The story of Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero is indeed the story of the transformation of the Emirate from the authority that controlled the society to the status of community leadership that earned its Islamic legitimacy through service to the people and commitment to the ideals of the Islamic Faith.
He was a leader of Muslims of all shades of opinions not only in Kano but in many parts of Nigeria and the world. Various groups seek his blessings in their activities largely because of his influence and the fact that he is one of the most respected Nigerians.
Ado Bayero lived for eighty four years (1930-2004), fifty one (1963-2004) of which were at the helm of Kano traditional authority. This institution has been in existence since 999 AD with Bagauda (999 to 1063) as the first King. The institution survived because of its capacity to adapt to changing circumstances of the world.
It has been affected by global Islamic currents beginning with the Wangarawa who came to Kano during the reign of Sarkin Kano Yaji (1349-1385) and made him to adopt Islam as the official religion of Kano.
The next epoch was that of Muhammadu Rumfa (1463-1499) when Shaykh Muhammad bn Abd al-Karim al-Maghili wrote the first constitution for a sub Saharan African state to guide Rumfa. The Jihad of Shehu Usman Danfordio made Islam the ideology of the people and the state. Sarkin Kano Ibrahim Dabo established the Sullubawa Dynasty.
Abdullahi Bayero (1926-1953) and his son Muhammadu Sanusi (1954-1963) harnessed the connections of the Tijaniyya to resist colonial annihilation of Islamic culture. Ado Bayero put Kano at the national and global stage when he became one of the most influential Muslim leaders in the world.
According to the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center Amman he was “regarded as a wise counselor both at home and abroad because of his experience and ability to mediate between cultures”. He was “an important asset in promoting mutual understanding and resolving conflicts between different ethnic and religious groups”.
Legacies of Ado Bayero;
As the Emir with the longest reign (1963-2014) since the Jihad of 1804 he bequeathed a glorious legacy on the foundation laid by Sarkin Kano Muhammadu Rumfa (1463-1499) and consolidated by Sarkin Kano Ibrahim Dabo (1819 to 1846) his ancestor and the founder of their Sullubawan Dabo.
This dynasty is almost two hundred years old. Ibrahim Dabo the youngest member of the Emirate Council when he became the Emir was known for his piety and devotion. Rumfa established the sarauta and Dabo established the dynasty. Since when Islam became the official religion of the State, during the reign of Sarkin Kano Yaji (1349-1385CE) the Sarakuna (Kings and later Emirs) remained the custodians of Islam. When Ado Bayero became the Emir in 1963 there was only one Juma’at Mosque in Kano which was the first to be modernized in Northern Nigeria by Sarkin Kano Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero (1926-1953).
Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero constructed Abdullahi Bayero Mosque the second Juma’at Mosque he commissioned in 1971 since then he has commissioned over fifty Juma’at Mosques in Kano Metropolis, over 100 in the state and many others in other parts of the country. No other than Nigeria leader has had this privilege.
He became the leader of Hausa Muslims where ever they were. They looked up to him as the symbol of Hausa Islamic culture because Kano is the leading center of this cultural bloc with over 70 million speakers of the Hausa Language. No other African traditional leader has had this influence. He was on the list of the most influential Muslims of the World published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center Amman because according to the center he was “regarded as a wise counselor both at home and abroad because of his experience and ability to mediate between cultures”. He was “an important asset is promoting mutual understanding and resolving conflicts between different ethnic and religious groups”.
Kano now has the highest public primary school enrolment of 1.9 million pupils as at the last enumeration. The people accepted his call to enroll in schools because of the confidence they had in him as the greatest supporter and patron of Islamic education. He supported more Islamiyya Schools than any other leader in Nigeria. All the people of Kano always pray for him because of this. As a man of Allah he was attacked in January 2013 after he had commissioned an Islamiyya School at Murtala Muhammad Mosque this was the last he did.
He had commissioned and supported hundreds in the last fifty years. In Kano he did everything possible to support all efforts geared to the socio-economic development of his people.
As the Chief Executive of the Native Authority before the Local Government Reforms under which he controlled land allocation he discharged his duties with equity and sense of justice. This encouraged investment and consolidated Kano’s commercial pre-eminence in northern Nigeria. Because of his status and the confidence they had in him many investors came to Kano. A very recent example is the Ado Bayero Shopping Mall the first ultra modern shopping mall in northern Nigeria, a major private sector initiative with investors from all parts of Nigeria.
It brought leading African retail giants; Shoprite and Game to Kano. He was a mentor of his people. In 1988 he supported the first public presentation of a book in Kano which I wrote and in 1990 he personally invited the neighboring Emirs to the public presentation of two books I wrote, one on the Jihad in Kano and the other on the Sullubawan Dabo which was the first on the dynasty. I remain indebted.
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