What most pple fail to understand about the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is that it was deeply mired in the dynamics or intrigues that plagued the Yaradua government.

When yaradua came on board he was openly grateful to Obasanjo for the honor of becoming the president of Nigeria. Even his mother Hajiya Dada personally went to Otta farm to thank Obasanjo. If anyone could recall, Yaradua personally intervened when Tony Anenih upstaged Obasanjo in a cooup and dethroned him as the Pdp BOT chairman. It was Yaraduas insistent that restored Obasanjo to the position.

But it in a dramatic about turn, prompted by northerners surrounding him that he cant make any impact without being a man of his own, he started breaking his ties with Obasanjo.Wary of Obasanjo's remnant influence in the pdp and the country at large, he started to consolidate his power in many ways. For instance he moved closer to an opposition state like Lagos in the south west where Obasanjo was unporpular. He visited Fashola and strengthened ties with him. He also gave out the contract for the dredging of the River Niger a populist move with strong northern sympathies.

But his strongest backers were from the northwest, particularly Kano state. A review of his appointments both political, and military will show that the juiciest went to pple of Kano origin. And one cannot blame him, for Katsina state is a small fry when it comes to power equation in Nigeria (witness how Shema the Katsina governor quickly towed the Jonathan line as soon as the Aso Rock occupants changed. He was even appointed to lead  Jonathan,s campaign in the northwest)  and so he needed such a strong support from Kano in spite of the fact that Kano was governed by an opposition party.  At the  press of a button in Kano a million marauding rioters could be ordered onto the streets  and that would make anybody think twice before tampering with him or his government.

Even when Turai was  dishing out her daughters to all manners of politicians to consolidate her husband's rule, the Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau would have made the list too if not for the fact he was not an 'original' Hausa man. His parents were Babur, a small tribe in the north east. For being in an opposition party was not enough reason to sideline him as Isa Yuguda the governor of Bauchi state decamped to the Pdp from the Anpp after marrying the presidents daughter. The arrangement was that in the event of the death or total incapacitation of the Yaradua, Turai believed that one of her in-laws and serving governors would assume the mantle of leadership, still keeping the spoils of office within her and her family's reach. With the marriage, her two daughters were quickly made the first ladies of their respective states, pushing aside the senior wives they met. The aim was for them to start training on how to be first ladies of the country when the time comes.

So when Soludo's tenure came to an end all his attempts to retain the seat and go for another term was rebuffed by surprisingly the person he thought could save him, Turai. Another contender then was Yuguda. but as a president-in- waiting and also a sitting governor he was ruled out. That was how Sanusi was chosen. He comes from kano where Yaradua derived his biggest support and was the most experienced banker in the state having reached the top echelon at First bank. Already two kano men were in charge of the finance ministry: the minister of finance and the minister of state for finance  which was unprecedented in Nigeria's political history for both to come from the same state. Why not add another kano man to pocket the exchequer. So to be frank the initial appointment was to populate the Yaradua's government with his kano backers.

Sanusi's stint in the commercial banking industry was uneventful, nothing to write home about.And even all his write ups never analysed the banking sector nor the economy of Nigeria. When he resigned from the first bank his intention was to go and teach in the university.  So why the sudden change and crusading zeal? Someone compared him to Dora Akunyili which i find very apt. Nigeria's institutions are all corrupted and it easy for any one to become a hero by making a few splashes here and there. but in the case of Sanusi when he was appointed it even became even more urgent. instead of pple questioning why the minister and the minister of state and also the central bank governor coming from the same state, the focus was on the headlines generated by the tsunami sweeping away the bank md's. the rest they say is history.

Very interesting post.

The stuff on Shekarau's origins. . . never even heard of this Babur (also known as Bura: http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=11022&rog3=NI) tribe before.

Good thought-line

Na wa o. See how these guys were busy dissecting 9ja's carcass.  Power does really corrupt. A prime example would be Turai herself. Yar'adua's administration would go down as one of the worst (and a contender for the worst with Ironsi's) governments we've ever had.

By the way, never would I have thought Shekarau as a non-Hausa/Fulani. Interesting discovery!

dem_people:

By the way, never would I have thought Shekarau as a non-Hausa/Fulani. Interesting discovery!

It explains his tribal marks. I've never seen a Muslim Hausa with tribal marks before. The tribe he comes from in Borno is majority Christian, supposedly.

