By Denrele Animasaun

“With great power comes great responsibility” — Voltaire

They  say, “be nice to people on your way  up, because you  might meet  them on your way  down, “the  spin  would  have been  wise  to heed the  saying as  the new Emir of Kano was turbaned.  They must have been frantic backtracking and spinning hoping to limit the damage they had already done to Lamido Sanusi’s reputation.
He was named last Sunday by the Governor of the State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from a shortlist of candidates selected by the royal household after the death previous Friday of Ado Abdullahi Bayero. Ado Bayero had held the position since 1963 and was a widely revered figure. The ousted CBN governor could not wished for karmic retribution.

Sanusi was hounded from his post as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria for exposing multibillion-dollar shortfalls in oil revenues reaching the treasury when he spoke out about the level of corruption in GEJ’s administration. He was told he should jump or he would be pushed. The government tried and failed to flex its political muscle. They did what they always do, sully his reputation and intimidate him to submission.

Meanwhile, the damage has already been done. The former Central Bank governor, who has been the target of a sustained smear campaign, polarizes opinion in Nigeria. He is widely respected home and abroad for taking bold   steps to clean up that financial structure in Nigeria and give a semblance of respect and stability. He has a good standing amongst his professional and international peers as a clean broom and he performed exceptionally well to turn around the fortune of a failing institution. Internationally, he was lauded for the role he played in sanitizing the banking sector and stabilizing Africa’s largest banking institution following a 2009 crash.

Last Sunday, he ascended to the second highest Islamic authority in Nigeria. The spin doctors were all over themselves whether to do the right thing and congratulate him or not. With his ascension, the coming general election  will  put the cat amongst  the pigeons as the supporters of the emir may not  be  easily  as forgiving of GEJ’s mismanagement after Sanusi’s exposé and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North. How  I  wish I was a fly in the wall  at Aso Rock Palace to watch the spin doctors falling over themselves while spinning  their web and tangling themselves in the process!

Although, it is known that the Emir has got to maintain some neutrality and diplomacy it will be difficult for the Emir’s supporters to let bygone be bygone.

With his installment, although there were some initial  unrest, the emir  has assured the pubic that there is no rift  within his family and  that they unite  by his installation. The emir has the banking experience that it is hoped that will influence his reign and ensure the rejuvenation of the region due to his influence. His moderate approach may also lead to the reforming the Islamic education system in the region. Much is expected of the new Emir from his people and with him at the helm there is much for Kano to celebrate.

One of his supporters stated that: “Now we have someone who is modern and progressive who can be a rallying point for the changing attitudes towards the traditional leadership. We want him to take a unifying force in the northern renaissance,”

In the melee that preceded his turbaning, Mr Sanusi said: “I want to assure you that there is no family rift at all, we’re all together, and we belong to the same family”. He said that the trouble was the work of “outsiders seeking to destabilise our state”.

Meanwhile, there was violence that ensued in the city as the PDP spin doctor jumped the gun to offer their congratulations to what they said was the new emir. APC accused PDP of inciting the violence in the city that followed the announcement of a new Emir of Kano that Sunday as an apparent attempt to destabilize the state.
This was because the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, had congratulated the wrong candidate. In the statement issued by APC’s interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the statement issued by Metuh congratulating one of the contenders long before the Kano State Government announced the new emir was premeditated and calibrated to incite violence. They said: “What was so urgent about congratulating the new emir that could not have waited for a few hours for the appropriate authority to make an official announcement?”  I wonder, what they were thinking to commit such faux pas.
The APC believed that it was “obvious that the PDP, through its national publicity secretary went out of their way to stoke the fire of violence in Kano.

The PDP was quick to defend its side and dismissed the call by APC for the arrest of Metuh and other members of the party as insane and they defended their rash announcement as an innocent mistake. “It is public knowledge that we made an innocent mistake but immediately withdrew it and tendered an unreserved apology well before the official announcement of the new emir was made,” they said.

In the midst of it all, there seems to be some build bridging going on as the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar advised the new Emir of Kano to build on the enviable and positive legacies of the late Bayero.
On congratulating  Sanusi, Atiku said the new emir had worked strenuously to fulfill a life-long ambition, and that he should use his position to unite all the ruling houses of Kano State and its people behind his appointment.
In his congratulatory message, the Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, said: “It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the good people and Government of Edo State, to congratulate Your Royal Highness on your well-deserved appointment as the 14th Emir of Kano.”

The  new Emir  has  his work  cut out  as some part of  the north do not  like reformers and  they  will try  to put  spanner in the works  wherever they can and  protect  him  for  his safety. His influence will grow like other traditional leaders in Nigeria. The new Emir will exert some significant influence and the present government will do well to take note.

There is much work to do but I am sure that the new Emir is cut out for the role after all, he has swam in the political piranha infested waters and emerged victorious and with his dignity intact. As for the spin doctors, they should learn to show humility in the face of defeat and show some decorum and magnanimity. I am sure they would not learn from this, it just simply not their style.