Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative (KCCI), an umbrella of some eminent elders in the state has urged the parties in the Kano Emirate crisis to respect the orders of the court.
In a press statement on Thursday, signed by Alhaji Bashir Tofa, a one-time presidential candidate on the platform of defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), said the Initiative appreciated the fact that the aggrieved parties had taken their case to court.
They insisted that,“ it (government) must show an example of being law-abiding by respecting court orders. This is the way it will earn the respect of the citizens and gain their confidence. The government must not be seen to be contemptuous of the court.”
They explained that the reasons given by the government for the creation of these additional emirates are laudable but insisted that in a democracy, the participation of the people and rule of law are very essential.”
The statement added that, “government actions cannot be arbitrary. They must be rule-based. There must be caution in any attempt to change over 1,000 years of tradition and there is need to carry along all the key stakeholders if it is for the benefit of the people.”
The concerned elders appealed to both the governor, Dr Abdullahi, Umar Ganduje, and His Highness Sarkin Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi to work together in the interest of their people while urging them to forgive each other, “especially in this blessed month of Ramadan that teaches forgiveness and brotherhood.
“KCCI believes Kano would benefit all if His Excellency, the governor, and His Highness, Sarkin Kano, work together as partners in progress,” they stated.
They submitted that it is the responsibility of all the people of Kano to preserve the peace and unity in the state adding that “we must not allow any fragmentation to be a catalyst that would lead to communal mistrust especially in this blessed month of Ramadan.”
According to them, Kano State has remained the only shinning light in northern Nigeria as against “many other states in the region that are engulfed in one crisis or the other.”
They regretted that the crisis has overshadowed the recent international accolades bestowed on Sarkin Kano.
“He was appointed global Board Member of the MTN, which was opposed publicly by a regional pressure group, because they think Kano would benefit and not their people.
“Yet again, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, appointed him one of the 17th Sustainable Development Goals Advocate along with the President of Ghana and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
“This should have been celebrated, but unfortunately nothing was done because of this crisis. There are other laudable projects His Highness is pursuing in China that will benefit all,” they stated.
