The visit that Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, made to deposed emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, has revealed more than the intimacy between the duo.
Many have saluted El-Rufai for the rare show of friendship as he visited Sanusi in Awe, Nasarawa State, to which he has been banished.
They find the move intriguing especially because it is a fellow Northern governor – Abdullahi Ganduje, who removed Sanusi.
A statement from El-Rufai, detailing his experience during the Awe visit, has, however, also revealed that he still prefers to call his deposed friend ‘ His highness’, which is a monarch’s appellate.
The statement read in part:
“His Highness seems to have taken all that happened in his stride but has reiterated his commitment to enforcing his fundamental human rights.
“Sanusi II, the 14th Fulani Emir of Kano, manifested a renewed vigour to continue serving humanity in his life long efforts to expand the frontiers of knowledge and to campaign against unworthy timid ignorance that has shackled Nigeria as a perpetual potentially great nation.”
According to the statement, the governor, who drove from Abuja to Awe town, “met Sanusi in high spirits, demonstrating his usual calm, poise, and regal-bearing” despite his removal four days ago.
El-Rufai added that the dethroned Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, would continue his “campaign against unworthy timid ignorance”.
The statement was signed by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, on Friday.
The governor also spoke on the appointments he gave Sanusi in the past few days.
He said the former first class traditional ruler had been his confidant since their teens and that his visit to Awe was to encourage Sanusi in his moments of travail.
According El-Rufai, the Sanusi is a global citizen with a network of contacts around the world that can bring a lot of investment to Kaduna state.
“In his position as Emir of Kano, I couldn’t have offered him the appointment because I believe he should be attracting investments to Kano state. But once he became available, I ceased the opportunity to bring that value to Kaduna state,” the governor explained.
On Sanusi’s appointment as the Chancellor of the state university, El-Rufai said it was to compensate for what he would have lost following his dethronement.
He noted the tradition in the country, where first class traditional rulers were always made Chancellors of universities, saying the appointment is to ensure he doesn’t feel any sense of loss.
The governor said: “I believe he (Sanusi) will add a lot of value to the growth of our university, which will be a multi-campus varsity with presence in seven out of the 23 local government areas of the state.
“We believe he can help a lot in implementing that road map,” he said.
The governor, who left Awe with the deposed Emir following the court order for his release, disclosed that Sanusi was heading to Lagos to be reunited with his family.
Sanusi was deposed on Monday by Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for “disrespect” and “insubordination”.
Sanusi, 58, was banished under tight security to a small town in another state, in a tactic similar to that used by British imperial officials to punish rebellious leaders during the colonial period.
The move to hold him in exile sparked an outcry from human rights activists and was challenged in court by Sanusi’s lawyer.
At the hearing on Friday, Judge Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered that the dethroned emir be released and allowed to move about freely.
