Sultan of Sokoto

By Usman Muhammad Salihu

Our traditional institutions are institutions built on the historical culture, norms, values, and religious beliefs of the said community, often led by an Emir, an Igwe, an Oba, and so on. Like almost all societies, Nigeria had witnessed times when traditional rulers effectively agitated the activities of their various communities, particularly prior to the arrival of colonial masters.

Although they have no formal power, our traditional institutions are well equipped and standard, allowing the colonial masters to wield effective indirect power, particularly in northern Nigeria, and to a lesser extent in the west, and ineffective in the east. This is because our traditional institutions are solid and effective.

Our Institutions suffered a significant decline, particularly after independence, as political office holders were elevated far above our traditional rulers — who mingle, co-exist, and know the needs of the community and the solutions to its enormous problems in most cases better than elective politicians.

The importance of these institutions cannot be overstated because they play a vital role in mediating and resolving minor conflicts, enhancing mutual identity, and serving as guardians of culture and tradition, among other things. Their opinions and commandments are held in high regard and respected by members of their various communities, as they are considered sacred in some communities.

They also promote peace, unity, cohesion, and harmonious relations as one of the government’s goals, especially among their various communities, which leads to rapid development. According to Joseph I. Igwubor, ‘traditional rulers are bridge builders that the government can use to cement existing relationships between different ethnic groups in Nigeria.’

The main factor pushing back our traditional institutions is the lack of clear roles for these institutions in the 1999 constitution, since also after the 1979 constitution failed to provide precise functions.

These institutions play essential roles in maintaining peace, security, and the rule of law in the country and also in achieving development goals, which is why they must be revived because they are closer to the people.

The government should enact legislation that will give these institutions constitutional recognition and support. This will allow them to discharge their obligations effectively. The government should also collaborate with these institutions on policy implementation. When they issue a resolution, the government should critically evaluate it and consider whether it is feasible to implement it in our contemporary society.

They must also be encouraged to help secure their respective domains. As grassroots leaders who are closer to the people, they may have some knowledge of community-related security issues, which, if handled with utmost importance and secrecy, will undoubtedly help reduce the threat of insecurity that plagues our country, as both government and traditional institutions will manage security-related issues.

Finally, when these institutions are revived and carried out constitutionally, they significantly impact issues of development in their various communities and security. As grassroots leaders, people hold them in high regard. Their followers regard them as cultural and traditional guardians, and their words are considered, respected, and held in high esteem. Therefore, these institutions are in an excellent position to provide lasting solutions to the problems that would set our country back if they were removed.

Usman Muhammad Salihu writes from the Mass Communication department, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi state. He can be reached via muhammadu5363@gmail.com.

By Abdullahi A. Lamido

The renowned Muslim human rights activist and Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof. Ishaq Lakin Akintola, has called for exempting the Sultan of Sokoto from the “Deposition Clause” in the Nigerian laws.

Speaking as the keynote presenter at the formal opening ceremony of the 15th Anniversary of the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar CFR mni, Akintola noted that Sultan Sa’ad as the head of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) means well for Nigeria and his council has the potentials of solving several problems that Nigerian Muslims are bedevilling with.

“By the nature and composite of the NSCIA, anyone who occupies the position of governor in Sokoto State has the power to depose the Sultan. Unfortunately, the removal of the Sultan has the bandwagon effect of removing the President General of the NSCIA. This is because, Section 6 Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria empowers state governors to depose the Emirs and this includes the Sultan”, he said.

Akintola stressed that in addition, Article 7 of the NSCIA constitution stipulates that the Sultan of Sokoto shall be the President General of the NSCIA. “Here lays the dilemma facing the Ummah. The governor of a single state can depose the Sultan and leader of all Nigerian Muslims. This situation is capable of causing unmitigated embarrassment. It also has the capacity to trigger a religious crisis of unimaginable dimension”.

He pointed to the fact that: “Whereas even the president of Nigeria cannot interfere in the affairs of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), [but unfortunately] a state governor can interfere and even depose the Sultan and President General of the NSCIA. This has far reaching comparative disadvantage vis-a-vis the bargaining power as well as pressure group influence of Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.”

The solution to this dilemma according to Akintola is to secure immunity from deposing the Sultan. “The onus is therefore on the Sokoto State House of Assembly to set the machinery in motion for the repeal of Section 6 Cap 26 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria in such a way that it will exclude the Sultan from the governor’s exercise of the power of deposition. It is a simple exercise which may not go beyond a motion in the House seeking to insert the phrase ‘except the Sultan of Sokoto’ in the dethronement clause.”

He reiterated that this is not about the present Sultan but about the progress of the Ummah and the freedom from undue executive influence.

Commenting after the speech, the Chairman of the Occasion, His Highness, the Emir of Argungu Alhaji Samaila Muhammadu Mera, stressed that this matter raised by Akintola is a serious one and Nigerian Muslims should give it utmost attention. The Sultan is the leader of the Muslims not of Sokoto. He is not the Sultan of Sokoto State but of the Sokoto Caliphate. As the leader of the entire Nigerian Muslims, the office of the Sultan deserves special provision in a manner that safeguards the overall interest of Muslim leadership.

Muhammadu Sunusi (II) was the recent emir in Northern Nigeria to be deposed by the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje by alleging that the deposed emir interfered into the state’s political matters that almost caused him to lose his second election in 2019.