A woman from his tribe: https://www.msu.edu/user/johns632/HadizaRootsIntroNF.html

Folk tales from his tribe: https://www.msu.edu/user/hamza/BuraFolktales.htm

Appears that a lot of these Kano elites have had non-Hausa origin. Kwankwaso is somehow connected to Yoruba, one of these other governors Nupe. Abacha was Kanuri.

I guess the Hausa language + Islam as a religion is a pretty big unifying factor that wipes away previous tribal affiliation.

^

Yea

@Jamalah

What a beautiful nonsense that you have written there, concerned people in the banking industry were wary of what the Ibrus were doing, security reports got to Yar Adua about all the corruption that was going on, Yar Adua contacted Abdul Mutallab, asked for a fearless banker to take over at the CBN, Abdul Mutallab having worked with Lamido Sanusi recommended him to Yar adua who appointed Lamido.
I do not know where you got the rubbish you wrote above, do you have a problem with an "Aboki" doing well? Sanusi wrote on the Economy, Politics and Religion, upon all the articles by Soludo, how did he end his tenure at the CBN?

T'was Mukhtar who recommended Sanusi

Read around that time that Abdul Mutallab recommended him having worked with him in UBA or First Bank, will research further.

es,  Shekarau is a non Hausa Fulani. One very interesting thing which is always discussed in hush-hush tone here in Kano is the fact that his parents were Christians. What is not certain is whether they converted to Islam before their deaths or not. But shekarau's Islamic credentials are in no doubt. But you know in Kano its a very serious and shameful thing to even mention such. Pple that know his father very well know this. His father is Misheila Shekarau a former policeman.

The Babur or Bura tribe has a sizable xtian population so it is not a thing of surprise for his parents to turn out to be non Muslims. and in the north, its common for pple of minority tribes like the gwari, kare-kare and a host of others to adopt the religion of the majority (Islam) at times for economic advancement.

Many pple blame this fact on the lame duck administration of shekarau. he lacks the confidence to confront governance squarely and decisively for fear of the consequences of such radical approach which could include an all out challenge to his leadership. and there is none as damaging as digging into his lineage. That is why he has has to wear the toga of a fundamentalist Islamic crusader . But apart from that he is an affable, sophisticated person a little of which was shown during the last presidential debate.

One other salient fact is that of Adamu Chiroma. He is also from a  northern minority tribe.    And one would at times wonder whether his activities at the NPLF and virulent opposition to Goodluck Jonathan was just a manifestation of an inferiority complex and that is the only way to massage his ego as a 'northern leader' even though he comes from a very tiny inconsequential minority tribe from Yobe state. Because, while he was attacking Jonathan his wife was frolicking with jonathan, campaigning for him in here capacity as the leader of the Pdp women wing.

Same goes for Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Though I was very young then but I could still remember a documentary about him featured on CTV 67, the kano state television channel the crux of which was to prove to viewers that he originally 'originated 'from kano city. A lady was interviewed in the docu trying to convince us that he was indeed a son of the soil in an effort to garner the support of kano pple.  Incidentally Babangida elicits the highest level of suspicion up till tomorrow in most parts of the north. because pple still marvel that having risen to such  level of prominence in Nigeria, no one has ever come out to claim to be his close relative. neither a father brother uncle etc.

--Begin digression--
There was a post on NL a couple of years ago showing how the Northern elite is bonded by marriage. Even the few Southerners that have made it into those esoteric ranks seem to have married in or consolidated their places by marriage (the likes of MKO Abiola etc).
I guess the thinking is that blood doesn't betray blood. Turai was only acting to script with the gifts of her daughters to men in high places.

Someone please resurrect that thread.
--End digression--

@jamalah: Interesting. I'm a bit confused though. . . IBB is Gwari, right? The same ethnic group that were the indigenes of Abuja, yes? So who was claiming for him that he was from Kano? Like, how would that fly when it was very well known he is not Hausa?

You raise a good point. . . these guys who have questionable Northern credentials, it makes sense for them to be the most fanatical. The Sarakis are another good example. . . pure Ebga Yoruba folk claiming to be Fulani from Mali.

What do you know of Kwankwaso? Is he from some sort of Kwara or Kogi Yoruba heritage, or something? How did his family end up settling in Kano?

@hercules07

of all the 'security reports' comeing to Yaradua non alerted him about james ibori, one of the most corrupt individuals ever to come out of Nigeria. He was so influential that he even nominated some very key persons in the saintly Yaradua govt. in the banking industry nothing has changed and the banks will still be standing today even without Lamido's 'reforms'. whether he was recommended by mukhtar or mutallab it only stands to buttress my point. why recommend another kano man?

ekt_bear:

It explains his tribal marks. I've never seen a Muslim Hausa with tribal marks before. The tribe he comes from in Borno is majority Christian, supposedly.

