Muhammadu Sanusi I

Muhammadu Sanusi I
Emir of Kano
ReignDecember 1953 – April 1963
PredecessorAbdullahi Bayero
AbdicatedMuhammad Inuwa
Chiroma of Kano
In office
1926 – 23 December 1953
MonarchAbdullahi Bayero
Preceded byAbdullahi Bayero
Succeeded byAminu Sanusi
Born1900
Kano
Died1991(1991-00-00) (aged 90–91)
Wudil, Kano State
Burial
Nassarawa Palace, Kano State, Nigeria
IssueAdo Sanusi
DynastyDabo (House of Bayero)
FatherAbdullahi Bayero
ReligionIslam

Alhaji Sir Muhammadu Sanusi I KBE (pronunciation) was the Acting Governor of Northern Nigeria (1957) and Emir of Kano from 1954 to 1963. He was the eldest son of Emir Abdullahi Bayero. He was a powerful Emir that had substantial influence in the colonial Northern Nigeria. He hosted a grand durbar festival for Elizabeth II when she visited Kano in 1956. The power tussle between him and his distant cousin Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto and accusations of financial malfeasance led to his abdication, and subsequent self-exile in Azare 1963.[1] His grandson, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria reigned as Emir of Kano from 2014 to 2020, was dethroned by the state government in 2020 then reinstated on 24th May 2024 by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.[2] Sanusi belonged to the reformed Tijaniyya order of Ibrahim Niass.[3]

  1. ^ Muffet, D.J.M (1975). "Legitimacy and Deference in a Tradition Oriented Society: Observations Arising from an Examination of Some Aspects of a Case Study Associated with the Abdication of the Emir of Kano in 1963". African Studies Review. 18 (2 yrs) (Volume 18 ed.): 101–115. doi:10.2307/523454. JSTOR 523454. S2CID 144004248. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  2. ^ Press, Fellow (2020-03-09). "BREAKING: Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi dethroned". Fellow Press. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  3. ^ Paden 1973, p. 112.