Nigeria is in dire straits. And the reason is evident. We are in the silly season of politics and elections are around the corner. Politicians are doing what they know how to do best – jostling for power.
There is nothing bad in that. Except that in a democracy, which we claim Nigeria is, what the political parties should be doing now is to clean up their manifestoes, make them it more appealing and believable, so that when the whistle is finally blown for campaigns to start, they will have something to woo the electorate who have the sovereign right to decide who superintends over their affairs.
But that is not what is happening right now. Rather than seek ways to convince voters, politicians, as usual, are preparing for war. In Nigeria, despite 15 unbroken years of democratic governance, election is war; and as they say, all is fair in love and war.
But every Nigerian should be worried. The political augury is very stark. The prognostication is ominous.
It is bad enough that tension is already at such a feverish peak for an election that is at least eight months away. It is even more frightening that both the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have thrown caution to the wind by dragging traditional institutions into the fray. Ideally, some institutions should be off-limits to partisan politicians.
Man is a political animal, as Plato opined aeons ago, yet some institutions, because of what they represent and the peculiar nature of the Nigerian state, should not be flushed into the sewage that is politics Nigeriana.
Unfortunately, this is what is happening with the sacred institution of the Emir of Kano. When Ado Bayero died penultimate Friday after 51 years on the throne, it was obvious that the politics of the 2015 elections would play a significant role in determining who succeeded him.
At the centre of the brouhaha is former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who also politicised that office. Even before the government sacked him, it was obvious that he had become the lifeline of the APC and its chieftains.
Sanusi used his office to empower the APC and, in fact, became its philosopher king.
It was also obvious that President Goodluck Jonathan did not sack him just because of the allegations of corruption. They may well be true but if Sanusi had not brazenly aligned himself with the opposition, he would still be dinning with Jonathan today.
It is that same scenario that is playing out in Kano. Sanusi has blue blood in his veins; a scion of one of the ruling families. His forebears had ascended the throne in the past, and to that extent, he is qualified to aspire to become the Emir of Kano.
But the single most important reason Sanusi is Emir today is his dalliance with opponents of Jonathan’s re-election bid. That is also why the government is unapologetically opposed to his emergence. Aso Rock would rather have any other person other than Sanusi as the Emir of Kano.
Unfortunately for Jonathan, despite the enormous power of the government, there was little or nothing he or the government at the centre could have done to stop Sanusi. That responsibility rested squarely on Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who has an axe to grind with Jonathan.
So, we have an unfortunate situation where the institution has been dangerously politicised. The Emir of Kano, the second (some say third after the Shehu of Borno) highest ranking traditional ruler in the North after the Sultan of Sokoto, is the traditional and religious leader of his people.
He is not the political leader of the people of Kano. But we have a situation where Sanusi ascended the throne of his fathers because of his partisan politics, not because of any considerations of religion or tradition.
The consequence is that almost one week after receiving his appointment letter and staff of office from Kwankwaso, Sanusi is still holed up at Government House, unable to move into the palace.
Ordinarily, Sanusi ought to have resumed his royal duties in the palace after receiving his staff of office, as has been the tradition for over 1,000 years. Instead, riot broke out on the streets when his appointment was announced. Policemen are laying siege on the palace and the Presidency has refused to acknowledge him as the Emir.
As if all these were not ominous enough, Kwankwaso alleged on June 12 that Jonathan was plotting to kill him. He told an online medium, PREMIUM TIMES, that Jonathan ordered the withdrawal of half of his security details in a ploy to eliminate him.
“I have told my friends, and people of Kano, Nigerians, and indeed the international community, to hold Jonathan responsible for whatever happens to Kwankwaso, his family or even the people of Kano State,” he said.
Kwankwaso accused Jonathan of instructing his supporters to unleash mayhem on the state, adding: “We don’t know his intention, but, certainly the intention is not good. We have to tell him that igniting crisis in Kano is not in the interest of anybody.
“We have enough crisis already in the country, and now they are funding their stooges in Kano to protest and burn government properties.
“By the survey we just had and the local government election we held, we enjoy about 92 per cent support of the population, and the remaining 8 per cent are brewing and supporting crisis.
“There will come a time when this 92 per cent will be on the offensive and that is when they will realise that they are making a mistake.”
The selection of a new Emir calls for pomp and ceremony. More so, Ado Bayero reigned well and died well. The greatest respect that should have been given to honour his enviable legacies would have been not to politicise the stool.
What is going on in Kano is sad. Who occupies the powerful and revered office has become an ego war between Jonathan and Kwankwaso.
Sanusi cannot be said to be the choice of Kano people for the stool. He is Emir because of politics and his deep pocket. His appointment serves political interests. But when the common enemy, Jonathan, is no longer there, Sanusi will still turn around to haunt those who are celebrating him today.
If his antecedent in public service is anything to go by, then it is only a matter of time.
I don’t see how Jonathan can win this battle but in the end, the greatest loser will be the institution itself which has been unconscionably politicised.
