Barring any last-minute change, history is set to be made in the long-running Kano Emirate crisis as two rival monarchs—Muhammadu Sanusi II and Aminu Ado Bayero—prepare to meet face-to-face for the first time in five years.
The anticipated encounter is expected to take place on Tuesday in Madina, Saudi Arabia, during the burial rites of late business mogul and elder statesman Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata, who passed away in Abu Dhabi on Friday at the age of 94.
Sanusi II, the deposed 14th Emir who was reinstated as the 16th Emir of Kano in May 2024 by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, is currently in Saudi Arabia as part of an official delegation led by the Kano State government.
His rival, the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero—who was dethroned by the same Yusuf administration—is also in Madina, having departed Nigeria on Sunday alongside close allies, including Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta, Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan’agundi, and House of Representatives member, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa.
READ ALSO: End Of An Era: Aminu Dantata, Legendary Kano Tycoon Dies At 94
This development sets the stage for a rare and politically symbolic moment, as both men continue to lay claim to the ancient Kano Emirate throne—a matter still pending before the courts.
According to a statement by Emir Bayero’s spokesperson, Abubakar Balarabe Kofar Naisa, the 15th Emir traveled independently, while the 16th Emir, Sanusi II, is accompanying Governor Yusuf’s delegation.
Though it remains uncertain whether the two monarchs will exchange pleasantries, the occasion marks the first time both rival ’emirs’ will be seen at the same public event since Sanusi’s controversial ouster by former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in 2020 and Bayero’s own deposition four years later.
As Nigerians and the global Hausa-Fulani community watch closely, the burial of Alhaji Dantata may inadvertently become a stage for a silent, yet telling moment in the protracted royal tussle reshaping the Kano Emirate.