A woman from his tribe: https://www.msu.edu/user/johns632/HadizaRootsIntroNF.html

Folk tales from his tribe: https://www.msu.edu/user/hamza/BuraFolktales.htm

Appears that a lot of these Kano elites have had non-Hausa origin. Kwankwaso is somehow connected to Yoruba, one of these other governors Nupe. Abacha was Kanuri.

I guess the Hausa language + Islam as a religion is a pretty big unifying factor that wipes away previous tribal affiliation.

I like to think I've seen northerners with tribal marks but to distinguish between Hausas and non-hausas is the difficult one cos they all dress and look alike in complexions and facial attributes. If really Kwankwaso is connected/related to Yoruba, how come he was able to rule a core northern state such as Kano? To what degree was this connection? On the second bolded, that means Hausa is a domineering ethnicity within northern 9ja.

jamalah:

es,  Shekarau is a non Hausa Fulani. One very interesting thing which is always discussed in hush-hush tone here in Kano is the fact that his parents were Christians. What is not certain is whether they converted to Islam before their deaths or not. But shekarau's Islamic credentials are in no doubt. But you know in Kano its a very serious and shameful thing to even mention such. Pple that know his father very well know this. His father is Misheila Shekarau a former policeman.
The Babur or Bura tribe has a sizable xtian population so it is not a thing of surprise for his parents to turn out to be non Muslims. and in the north, its common for pple of minority tribes like the gwari, kare-kare and a host of others to adopt the religion of the majority (Islam) at times for economic advancement.
Many pple blame this fact on the lame duck administration of shekarau. he lacks the confidence to confront governance squarely and decisively for fear of the consequences of such radical approach which could include an all out challenge to his leadership. and there is none as damaging as digging into his lineage. That is why he has has to wear the toga of a fundamentalist Islamic crusader . But apart from that he is an affable, sophisticated person a little of which was shown during the last presidential debate.
One other salient fact is that of Adamu Chiroma. He is also from a  northern minority tribe.    And one would at times wonder whether his activities at the NPLF and virulent opposition to Goodluck Jonathan was just a manifestation of an inferiority complex and that is the only way to massage his ego as a 'northern leader' even though he comes from a very tiny inconsequential minority tribe from Yobe state. Because, while he was attacking Jonathan his wife was frolicking with jonathan, campaigning for him in here capacity as the leader of the Pdp women wing.

Same goes for Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Though I was very young then but I could still remember a documentary about him featured on CTV 67, the kano state television channel the crux of which was to prove to viewers that he originally 'originated 'from kano city. A lady was interviewed in the docu trying to convince us that he was indeed a son of the soil in an effort to garner the support of kano pple.  Incidentally Babangida elicits the highest level of suspicion up till tomorrow in most parts of the north. because pple still marvel that having risen to such  level of prominence in Nigeria, no one has ever come out to claim to be his close relative. neither a father brother uncle etc.  

Guy, you make serious sense. Thanks for the insights. I'm still surprised at Shekarau's origins. I used to think that all those states up north, are mostly led by either Hausa, Fulani or Kanuri peeps.

I thought of Ciroma as hausa. Very interesting revelations. If this is so, please shed more light on the ethnicities of the following northern governors and statesmen.

1) Sule Lamido
2) Mohammed Goje.
3) Rilwanu Lukman.
4) Isa Yuguda
4) Modu Sheriff
5) Yakowa (Minority north?)
6) Shema
7) Usman Dakingari
8  Ibrahim Idris
9) Late Abubakar Rimi
10) Babangida Aliyu
11) Aliyu Doma
12) Aliyu Wamako
13) Mahmud Shinkafi
14) Ibrahim Geidam
15) Danbaba Suntai
16) Bala Muhammed
17) Maitama Sule
18  Aliyu Gusau
19) Sambo

kwankwaso is the son of the hakimi of madobi. there is no doubt about his claims. the rumour came about during the retaliatory killings of pple of yoruba descent in kano in the aftermath of the crisis in shagamu when the hausas of kano felt justified to kill every living yoruba person in kano. kwankwaso new the game very well that it was an attempt to destabilize obasanjos government and it could only start from kano. he gave a shoot at sight order and many rioters were killed by the police and the army. so it was the anger over this that made pple to mischievously claim that he was defending his yoruba folks. but his father is a well known traditonal ruler in madobi. he even walks with a slight limp. i know his father very well

^-- Hrm, I see.

