Sanusi, his grandfather and three other top monarchs who have been dethroned
During the pre-colonial era in Nigeria, monarchs, from Obas in the southwest to Emirs in the north and Igwes in the Southeast, were seen as almost infallible.
While the traditional system in the north was authoritarian in nature at that time, the Yoruba traditional system had a checks and balance system in place that checks the excesses of the Obas and call them to order and could remove them from office.
Since Nigeria became a republic in 1963, the power and authority of the monarchs reduced drastically. They now earn salaries from the state unlike those days when they could collect royalty from lands and dues from traders or even send their servants to summon a woman and declare her as their wife without anyone questioning their decision.
Each state now have laws guiding the appointment and deposition of monarch. In the North for instance, Section 6 of the Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law, Cap. 20, Vol.1 Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963, empowers governors in the region to appoint and depose emirs in their respective states.
Here is a list of top Nigerian monarch who have lost their seats:
Emir Muhammadu Sanusi I:
Emir Muhammadu Sanusi I was the grandfather of the recently deposed Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II. He was Emir of Kano from 1953 to 1963. He was the eldest son and successor of the late Emir Abdullahi Bayero who reigned from 1926 to 1953.
He was one of the founding members of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) which was the ruling party in the region during his time. Sanusi I wielded political and traditional influence during the colonial era in northern Nigeria and at a point he started having issues with top members of the NPC as well as his distant cousin Sir Ahmadu Bello who was the Premier of Northern Region.
A commission of inquiry set up to probe the finances of the Kano native authority under him indicted him and recommended his resignation. He tendered his resignation in March 1963 and went into exile in Azare, Bauchi state.
Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki:
Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki was another northern monarch who drank from the sore grape of deposition. He was the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, the state regarded as the seat of authority for Nigerian Muslims.
He rose through the ranks as a civil servant to become the permanent secretary in the Northern region Ministry of Local Government and also the Ministry of Commerce.
From 1967 to 1977, he was director and later chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. In December 1988, he became the first Sultan from the Buhari line of the house of Uthman Dan Fodio, who led jihad movement across West Africa in the 18th Century.
His announcement as Sultan sparked riot in Sokoto which led to the death of 10 people. Sultan Dasuki was deposed in 1996 by the Military Head of State General Sani Abacha for “ignoring government directives and traveling outside his domain without approval or notice from the government”. He was taken to Jalingo in Taraba state where he placed in exile.
Sulan Dasuki was the father of Col. Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser (NSA) under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration. He died in Abuja in November 2016, 20 years after he was deposed.
Olowo of Owo – Oba Olateru Olagbegi II:
Oba Olateru Olagbegi II, the Olowo of Owo in Owo local government area of Ondo state was one of the monarchs whose deposition was influenced by political reasons just like Sanusi I and Sultan Dasuki.
Born in 1910, he became Olowo of Owo in 1941 at the age of 31. Young, cerebral and educated, he was also actively involved in partisan politics. When the foremost pan-Yoruba political party – the Action Group was formed in 1951, it was launched at his palace in Owo. A decade later, an internal crisis within the Action Group threatened his seat as the Olowo.
In 1962, two splinter groups emerged in the party, one faction was loyal to the premier of the Western region Ladoke Akintola, while the another was loyal to Akintola’s predecessor Obafemi Awolowo. Olagbegi pitched hit tent with the government in power, the Akintola group and his decision riled up some of his subjects. His political choice also pitched him against Michael Adekunle Ajasin, a member of the Federal House of Representatives in Lagos who would later become the governor of Old Ondo State in 1979.
A violent clash between supporters of Awolowo and Olagbegi’s supporters during a revolt against military coup which cut short the First Republic in 1966 led to the suspension of Olagbegi by the Military Governor of Western region Adekunle Fajuyi. He went on exile in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Following another military coup which led to the death of Fajuyi in July 1966, Olagbegi was reinstated in December 1966 by the new governor Brigadier Adeyinka Adebayo. His attempt to return to Owo in 1968 was met with stiff opposition and he went back to exile. Adebayo finally deposes Olagbegi in 1968.
