Maccido Marks Five: The Hobbson's Choice Ahead

By

Abubakar Umar

His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, the Sultan of Sokoto clocked his fifth year in office on April, 21 this year. The anniversary was marked in Sokoto, seat of the caliphate in his absence. He was away in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia under-going what palace sources said to be routine medical check up. Nonetheless a number of events were lined up for the celebration. These included special prayer session at Sultan Bello Mosque, visit to the tomb of Islamic Reformer, Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo Hubbare and an excursion to the Waziri Junaidu History Bureau Sokoto.

The prayer session was led by Alhaji Buhari Sirridawa, Sarkin Malamai of Sokoto. He prayed for the Sultan's good health and safe return home. He also wished the state governor, Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, Garkuwan Sokoto who at the time was in London for a seminar on Sharia, safe journey back to the country.

The Chief Imam of the mosque, Alhaji Muhammadu Bellow Akwara and that of Shehu's Mosque, Alhaji Shehu Na-Liman also led prayer sessions where they beseeched Allah to grant the sultan good health. They also prayed for peace and prosperity in Sokoto and the country as a whole.
Celebrants, under the guidance of the Waziri of Sokoto, Alhaji Usman Junaidu left the mosque after the prayers for the Hubbare where other prayer sessions were held. The Hubbare also contain tombs of Nana Asmau daughter of Usmanu Danfodiyo, and Sultans Ahmadu Rufai, Hassan Dan-Muazu and Siddiq Abubakar II.

From the Hubbare, the team visited the History bureau, which houses artifacts and intellectual works dating back to the Jihadist era. The Excursion did much to remind the celebrants of Sokotos glorious past, even during colonial era.

The event whose anniversary was being marked dates back to April 20, 1996, when the sanctify of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, the 18th Sultan of Sokoto was violated by Colonel Yakubu Muazu the then military administrator of Sokoto who ordered his arrest, deposition and banishment of Jalingo, Taraba State.The following day, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, son of Sultan Dasuki's predecessor, Sultan Abubakar III, was appointed Sultan. He received allegiance from a cross section of the Muslim community at Sultan Bello Mosque, as evidence of acceptance of his leadership.

The celebration which greeted this appointment was almost beyond description. For the next two weeks the palace witnessed the sounding of the royal trumpet, drumming, singing and dancing from early in the mornings to very late in the afternoons people numbering hundred of thousands from far and wide massed to the palace to have a glimpse of who they exclaimed as "the real McCoy." But in sharp contrast to the relative calm experienced during the first five of the eight years of the ill-fated Dasuki era, the past five years have proved to be most challenging to all institutions in this country, not least the Sultanate, in view of its prime position as a politico-religious institution.

Alhaji Muhammdu Maccido ascended the throne at a time a ruthless military dictatorship was seeking to transform itself into a civilian set up. In this it made extensive use of important figures in this country among them, traditional rulers. Their role in this attempted transmutation had corrosive effect on their level of dignity in the eyes of human rights and democratic culture advocates. The evolution of geo-political zones, designed by the military as divide and rule tactic posed another challenge to the sultanate. In the past order when there was a monolithic North, the Sultanate called the shots in view of the binding nature of the Sultan's flag bearers in the region. Today however, some of these lieutenants have become minority entities in some of the zones, operating in not quite friendly environment.

The lingering ethno-religious intolerance in the north now balled into full fledged violence occasioning acts of bestiality, within the last five years. Its climax was the anti-sharia uprising in Kaduna last year leading to the death of thousands of people. The violence has been steadily eroding the confidence existing between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly between Hausa/Fulanis and other tribes, which inhabit the middle belt zone of this country. Interestingly, a Sokoto Prince, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Gamji Dankwarai Ubanyanboko, Premier of the defunct Northern Nigeria, who earlier aspired to becoming Sultan, stitched the various interest groups of the north, in the 1950s and 60s.

And with Kaduna, the headquarters of the defunct Northern Nigeria unsafe, the south proved more dangerous for northerners who were massacred in Lagos by members of the dreaded Yoruba tribal militia, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC). A few hundred were also killed in Abia and other parts of the South-East in retaliation for their kith and kin killed in the Kaduna disturbances.

