Zazzau Royal Stool:A Symbol Of Hospitality And Honour
Mairo Muhammad Mudi
The last time I wrote about Zazzau Emirate was more than 10 months ago before the emergence of Amb Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli and immediately he was selected as the Emir Of Zazzau.
If my followers could remember, my first write up was an appeal to Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State to consider Suleja Zazzau as one of the contenders to the throne as our great grandfather was the last Habe Emir Of Zazzau Zaria before he was dethroned by Fulani and sent on exile down to our present location Abuja which is now being called Zazzau Suleja.
Even though, we were not considered, I was happy because the write up generated a lot of debates beyond my imagination and awareness. Many people were surprised to find out that Suleja originated from Zaria, in fact some didn’t even know that Abuja was also carved out from Suleja and even the name Abuja was sacrificed for the Federal Capital of Nigeria forcing us to adopt the name of Suleja.
One respected emir in the North, who was also a good friend of my late father, Alhaji Tanko Yarima called me to his palace to give me a little pat on the back and advise me that as a little girl (that was how his Royal Highness put it) whenever I want to write on such topic, I should come and get the real history of how everything happened which as he put it would help my cause.
Immediately after that meeting, Amb Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli was announced by the Kaduna State Government as the new Emir, I wrote another opinion congratulating his Royal Highness, pledging our allegiance to the Emir where I called on all concerned who felt bad about the choice of the new Emir to know that power belongs to only Allah and He alone gives to whoever He wishes.
A senior colleague of mine asked me why I was taking paracetamol for someone else’s headache, I also asked him if he has ever read a book called, The Roots by Alex Haley as he nodded, I told him to wait for my own version In Shaa Allah.
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Having established this to ward off any point by anyone trying to question the eligibility of my opinion over the topic that has treaded last week on why his Royal Highness the Emir Of Zazzau vacated his Royal seat for Emir Sanusi to sit on, let me also say it here as I always say, that once an Emir, is an Emir for life even when dethroned and so His Royal Highness Muhammad Sanusi ll was not the first Emir to be dethroned and we are all aware on how they are giving all the honours due for emirs of their status. I am challenging anyone to cite an example of where any Emir that was dethroned were treated with less dignity despite being sent on exile to some remote areas! The fact that His Royal Highness Muhammad Sanusi ll fought for his freedom in court and won made it one of its kind and some people are not just comfortable on why he should enjoy his freedom.
Coming back to the topic as it concerns this opinion, I am not going to give any instances because I am sure those trying to make mischief out of a simple courtesy by His Royal Highness Amb Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli know the tradition of honouring and respecting a royal father that honours any Emirate or palace with his presence. It has been there and were done by forefathers and even at the presence, so I found it surprising that some people would invade the social media space with their twisted opinion on why should the Emir Of Zazzau honour Emir Muhammad Sanusi in his palace by giving him a bigger chair to sit.
From the rejoinders of some His Royal Highness supporters I could picked some following points.
-It has been a tradition to honour a visiting Royal father or their representatives and in some cases the royal seat is vacated for the visiting Emir
–In this particular case, His Royal Highness Emir Of Zazzau received Emir Sanusi in his private chambers where he gave him the seat in contention to sit, it is not even in the palace as it is being insinuated in some quarters.
-Their relationship dated back to their parents who were said to be acquaintances. Some even said Emir Sanusi is his Royal Highness mentor and we all know how we treat and respect our mentors and I am quite sure if the Emir Of Zazzau didn’t honour the visiting Sanusi ll, it would have been a subject of mockery against their friendship.
In traditional hierarchy, Kano comes first before Zazzau so there is nothing degrading in the way the Emir treated his visitor.
I believe the Emir Of Zazzau is not honouring just Emir Sanusi ll but the tradition of the North in general and Kano in particular and if today Emir Alhaji Aminu Bayero comes to Zaria, I am certain he is going to get the same treatment or even better.
I think the people of Zazzau who are known to be educated both in Islamic and western knowledge and also civilised should be above discussing this insignificant issue. We will be glad to see meaningful discussions coming out from them on how to move this great Emirate forward in order to live peacefully and overcome the security challenges facing the Emirate and the state in general.
The Zazzau in me is what made me chip in on this issue, wishing it has never even come up in the first place because it is not even an issue!
Mairo Muhammad Mudi is a CEO of Zuma Times Company who writes from Abuja.
