WELCOMING THE 11TH EMIR OF GOMBE, LAMIDO ABUBAKAR III By Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido Ajiya Quarters, Behind Emirs Palace Gombe lamidomabudi@gmail The first was Modibbo Bubayero, the founder of the Emirate of Gombe. The second was the 9th Emir of Gombe, Lamido Abubakar son of Lamido Haruna. And we now have as the 11th Lamido of Gombe, the immediate past Santuraki of Gombe, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu Abubakar; Lamido Abubakar III, Sarki Abubakar Na Uku. He is Abubakar, son of Shehu Usman, son of Abubakar, son of Umar, son of Kwairanga, son of Bubayero. Modibbo Bubayero founded the Emirate in 1804 and was succeeded by his son Sulaiman followed by Muhammad Kwairanga (son of Bubayero); then Abdulkadir Zailani son of Kwairanga; then Hassan son of Kwairanga; then Tukur son of Kwairanga in 1895; then Umar Faruk Kwairanga; then Haruna Umar; then Abubakar Umar and then the tenth, Alhaji Shehu Usman Abubakar who ascended in 1984. It is now the turn of the 11th, whose historic Lamidoship started on Friday, 6th June, 2014 amidst joy, jubilation and fanfare. For the past 11 years we used to call him the 11th ( Na sha daya). And as Allah would have it, nearly 11 days after the demise of his father, he was announced as the 11th Emir of Gombe at about 11 am. That was done in the historic, ultra-modern Modibbo Bubayero Mosque established by his great grandfather and rebuilt and modernized by his late father. It initially looked like a dream. But it is not. It is rather a dream come true; a hope turned real; a vision actualized; a prayer divinely accepted. It is real. He is the Emir of Gombe; Sarkin Yakin Sarkin Musulmi. He is the heir and custodian of the prestigious royal throne of Bubayero. His appointment is Allahs making. It is Allahs choice. And he deserves it. Not only because he is a direct descendant of Modibbo Bubayero and son of the immediate past Emir, but also, and more importantly, because he possesses the qualities required for a person to ascend to that venerated royal throne. The humility and simplicity that are needed, the love and concern for others that is required, the listening ear that is wanted and many other plausible qualities that are usually enumerated as requisite for one to be Emir, have all gathered in him in remarkably astonishing manner. Analysis can show some interesting historical coincidences in the story of Sarki Abubakar III in Gombe. Among the Emirs, the first two Abubakars ruled for longer periods than all others. Bubayero served for 37 years and Abubakar Umar sreved for 48 years. We pray therefore that he will follow that path and rule for a much longer period than both of them. Also, his grandfather, the 9th Emir held the post of Santuraki before he later gradually moved to the apex of the kingdom. His father the 10th Emir was promoted from Santuraki to Emir. And HRH the 11th Emir also was until his appointment as Emir, the Santurakin Gombe. His choice as the Lamido of Leddi Bubayero is God-made. His natural human weaknesses notwithstanding, he has been generally accepted as the humblest, most honorable, most charismatic, most listening, most respectful, most obedient, most accommodating and, therefore, most competent of those who aspired to ascend the prestigious throne. He is intelligent. He is soft-spoken. He is gentle. He is composed. He is courageous. He is accommodating. He has displayed extra-ordinary obedience to his late father. He has demonstrated unique respect to all elders. In short he is, as far as I know, and as far as virtually every body testifies about him, a superb personality. One unique thing about HRH is that, perhaps because of his accommodating nature and humbleness, whoever comes near to him will soon be enveloped by his love. And who knows whether that was why his appointment as Emir was widely applauded by all, especially those who were in favor of competence?Since the demise of his late father, as usual, the talk of the town was, having lost a caring father, who among the contestants would fit in the crown? Although other contestants, who also are good in their own right, also had their supporters, an overwhelming majority of the elite- dom and the Talakawa-dom totally supported his ascension to the kingdom. An overwhelming majority of the people of Gombe, from the rich to the poor, from the old to the young, from the male to the female, and from those related to Lamorde to those who are not, was in complete support of promoting the then Santuraki to Sarki. And it is simple. It is a matter of deleting some alphabates from Santuraki to get Sarki. (Santuraki minus n,t, u and a, is equal to Sarki). There were a few people who felt he was not qualified. Their reason, however, has nothing to do with his ability or competence. They said he was not fit because, as a person who was only about 37 years he was too young to be the father of Gombe!!! Now if at 37 he does not qualify by age to be Emir, then how many years do they want a person to reach before he gets there? Their argument is so flabbergasting especially given the fact that they are the very people who always challenge our elders of dominating all important positions and denying the upcoming generations the chance to use their fresh blood and contribute to the development of our dear nation. The same people would in another occassion make reference to General Yakubu Gowon as one of the most successful leaders in the country who was able to salvage the nation from collapse as a result of the tragic civil war from 1967- 1970 even though he occupied that zenith of all leadership positions in the country while he was not more than 32 years. But if they say Gowon was a political leader and a military dictator, then they may need to be told that one of the most influential Emirs in the history of northern Nigeria, Alhaji Ado Bayero, became the Emir of Kano at the age of 33. In fact, right in the house of Bubayero, Lamido Abubakar II, the grandfather of the current Emir, ascended the throne at 35 and stayed on it for 48 years. And one can only imagine his achievements. It can still be added that early inthe history of the Sokoto Calphate, Sultan Muhammadu Bello, son of Danfodio became the Ameerul Mumineen at the age of 34. One can go on and on. But most relevantly, the position he is occupying is a