Another phenomenon, which challenged the Sultanate, was the extension of the application of Islamic law (sharia) to cover criminal cases in some states. It was started by Governor Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State. He claimed to have "introduced" the sharia. Shortly after, other governors in high Muslim populated states joined the queue of states to 'introduce' Sharia.

Consequently, it is believed that the governor pulled the carpet off the feet of the Sultanate, and proceeded to placing Zamfara in a pre-eminent position in the nation's Islamic calculus. Even in Sokoto town, Governor Sani is referred to by many as Mujaddadi, meaning "Reformer". In any case this, tongue-in-cheek implementation of Sharia is still the best the Muslim community can invest hope in.

The Sultanate is currently contending with the proliferation of forums set up by freelance power brokers, using Kaduna as base. Consequently, the locus of power hitherto exercised here in Sokoto has shifted to Kaduna - Minna axis. The implication is the shutting out the real power base of the caliphate-an institution looked upon for guidance by the people of this country, especially Muslims.

To probably retrospectively regain its glorious past, the nomenclature "Sokoto Emirate Council" was changed to "Sultanate Council" in an elaborate ceremony witnessed by almost all Emirs in Northern Nigeria. The events served as forum in ushering an atmosphere engendering sense of communalism and projection of identity. However, this aggravated Middle Belt agitation, thus sharpening differences across culture, tribe and religion within the region.

The change attracted agitation from non-Muslim areas in emirates seeking autonomy through demanding for their own chiefdoms. A number of these traditional units were created in many states of Northern Nigeria, within the last two years.

The creeping in of unorthodox religious beliefs in the guise of reviving the practices of the prophet of Islam (PBUM) has been unrelenting in recent times. Only last December, Sokoto, the seat of the caliphate got a direct hit, when a section of Azalea sect slaughtered a horse, a symbol of strength and authority, shared and consumed the meat claiming such action to a revival of a Prophetic tradition. It took the Fatwa committee of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) to pronounce a decree against the practice.

A problem inherited five years ago by the Sultan, which is the non-uniformity in the celebration of Muslim Festivals, based on the sighting of the moon has continued to remain a sticking point. The declaration on this year's eid-el-kabir by the Sultan was considered controversial. The Fatwa committee had to issue a statement declaring the Sultan's declaration as "correct and in order."

In the end, it was decided that Nigerian Muslims would no longer depend on the decision of the people of Meccas with regards to moon sighting because "for a country to put aside its own sighting in order to follow those in Makkah does not conform with what Shariah prescribed". More controversies ahead!

The Sultanate, according to watchers, has had to contend with meddlesome official actions. In the last Sultanate dispensation, it was starvation of fund. Now, the funds and available but the state government is usurping the responsibilities. For instance, the appointment of district heads is now being challenged in court. But far more worrisome than official bottlenecks for the Sultanate should be information from the grape-vine indicating the possibility of a retired Lieutenant Colonel Sambo Dasuki, son of Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki and managing Director of the Nigerian Security Minting and Printing Company being groomed for the governorship of Sokoto State.

It will be recalled that at the time the senior Dasuki was deposed, Sambo was a fugitive having been declared wanted for being part of an alleged plot to overthrow the then Sani Abacha-led-government.

Sambo was the aide-de-camp (ADC) to former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), a known patron of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State. His name is being freely mentioned in Sokoto as possible governorship candidate. Analysts believe that he could win the party's nomination and that the combined weight of president Obasanjo and IBB and possibly General Ali Gusau, the National Security Adviser may prove formidable against the duo of Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and Alhaji Umarun Kobo, the pillars of the ruling All Peoples Party (APP) in the state.

The Sultanate might have to ponder in the choice between Governor Bafarawa and his present stance or a possible Governor Sambo Dasuki, whose father was deposed and humiliated to create room for the current leadership. This thought of a possible Hobbsons choice must have been in the minds of most celebrants at the Sultan's fifth anniversary. It was low-keyed, if not subdued. In contrast to the festivity that heralded the appointment five years ago, the royal trumpet did not sound, because the Sultan was away.

Equally worthy of note were the absence of drumming and singing witnessed five years ago. This is because, drumming and singing at public functions happen to be the only vices, which has succumbed to the sharia, introduced in the state in May, last year.