kano’s, “Iron Throne” crafted by intrepid Wangara blacksmiths from present-day Mali centuries ago.
While Abbas was on the throne from 1903 to 1919, (Abdullahi) Bayero, Sanusi I, and (Ado) Bayero respectively reigned from 1926 to 2014.
Agreed, there is nothing wrong with the so-called “Yar Dagwalen Jihar Kano” trying to re-enact Bagauda dynasty comeback of Sultan of Kano during the Kutumbawa-era, Muhammad Kukuna who reigned from 1651 and got dethroned in 1652 only to return to the historic Gidan Makama palace in 1653, holding sway till 1660, there is everything wrong with meddlesome Talakawa (albeit possibly cat-paws of a section of Kano’s nobility) joining an aristocratic family quarrel not theirs.
Was Dr. Cargill unhinged as claimed by his British superiors?
The question is pertinent because of the current bid at the Kano h\House of Assembly to return Kano to the kind of aristocratic exclusiveness “Maigunduma” found very repugnant more than a hundred years ago.
Perhaps the simmering inter-ethnic tension Sharwood-Smith discerned in Kano nearly half a century after Dr. Cargill was removed from office propelled the latter to institute far-reaching reforms albeit with a deficit of diplomatic skills much to the consternation of the status quo.
Mallam Jaafar Jaafar (an ace aficionado of Kano history) opines notwithstanding Lugard’s propensity for “legal fraud” in official matters as exposed by Max Siollun in chapter 12 of his 2021 book entitled What Britain Did To Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule;
“Cargill sacked top Kano princes, created 34 districts (Gunduma), posted district heads to villages, partly took over tax administration, and attempted to dethrone Emir Abbas and replace him with his slave, Dan Rimi Muhammadu Allah bar Sarki (May God Spare the Emir).
(He also embarked on) the ill-advised sack and demotion of key district heads loyal to Emir Abbas.
At the peak of the crisis in 1907, Dr Cargill first removed the son of Emir Abbas, Abdullahi Bayero, as Wazirin Kano and replaced him with Dan Rimi Allah bar Sarki. The Resident did not just stop at removing the emir’s son, he put him on house arrest at Fanisau.
Dr Cargill also deposed Ciroma Abdulkadir, another prince loyal to Abbas, and sent him to start schooling at the newly established Hanns Vischer school (Makarantar Dan Hausa). He deported Ma’aji Sadi to Lokoja and replaced him with Ma’ajin Watari.
Cargill’s administrative lunacy is a replica of the madness we see today in Kano.
Putting the question to Cargill’s mental stability, C.N. Ubah wrote in his book, Government and Administration of Kano Emirate 1900-1930, that, “He (Cargill) had developed the mental disorder, a fact which must have affected his work at Kano, and was declared unfit for the position of Resident.” Allah bar Sarki was the de facto Emir of Kano, being in charge of the districts and the only interface between the Residency and the subjects.”
See details in Cargill in Ganduje; Abbas in Sanusi posted in the Daily Nigerian online newspaper edition of 17 December 2019.
Was Cargill also brazenly “pro-Hausa” as Margery Perham (the authorized biographer of Lord Lugard) claims in “Cargill’s Mistakes”: A Study of British Colonial Policies in the Madaki District, Kano Emirate, Northern Nigeria (2009) by Dr. Ibrahim Hamza of Usumanu Dan Fodio University Sokoto?
As far as D.J.M. Muffett (1919-2007) is concerned, “Cargill was consistently right.”
See details in p.190 of his book concerning Brave Captains: Being a History of the British Occupation of Kano and Sokoto and the Last Stand of the Sokoto Caliphate (1964)
Muffett nicknamed “Aka yi masa mafed” needs no elaborate introduction here as the sole member of the administrative panel that investigated Sarki Muhammadu Sanusi I.
Muffett’s report laid the foundation for the dethronement of the 11th Fulani emir in 1963.
By the way, Muffet’s book Let the Truth Be Told: The Coups d’etat of 1966 remains the most definitive rejoinder to date of Ben Gbulie’s Nigeria’s Five Majors and Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck.
Only conscientious research would be able to uncover for posterity whether or not former Governor Ganduje’s deconstruction of the erstwhile Kano Emirate was an altruistic act to foster more inclusion consistent with Cargill’s controversial intentions and Sharwood-Smith’s subtlety.
This is because the ruling house of Dabo of Sullubawa Fulani extraction has now tenaciously held down Kano with an aristocratic vice-like grip for more than 200 years (since 1819) and still counting much to the exclusion of Mundubawa, Dambazawa, Jobawa, and Yolawa lineages among others including the Hausa contingent led by Mallam Uthman Bahaushe which all participated in the military confederation that overran the erstwhile Kano Sultanate under the banner of Sokoto.
The ousted Bagauda dynasty has since re-established itself at Damagaram in neighbouring Niger Republic.
Notably, Sharwood-Smith sought to create more inclusion in Kano affairs by bridging the gap between the “Sarakuna” (nobility), “Mallamai” (clerics), “Attajirai” (merchants) and “Talakawa” (masses) to the extent he boldly suggested a special purpose vehicle utilizing the vernacular acronym of SMAT for the North in the late 1940s to stand up to the south’s NCNC and AG.
Other tumultuous events would instead make NEPU the first registered political party in the North ahead of the latter behemoth, NPC.
Sarki Abdullahi Bayero then in his twilight years famously reacted, “We must have done something wrong for these young men to openly challenge us.”
Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu (son of the Kano historian Dr. Adamu earlier mentioned in Part I) puts it elsewhere in another context;
“The Fulani may have conquered the Hausa (except in one or two places) and imposed their rule. The Hausa, on the other hand, have linguistically conquered the Fulani.
In Kano, it is considered anthropological purity to claim Fulani heritage – without knowing a single word of Fulfulde. Substituting rulers does not get rid of the general populace who remained what they are.”
Certainly, from the time of “Maigunduma” to that of “Maiwando karfe” and possibly to present-day two recurring issues are at stake in Kano – inter and intra-ethnic power tussles to varying degrees.
Is there a disaster waiting to happen in Kano through the answered prayers of “Yan Dagwalen Jihar Kano”?
One is obvious though, two wrongs do not make a right.
Interesting times ahead.
Concluded
