The creation of four first class emirates out of the present Kano Emirate is a commendable act that must be appreciated by all.

I wholeheartedly support the establishment of the Bichi Emirate for several reasons, some of which I enumerate below.

Firstly, it is in accordance with a long held desire of the people. I can recall that in 1992 a report by the Kano state House of Assembly indicated that Bichi people overwhelmingly supported the creation of a first class emirate in the city.

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The House committee visited the palace of the Sarkin Garin Bichi on July 28, 1992 where they conducted a town hall meeting on the need to create new emirates.

Secondly, the two main purposes of the Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Jihad were to achieve Islamic reform and free the Fulani people from the oppression of Habe Emirs.

These motivated the Fulani scholars into waging a war against the Habe rulers and taking over their kingdom to achieve social development.

I believe that in this democratic age, there is no harm in creating new emirates without recourse to wielding swords in a battlefield.

Creating a first class emirate in Bichi will not harm our traditions but rather strengthen and promote them.

Social Development

In addition, as much as the creation of states and local governments cause social development by bringing the people closer to their rulers, so also the creation of new emirates spurs development.

For example, in less than three months since the creation of the Bichi Emirate, we have witnessed significant development in terms of culture, security, economy and physical developments.

Therefore we need to support this institution as a catalyst for development.

Thirdly, we must agree that times are changing. Executive, legislative, and judicial powers used to be vested in our traditional rulers.

But that is no longer so.

We now operate a totally different system where the emirs are subservient to our elected representatives.

Therefore, we should accept the actions of our own government in good faith.

Bichi – Cradle of Kano Emirate

Fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, all the four newly created emirates have historical reasons that validate their claims to first class emirate status.

In the case of Bichi, it was the home of the leader of the Fulani Jihadists, Malam Muhammadu Danzabuwa.

Malam Danzabuwa’s Danejawa clan played a significant role in the establishment of the Fulani emirate of Kano in 1807.

It is therefore pertinent to note that Bichi is the cradle of the present day Kano emirate.

In a presented in Kano in 2004, a historian, Ibrahim Alfa Adamu traced the contributions of Bichi people under Malam Danzabuwa in overthrowing Alwali, the last Habe emir.

Worthy of special mention is the battle of Rafin Bela in Bichi when Alwali attacked Malam Danzabuwa’s people due to the series of victories they have recorded against his forces.

Based on these submissions, I believe every sane person, who wants to witness the peaceful development of Kano state must surely realize that Bichi deserves to be a first class emirate.

Mahmoud Abdullahi Bichi writes from Bichi city, Kano.

Source: Kanofocus.com