Man, I know so little about Nigeria outside of my zone. I wish there were more northerners posting onine, especially in the cultural section of this site.

if you can kindly shed some insight into the background of these other folks that dem_people mentioned, it would be much appreciated.

@ekt_bear

Thanks for taking the words outta my mouth. I know little about the North.

@jamalah

Interesting post.

I remember the surprise of my family and friends when we heard that the new head of state after the 1985 was a Major General Ibrahim "Badamosi" Babangida. We actually thought he was a Yoruba man! You see Bademosi is Yoruba name.

i wont like to be dissecting too many scandals of my pple on the pages of nairaland.
sule lamido is a full blooded fulani man who still speaks the language fluently. contrast him with buhari who once went to a world fulani conference i think in senegal some few years back and had to make his address in english. he is a fulani man that has lost his heritage. but you will still be surprised that the fulani still retain their tribalistic ways that demean the hausa. several of my friends have told me that buhari's trust starts with you being a fulani man. for instance if you make a call to his home phone if you cant speak fulani you get a very rough reception. buba is a fulani name so his very close confidant engr buba galadima is also one.
sule lamidos vice is homosexuality. this is is a common knowledge in kano you can ask any body.
babangida aliyu is a nupe man. just look at his scary negroid features. almost like obasanjo.
maitama sule hold the traditional title of dan masanin kano.
very talkative man and there are many folklores about him. one was that he once went to visit babangida when he was a head of state. when he was leaving ibb ordered that he be taken home in a govt vehicle, a brand new peugeot. when they reached his residence in kano maitama sule collected the key of the car from the driver and told him to go back and tell ibb that he wanted the car. babangida laughed it off. his major vice was that he fathered a child with his daughter.
common knowledge in royal circles in kano .

@johnie
badamasi is not a yoruba name.
it is an arabic name al-badamasi
yorubas i think corrupted it to badamosi or gbadamosi
some even anglicise it to badmus

@ Jamalah

Interesting. By the way, its a free world. You're not dissecting the scandals of your people on nairaland. If I don't know about them today, will do so tomorrow somewhere else. We're all nigerians aren't we? Try and complete the list for us. I'm Igbo and can tell u the things you wanna know (If I know them) about our govs and statesmen. Its no big deal afterall, these people are our so called leaders whether they're from the East, West, North, South or middle belt.

I've heard about the Buhari incident and also the babangida-sule car incident. . . Interesting though. But to think he fathered a child by his daug, so nightmarish thought. Evil.

dem_people:

@ekt_bear

Thanks for taking the words outta my mouth. I know little about the North.

ekt_bear:

^-- Hrm, I see.

Man, I know so little about Nigeria outside of my zone. I wish there were more northerners posting onine, especially in the cultural section of this site.

if you can kindly shed some insight into the background of these other folks that dem_people mentioned, it would be much appreciated.

there are alot of minority groups in the north, during Usman dan folio regime, must of this groups were already muslims for example kanuri and other thus it was easy for this groups to be absorbed by Usman.

must people can not identify a kanuri from an hausa or hausa from fulani or even igala or even dankarika

the fulani man us usually tall but kanuris are usually taller than fualnis

also hausa and kanuris are black in dark skin

for example some kanuri people have tribal marks, this is to identify your family

@op

u know northern nigeria use arstocritic family to rule, just like is done in other arab countries

most of this families are usman dan folio blood running in them. some people were even saying the shehu of borno had usman blood in him, don't really know how true that is.

can u shed more light on that

@Alj Uche

Can u list the ethnicities of those guys I listed, if u know them? I wanna know the microscopic ethnic make-up of the political north from such info.

Its not true that my friend Shehu has such blood. He told me he's a descendant of Idris Alooma.

@jamalah

I also agree with you that the current political landscape with high level of corruption in Nigeria has now made it easy for any "opportunist" proclaiming himself an anti-corruption crusader to easily become a hero.

Ribadu and Akunyili easily come to mind.

It was the same "passion" that Ribadu used to convince us that he was fighting corrupt officials that he attacked Buhari and Shekarau at the NN24 debate. This and other Recent events have now shown him to be a brash, exuberant individual only riding on the people's weariness of the corruption in the land.

The Anambra Central Senatorial seat debacle has also shown that it is the same passion that Akunyili regaled us with her war on drug counterfeiters and the rebranding project that she has tried to convince us of her saintly part in the fiasco. Imagine her saying that neither her, her party, or the governor of her state cannot afford N10m. She event to the extent of saying that the governor lives in his mother's house and so cannot build a house for an electoral officer.

