Ado Bayero
Ado Bayero CFR, LLD, JP was the Emir of Kano from 1963 to 2014.
Early life
Lineage
Ado Bayero was born on 25 July 1930 into the royal family of the Fulani Sullubawa clan that has ruled over the Emirate of Kano since 1819. His father was Abdullahi Bayero and his mother was Hajiya Hasiya. He was the eleventh child of his father and the second of his mother. At the age of seven, he was sent to live with Maikano Zagi. His father reigned for 27 years. Muhammadu Sanusi I who was Ado Bayero's half brother ruled after their father from 1953 to 1963. Following his dethronement in 1963, Muhammadu Inuwa ascended the throne for three months.Early life and education
Bayero started his education in Kano studying Islam, after which he attended Kano Middle School. He spent around three years at the Kano School for Arabic Studies but did not complete the course. He then worked as a bank clerk for the Bank of British West Africa until 1949, when he joined the Kano Native Authority. He attended Zaria Clerical College in 1952.In 1956, he contested and won the regional election in Kano city as a member of the Northern People's Congress. However, he only spent about a year as a member of the Northern House of Assembly as he was pressured to resign his position, partly due to his 'modern views'.
Shortly after his resignation, he was appointed chief of the Kano Native Authority Police. During which he tried to minimize the practice of briefly detaining individuals and political opponents on the orders of powerful individuals in Kano. In late 1962, he was appointed Nigeria's Ambassador to Senegal, a position he held until his appointment as emir.
Reign
Accession
After the death of Emir Muhammadu Inuwa who ruled for only three months, Ado Bayero was crowned the Emir of Kano on October 22, 1963, becoming the 13th Fulani Emir of Kano and the 56th ruler of Kano.1960s
Bayero became emir during the first republic, at a time when Nigeria was going through rapid social and political changes and regional, sub-regional and ethnic discord was increasing. In his first few years, two pro-Kano political movements gained support among some Kano elites. The Kano People's Party emerged during the reign of Muhammadu Inuwa and supported the deposed Emir Sanusi, but it soon evaporated. The Kano State Movement emerged towards the end of 1965 and favored more economic autonomy for the province.The death in 1966 of many political agitators from northern Nigeria, and the subsequent establishment of a unitary state, consolidated a united front in the northern region but also resulted in a spate of violence there, including in Kano. Bayero's admirers credit him with bringing calm and stability during this and later crises in Kano.
1970s
The constitutional powers of the emir were whittled down by the military regimes between 1966 and 1979. The Native Authority Police and Prisons Department was abolished, the emir's judicial council was superseded by another body, and local government reforms in 1968, 1972, and 1976 reduced the powers of the emir.1980s
During the second republic, he witnessed hostilities from the People's Redemption Party led government of Abubakar Rimi. Bayero's Palace plays host to official visits by many government personnel and foreigners, but in 1981 Governor Abubakar Rimi restricted traditional homage paid by village heads to Ado Bayero and excised some domains from his emirate.In 1984, a travel ban was placed on the emir and his friend Okunade Sijuwade. Although the military regimes were then seen as relying on traditional rulers for support, many military regimes in the past reduced the powers of traditional rulers such as Bayero.