From emirs to kings, Nigeria's traditional rulers are increasingly
being humiliated by politicians - and mocked by young people who see
them as representing an archaic institution.
The latest example of this was the brutal dethronement of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II.
The state governor invoked his constitutional powers to depose the emir after accusing him of "insubordination".
No-one
knows the number of monarchs in multi-ethnic Nigeria but there seems to
be one ruling over every inch of land, often putting them at
loggerheads with the politicians who have constitutional authority.
Nigeria's
traditional leaders retain huge influence in many parts of the country
but recent events have made some young people question the role of the
monarchy in the 21st Century.
Mr Sanusi is the most high-profile
of several cases in the last five months in which politicians have
publicly brought monarchs to heel or the actions of some traditional
rulers have led people to question their relevance.
Colonial-style exileMr Sanusi was removed for "total disrespect" of institutions and the governor's office, the government said.
But
in truth, his removal was the culmination of a long tussle with Kano
state governor Umar Ganduje, a powerful figure within Nigeria's
governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
Those
close to him say the emir expected his removal but not his banishment
to neighbouring Nasarawa state which his lawyers described as an
"archaic practice" of the colonial era.
After gaining a court
order, he has regained his freedom but the manner of his removal and
subsequent detention showed the real balance of power between
politicians and traditional rulers.
"There is no way you can
reconcile the feudal gathering of traditional kinship with the
application of a modern republican constitution," said Dr Jare Oladosun,
an associate professor of history at Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo
University.
He said it was an insurmountable contradiction and favours the scrapping of the monarchy.
"You cannot have both, only one," he said.
For
many, Mr Sanusi's removal confirmed what they have long suspected -
that the country's monarchs are only symbolic heads with no real power.
Don't shake your head when the governor is speakingNigeria's
constitution has no role for traditional rulers but they are
nevertheless widely respected as custodians of both religion and
culture.
And this can be seen as a form of power.
Several myths about the oba of Benin say magic makes him indestructible
Olutayo
Adeshina, a professor of history at the University of Lagos, said that
by pledging to respect the culture "by protecting, preserving and
promoting traditional values", the Nigerian constitution recognises the
important role of traditional leaders.
"Traditional leaders possess some latent power which politicians are afraid of, hence the tension between the two.
"If they are not relevant, the politicians would ignore them. But you ignore them at your own peril," he said.
But
anyone who watched a video widely shared on social media in January
would question whether politicians still have much respect for
traditional leaders.
A king in the southern state of Rivers was publicly ridiculed for shaking his head while governor Nyesom Wike was speaking.
The governor ripped into the mortified king in a gathering of traditional rulers, provoking laughter from those in the room.
"You just [go] and wear something that is bigger than you... to breach protocol."
The governor was mocking the monarch's traditional robe and elaborate crown.
In
the same week that emir Sanusi was removed in Kano, traditional rulers
in south-west Ekiti state were embroiled in a face-off with the governor
after he appointed an oba (Yoruba king) to head the traditional
council.
A group 16 local obas were not pleased with the
"interference" and stayed away from state functions, drawing a stern
letter from the governor who accused them of insubordination.
In
November 2019, Nigeria's Supreme Court dethroned another oba, in Oyo
state, declaring the process of his ascendancy to the throne illegal.
Samuel
Adebayo-Adegbola, who was the Eleruwa of Eruwa, had spent 21 years on
the throne before he was forced to step down on the grounds that he was
not a member of one of the town's two ruling houses whose turn it was to
produce a successor in 1994.
The throne remains vacant.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeyemi III is a respected traditional leader in south-western Nigeria
But
it is not always the politicians casting aspersions on the monarchy in
Nigeria - the actions of some traditional rulers have also put them in
the spotlight.
In February, the Oluwo of Iwoland, Abdulrasheed
Akanbi, a flamboyant and controversial oba in the south-west state of
Osun engaged in a public brawl with another monarch, Dhikrulahi
Akinropo, Agbowu of Ogbaagbaa.
Tempers flared at a meeting to
settle a land dispute and Oba Akanbi is currently serving a six-month
suspension for his part in the altercation.
'
Traditional trendiness'But some monarchs are determined to remain relevant.
Oba Akanbi's Instagram page is an album of very colourful pictures and in one post he talks about "21st Century Kings".
"You
think Kings can't "Swag"!! 21st Century Kings like me will catch you
unawares!!! You got it all wrong by thinking kings are just 'old
raggedy, sad looking, can't dance, working with voodoo, scary looking,
can't have fun and only boring!!!" he posted.
But such
"traditional trendiness" has not caught on among young people and many
took the opportunity of the emir's dethronement in Kano to criticise the
monarchy.
"Kings that have no authority, no armies, fight no
wars, bear no responsibility for the development or prosperity of their
domain.
"Yet we indulge in this pitiful fantasy of them being the
all powerful as Kings who did all these and more in the days of yore.
Too funny," this user said.
Source: BBC
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