by Imam Ghazali Umar
I hope the president will act timely to avoid political hullabaloo that may follow his turbaning as ‘Bayajidda’ by an emirate that appointed people like Saminu Turaki, Goodluck Jonathan and Ibrahim Shema in its traditional ruling system. We need a president not a Bayajidda!
Daura is undoubtedly the hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is a historical and ancient town in Katsina State. It has existed for more than a thousand years. An unconfirmed legend says that Daura kingdom ruled almost the entire Hausa land for a long time. The folklore showed that more than dozen of cities and states in today’s Nigeria derived their history there from.
It was said that one Abu Yazid came from Baghdad in Iraq.It is believed that the man came via Kanem-Bornu and Hadejia, and entered Daura town in the night. He was received by an old woman called Ayyana. In that night, the man asked the old woman to provide him with water. She told him that they suffered shortage of water due to the fact that there was a snake in the well, that used to stop people from getting the water.
The man went to the well, killed the snake and got the water. In the morning the ruler of the town, who happened to be a woman, asked for the killer of that legendary snake. Later, the old woman informed the queen about her guest who went to the well in the night. After sometime, it was confirmed that it was Abu Yazid that killed the snake. On confirming that, the queen married him and made him her vizier. That was Abu Yazid, who was nicknamed ‘Bayajidda’ ( a corruption of ‘Baya ji da’, meaning ‘he did not understand Hausa before’) because he couldn’t speak Hausa when he arrived the town. Daura has housed some prominent Nigerians, including the first citizen of our dear country Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
I heard and read from the news that the president was in Katsina recently and made his way to his hometown Daura where he had an Iftar (breaking of fast) there. During his visit to the town, it was said that he visited the emir of Daura Alhaji Umar Farouq. There is an informal news that goes round which says, President Muhammadu Buhari was offered the title of Bayajidda of Daura by the emir of Daura.
The offer and acceptance it was said, occurred during the visit.
I understand that the aforementioned title (if it is true that he was offered with same), to the president is just a quagmire. Rejecting the offer is better for him and the country for the following reasons.
One, the story of Bayajidda is believed to be a mere concoction and fiction. There was no any confirmed story of a person known as Bayajidda in history. Researchers confirmed that in the history of Baghdad, there was no any prince with that name in the kingdom. Talk less of having dispute with the family and his subsequent migration to Daura. His so called sword was examined by an American archeologist and found out that the sword is not as old as it is claimed to be.
The legend of Bayajidda is akin to that of ‘Gizo’, ‘Koki’, ‘Botorami’, ‘Ginginbodi’, and many more characters that were used in Hausa stories and folklores. Therefore, decorating a president like Muhammadu Buhari with that doubtful title, is demeaning.
Secondly, President Muhammadu Buhari enjoys a huge, momentous and epochal support from the masses because he is a populist, socialist and egalitarian. Accepting the title outs him out of the above class and subjects him to become a monarch. This will not augur well for his political career, considering his past record. Remember that he was the only person that held the apex office in the country, left the office and lived a simple life, without any traditional title. Without being appointed as director or chairman of any company. He was just Muhammadu Buhari, a former military Head of state, who lived a simple and decent life.
Thirdly, President Muhammadu Buhari was born and bred in Daura town. He is now 72 years old and served the nation in so many capacities within those years and no one attempted to honour him with any title. Why the appointment now? Is it not a way of penetrating the presidency by the Daura emirate? Was this emir not the one that honoured President Goodluck with a title during the presidential campaign? And his body language indicated that he (the emir of Daura) aligned himself with the latter and abandoned his own for some reasons known to him?
Fourthly, the president should know that many Nigerians are not happy (to some extent) with the way things are going on in slow motion. We are not saying the president should rush things, but Nigeria requires his concentration. It requires his attention, consultation and action. He is yet to appoint some key members of his government and instead of so doing, he just went to his town, wining and dining with aristocrats. He needs to be cautious about some of his decisions, utterances and actions.
Lastly, he should know that if he accepts that title, it might be the beginning of a flood of chieftaincy titles from hundreds of emirates and kingdoms. He may probably end up in royal palaces receiving titles and leaving the government as clueless as he inherited it.
In a nutshell, I vehemently object to that appointment by his emir. I am also sure that I speak the mind of millions of voiceless Nigerians. Mr president needs a second thought about that title, because he recently removed the title of ‘General’ from his name which the teaming populace accepted with joy and respect. I hope the president will act timely to avoid political hullabaloo that may follow his turbaning as ‘Bayajidda’ by an emirate that appointed people like Saminu Turaki, Goodluck Jonathan and Ibrahim Shema in its traditional ruling system. We need a president not a Bayajidda!
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
I like how this writer thinks. Nice piece