Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Northern Elders Forum has waded into the current face-off between the governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the Emir of Kano, His Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II, following the recent creation of four additional emirates in the state and a move to whittle down the influence of the monarch.
In a letter to the Walin Kano, Alhaji Mahe Bashir, and signed by the Chairman of the Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, the Forum expressed worry at the present dimension of the crisis that has erupted in the state in the last few months.
The letter read in part: “The Northern Elders Forum is deeply worried by the current dimension taken by the escalating misunderstanding between the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II and some sections of the Kano elite.
“The crisis, we are afraid, is pregnant with unforeseen circumstances that ultimately threaten the integrity of the entire Kano traditional institution, overall peace and security of the state, and by extension, the cohesion of the northern region.”
Already, said the Forum, they have started mobilizing a host of eminent Northern personalities, elders and all categories of leaders and stakeholders to intervene and help find lasting solution to the crisis.
The Forum revealed that they had already concluded plans to storm the ancient city with a view to arbitrate and help resolve the crisis, adding that while in Kano, the dispatched team would hold interactions with the elders of Kano State, critical stakeholders, His Highness, Emir Sanusi and Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
In the letter sighted by Sunday Sun, the Forum expressed the sincere hope that their intervention, ”would finally get to the root of the matter and find a lasting solution with mutual understanding and respect, so that the state can move forward.”