All these makes me wonder how we could have believed most of those things she said when she was at NAFDAC and the info ministry!

jamalah:

i wont like to be dissecting too many scandals of my pple on the pages of nairaland.
sule lamido is a full blooded fulani man who still speaks the language fluently. contrast him with buhari who once went to a world fulani conference i think in senegal some few years back and had to make his address in english. he is a fulani man that has lost his heritage. but you will still be surprised that the fulani still retain their tribalistic ways that demean the hausa. several of my friends have told me that buhari's trust starts with you being a fulani man. for instance if you make a call to his home phone if you cant speak fulani you get a very rough reception. buba is a fulani name so his very close confidant engr buba galadima is also one.

But fulani elites are the ruling class in NW,

infact that is why it is now call hausa/fulani instead of hausa or fulani

most northerners have fulani blood in them but they do not know, maybe i am half fulani myself

lol @ scary negroid features. Nupes are purely African stock though, not Afro-Asiatic like Fulani or some Hausa. So it makes sense that they would look different.

There is some ethnic group in Northern Nigeria that is the cousin of Yoruba. Here is the quote from History of the Yorubas:

The Yorubas are said to have sprung from Lamurudu one of the kings of Mecca whose offspring were : — Oduduwa, the ancestor of the Yorubas, the Kings of Gogobiri and of the Kukawa, two tribes in the Hausa country. It is worthy of remark that these two nations, notwithstanding the lapse of time since their separation and in spite of the distance from each other of their respective localities, still have the same distinctive tribal marks on their faces, and Yoruba travellers are free amongst them and vice versa each recognising each other as of one blood.

I've never been able to figure out who exactly these groups (Gogobiri and Kukawa) are, what they are called today.


@jamalah: You should definitely talk more about your people. You guys know far more about us than we know about you. It is in our mutual interest to understand each other better.

Alj Uche:

most of this families are usman dan folio blood running in them. some people were even saying the shehu of borno had usman blood in him, don't really know how true that is.

can u shed more light on that

Shehu probably is not a Dan Fodio relative unless he is descended from a Dan Fodio daughter, right? Kanuri Empire never fell to Fulani rule, and thus should have a separate lineage.

I think most of these Emirs in the North are Dan Fodio descendants. Or descendants of his allies.

ekt_bear:

S[b]hehu probably is not a Dan Fodio relative unless he is descended from a Dan Fodio daughter, right? Kanuri Empire never fell to Fulani rule, and thus should have a separate lineage.[/b]

I think most of these Emirs in the North are Dan Fodio descendants. Or descendants of his allies.

yeah i know, but most of this people in the ruling class claim fulani 1 way or the other now

i mean if u go to the bank to see the CEO and ask 100 people about his linage, 1 of them would say he has fulani blood somewhere don't know why and don't really care

^-- Hehe

That is one thing that has always made me look down on Hausa and Northerners a bit. Their worship of Fulani is a bit disgusting

I cannot imagine setting up another ethnicity above mine. Even Jews I wouldn't, let alone Fulani.

Hausa worship not only Fulani, but also Arab too. Never been a fan of that type of stuff

It was Mutallab that recommended sanusi to Yar'adua. I dont know of the kano theory.

And so why're people so ready to claim fulani ancestry eventhough it quite might be false. Is there something about the fulani that makes them seem aristocratic to other northerners? Is it due to their conquests of the 18th and 19th centuries. Maybe it has something to do with the caliphate.

Alj Uche, u should be proud of your kanuri blood and never try to say u have fulani blood even as a joke. If u know much about Idris Alooma's conquests and successes as a king then u should be proud. I know significant info of medieval northern nigeria, with the existence of the Kanem-Bornu empire and the Mali empire stretching all the way to present day Kano in the 14th century and upwards.

dem_people:

And so why're people so ready to claim fulani ancestry eventhough it quite might be false. Is there something about the fulani that makes them seem aristocratic to other northerners? Is it due to their conquests of the 18th and 19th centuries. Maybe it has something to do with the caliphate.

Alj Uche, u should be proud of your kanuri blood and never try to say u have fulani blood even as a joke. If u know much about Idris Alooma's conquests and successes as a king then u should be proud. I know significant info of medieval northern nigeria, with the existence of the Kanem-Bornu empire and the Mali empire stretching all the way to present day Kano in the 14th century and upwards.

thanks bro