position established by religion. And here what is needed in terms of leadership is maturity, decency and intellectual sophistication. Those who know our Emir have testified that he is uniquely endowed in all these qualities. Maturity, of course, is not about age in this regard. What is important is maturity of the mind. Next is maturity in character. Some other important qualities necessarily needed are good conduct, moral uprightness, competence and so on. In fact, the Quran specifically mentioned that the best person to put in a position is the strong and trustworthy (28:26), and strong here is widely translated to mean healthy. He is okey in all this. Now the reader may ask why all these explanations about this person? Is it because of the writers personal relation and closeness to HRH? Actually no. Although it is the closeness that has played an important role in knowing and understanding the superb personality in him, the main motivator for this write-up is to educate the people about the person who is occupying this strategic position. The concern is actually about the position he is occupying vis-a-vis its socio-historical significance. Despite what has happened to the Emirate system since our invasion by the colonial monsters, Emirates, as the bastion of the Sokoto caliphal institution, still remain symbols of honor, respect and dignity for our society. They epitomize the symbol of civilizational pride for our community. They represent a source of hope and socio-cultural and religious solace for the common masses. The colonial monsters deliberately reduced the powers of the emirates, relegated them to the background and through the indirect rule system, forced them to be seen as agents of oppression rather than the agents of justice that they actually should have been. Despite all this, however, to a large extent, the Emirs still remain the final point of call for the masses when it comes to the need to truly represent their collective conscience and communal aspirations. Some of the Emirs, for one reason or the other, might be seen as being reluctant in this responsibility. While this might be true, it can however be said that a large number of them have demonstrated their ability and readiness to courageously and selflessly protect the interest of the common man. HRH, the new Emir of Gombe, Sabon Sarki, would, insha Allah be among them. If some people see some laxity in some of the Emirates, this is as a result of many factors, including the setting in of the natural law of rise and fall of regimes as expounded in Ibn Khaldun cyclical theory, and this is supposed to be the reason why we must call for a meaningful reform in the Emirate system and make inputs towards their actualization. And here lies the challenge before the new Emir of Gombe: the need to focus on reforming and transforming the form of Gombe Emirate. He is expected to surround himself with many think-tanks of intellectuals, professionals, scholars and experienced persons whom he should be consulting frequently for advice on issues affecting his subjects. He should continue with his good habit of listening to people irrespective of their class or status. In short, he should be an exemplary leader. Our hope is that like his late father, he would be pro-poor in his leadership style. We hope he would use this good office to defend the rights of his Talakawa, promote their common good and be bold enough to kick against any unpopular policy that has the potential of jeopardizing their collective interest. It is our prayer that he would stay much longer than his father and grandfather and would achieve far greater successes than his father and grandfather, and command far more influence and respect than any Emir that has ever reigned in Gombe. It is our hope that he would never forget the basis of the Emirate he leads, which is Islam. As the second Caliph of the Prophet (SAW), Umar Bin Khattab (RA) rightly said, we were originally inferior people but raised in ranks and prestige by Allah as a result of Islam and whenever we choose to abandon Islam, Allah will cause us to be the most inferior and downgraded people on earth. HRH should always refer to religion for answers to his leadership questions. Alhamdulillah, enough literature has been bequeathed to us by the triumvirate founders of the Sokoto Caliphate, Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio, Sheikh Abdullahi Bin Fodio and Sultan Muhammad Bello. His Highness, who I know well to be a good friend of books and a man of intellectualism, should not forget to create time to always update his knowledge of religion and other important skills. He should always remember that he is the Modibbo Bubayero of our time. He should demonstrate a sincere commitment to true Modibbo-ship (scholarship) as our leader. He should also, as part of his priorities, focus on making very functional the Modibbo Bubayero Islamic Centre initiated by his late father. He should make it a truly functional international centre that would host intellectual and historical events and engage in meaningful projects that will contribute immensely to the development of our country through knowledge and research. The sky alone should be his limit. The late Emir of Gombe, HRH Alhaji (Dr) Shehu Usman Abubakar (may Allah forgive him and grant him Firdaus) was able to lead Gombe effectively. He had built strong foundations that have taken it to its current enviable status. It is our prayer that HRH Alhaji Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III would take Gombe to a so-far unimaginable greatness. If he has taken over when it is Gombe Mai kamar Kano daga nesa we hope under him the slogan will change soon to Gombe Mai kamar Kano ba Shakka. It was Sani Aliyu Dan-Dawo who in his popular song for the late Sarki Shehu prayed that Allah shi ja zamanin Shehu, Amin muna ta addua kullum (May Allah prolong the reign of Emir Shehu, Amin, we shall ceaselessly continue to pray). Today our prayer, although not in the same musical rhythm and not in a voice as melodious as that of Dan-Dawo, is: Allah shi ja zamanin Abubakar, Amin Muna ta addua kullum. Allah Ya Kara wa Sarki daraja kuma Ya masa jagoranci. Allah juttin balde Lamido Abubakar.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 08:34:07 +0000
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