With the battle for the throne of the Kano Emirate shifted to the court, the reinstated Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has declared that no society develops at the expense of justice.
He spoke yesterday in Kano at the opening of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference.
In some quarters, the association‘s invitation to Sanusi II to attend and make a speech at the conference is seen as a recognition of the banker-turned-monarch as the lawful emir of Kano.
The conference, held at Amani Event Centre, Kano, had in attendance the president of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Justice Benedict Bakwaph Kanyip, NBA president, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), Chief Judge of Kano State, Justice Dije Aboki, and other legal luminaries.
In his address, Emir Sanusi, represented by Mahe Bashir Wali (the Walin Kano), welcomed the participants and told them that Kano has a long, enviable history as a cultural and commercial nerve centre of the northern region.
He said the conference theme: “Administration of Justice in Nigeria: Challenges and Reforms“, was apt as only when justice is in the land can society experience peace, progress and development.
For the state governor, Abba Yusuf, it was a good opportunity to challenge the NBA members on the conflicting court orders given on the Kano emirate tussle when the case is purely a state affair.
The governor, who was represented at the conference by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abdullahi Bappa Bichi, told the legal practitioners to always tell their clients the truth when they bring a bad case, even when the truth is bitter, rather than insisting to satisfy their clients by carrying out what is not within the ambit of the law.
That is why, to overcome the challenges confronting the administration of justice in Nigeria, the governor said we must uphold the rule of law and make comprehensive judicial reforms.
Speaking to journalists on the Emirate tussle at the ongoing conference in Kano, Barr O.M. Femi said the NBA is not unaware of what is happening; “but it is good that the court is to decide so that none of the parties involved would be aggrieved again. The ruling will set a precedence for lawyers and judges on such matters.
“However, you don‘t need to be told or to wear binoculars to see that His Royal Majesty Muhammadu Sanusi II is the current Emir of Kano.
“Nothing explains this fact more than what could be deduced from the ongoing NBA‘s annual conference attended by Muhammadu Sanusi II by proxy. The recognition accorded him by the legal practitioners of our land tells it all,“ he said