A new monarch Oba Adekola Ogunoye was finally appointed to replace Olagbegi. Ogunoye’s death in 1992 paved the way for Olagbegi’s second coming as the Olowo. In 1993, the governor of Old Ondo State Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua approved Olagbegi’s return and he reigned for another five years before he died in 1995 and was succeeded by his learned son Oba Victor Folagbade Olateru Olagbegi who died in 2019.
Deji of Akure – Oba Adepoju Adesina:
Oba Adepoju Adesjna was the Deji of Akure, the capital city of Ondo State, from before he was deposed in June 2010 by the Ondo State Government under the administration of Dr Olusegun Mimiko who ruled between 2009 and 2017.
Adesina, a United Kingdom (UK) returnee joined the league of deposed monarchs for publicly assaulting his wife Olori Bolanle Adepoju in 2010.
After pouring an unknown substance on the Olori which peeled her skin, Adepoju ordered his guards to whip her and their family crisis sparked public outrage from human rights organisations and women groups across the country calling for the monarch’s prosecution. The Olori would later die in 2011.
His act was viewed as complete desecration of the throne of Deji of Akure by the kingmakers of Akure who subsequently declared Adesina unworthy of the throne and his seat was declared vacant by the kingmakers. The Ondo state government acting on the recommendation of the kingmakers deposed Adesina and sent him on exile.
He was succeeded by Oba Adebiyi Adesida who only reigned for three years and died in November 2013. The story of Olagbegi I must have motivated Adesina which led him to stage a comeback in 2013 attempting to return as Deji of Akure following the death of his successor, Oba Adesida.
In an open letter to Governor Mimiko in 2013, Adesina described himself as a reformed man who has learnt from his errors while pleading to be reinstated as Deji of Akure. In the emotional letter, he wrote: “I tasted the good side of life. I now taste the bad side of life. I had fame. I later had shame. I knew glory. I later knew fury. I knew and tasted honour. I have also been brought down to earth. I fell from grace to grass. I have cried many times.”
The Akure kingmakers ignored him and said his return to Akure portrayed the state capital as a town with two kings and nearly unsettled the peace and tranquillity which the kingdom was known for. They later settled for the present Deji, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladewusi- Odundun II, who was crowned the 47th Deji of Akure in July, 2015.
Emir of Kano – Muhammadu Sanusi II:
The former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, became the latest victim of deposition on Monday when he was removed by the Kano State government
He is undoubtedly one of Nigeria’s most influential monarchs who exert a lot of influence.
A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi also left CBN amidst controversy after being drawn at loggerheads with former president Goodkuck Jonathan in 2014 when he raised an alarm on the US$20 billion which he said was missing from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Shortly after his removal as CBN Governor in February 2014, he was announced Emir of Kano in June 2014, following the death of Emir Ado Bayero (his grandfather’s brother).
Bayero succeeded Sanusi’s grandfather Emir Muhammadu Sanusi I who was deposed in 1963 and reigned for 51 years.
According to the Kano state government, Sanusi II was deposed for showing “insubordination” to the state governor Abdullahi Ganduje. The duo has had frosty relations since 2017 and the dispute took a dramatic turn last year when Ganduje created four new Emirates out of the Kano emirate.
Many supporters of the deposed Emir have also claimed that Sanusi was deposed for opposing Ganduje’s re-election last year and for openly condemning his bribery scandal.
Ganduje was secretly filmed in 2018 receiving thousands of dollars as bribe from a contractor and hiding the cash in his clothes. The videos sparked outrage after going viral on social media.
His virile advocacy against girl-child marriage and call for building of more schools as well as the enrollment of almajiri kids (who roam the streets in northern Nigeria begging for alms) in school are believed to be some of his actions that pitched him against the northern conservative elites. The deposed emir has been removed from the palace in Kano by security forces and has been taken to exile in Loko, Nasarawa State.
