The Nigerian Emir with Love across Faith.

He is His Royal Highness,  Sanusi Muhammed Lamido Sanusi 11, the Emir of Kano. He is a fascinating man of leverage in tabling the place of balanced upbringing.  History will register him as a promise to the growth of understanding;  he came fashioned to prove the message,  `train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”[Prov. 22:6]. This is the fascinating key to his acceptance as a Muslim leader who sees faith as a placement of individual choice as against its enforcement as a tag of decree or collective descent of force and violence.

Emir Sanusi was born on July 31, 1961 to Muhammad Aminu Sanusi and Saudatu Anduwa Hussain, Sanusi as he was fondly called, came from a  royal background with aristocratic appendages of class, spiritual and temporal accomplishments, with many in the line serving as imams and Islamic judges. His father, Aminu, walked through the ladder of core public service in Nigeria and played initiating role in building the Nigerian intelligence service and was appointed to many diplomatic positions, including Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, Nigerian Ambassador to Belgium and Ambassador to the People Republic of China. Sanusi’s father was exposed to various international cultures that rolled in him the conviction that education is the corner stone of social justice and its acceptance. Young Sanusi was sent to a Catholic Church primary school, St Anne’s Primary School, Kakuri, Kaduna in Kaduna, ran by Our Lady of the Apostles[OLA] Congregation Sisters based in Cork, Ireland at the age of eight[8]. The Congregation also founded the Queen of Apostles College- now Queen Amina College- and St Gerard’s hospital among others all in Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria. This training shaped his adventure in life.

HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi 11 is the Emir of Kano; he was first appointed the 14th Fulani Emir of Kano on 8 June, 2014. He was dethroned on  9 March 2020 following intricacies associated with traditional leadership and what could be termed political incidentals. He was reinstated as the 16^th Emir of Kano on 23^rd May, 2024. In his splendid and magnificent outing, he is known by the religious title of  Khalifa Sanusi 11, and stands as the spiritual leader of  the Tijanniyah Sufi Order in Nigeria. This is the Muslim leader with the touch of humanity.

With the Emir of Kano, love across faith takes peace along to regulate the sphere of social justice and are likened to the impression that sets understanding as an appropriate goodness. This is contrary to what we see today in some cases where religion is mortgaged in the hearts of people to stand as opium of thought; it is also an igniter of feelings and reactions that could present dangerous calculations in decision-taking and its aftermath. But one’s religious belief and attendant faith are only the plumb of desire awaiting God’s acceptance. This must be the tool of assessment in presenting and defending God.

Teachers and builders of moral upbringing are in   positions to direct understanding and misunderstanding about faith. This is the center of the twist we experience in many situations of religious uprisings; they are usually built around the pressure of misconceptions and misdirection.

Religious radicalism and extremism come with immersion of education in hate and injection of insidious control of the mind and thought. The teachings of the Catholic Church prescribe that you love what is right before God and man; there is no condemnation of faith.

The Emir of Kano in a meeting with members of the congregation and others.

The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Muhammad Sanusi 11 visited Our Lady of Apostles Sisters in Cork, Ireland recently to pay his respect to his late primary school teacher at St. Anne’s Primary School, kakuri, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria; he was there for his primary school education up until 1971 when he graduated. The Emir stated, “I have been planning to visit their Ardfoyle convent in Cork, since late 2021, when my headmistress Sr. Katherine Devane, passed away at the ripe age of 95. I just needed to go and pay my respects to this wonderful woman who made such a profound impact on my life, to thank the OLA sisters and the SMA fathers and the Catholic Church for the education I received.” Going further he said, “There was no attempt to convert Muslim pupils to Christianity.  In fact our matrons made sure we prayed, and during Ramadan food was prepared at the right time for Muslims. ( of course we all said the Hail Marys and Our Fathers during assembly but not because we were required to!).”

The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi 11 at the grave side of late Sr. Katherine to pay his respect.

The words of the Emir of Kano resonate along the lines of commitment to love and abundance in peace; and in projecting the confidence of a true believer in harmony of knowledge he said, “now why is all this important? Sr. Katherine was a Catholic sister who showed so much love to a Muslim boy.  She showed me the kind of care and concern I would expect from a mother. I learnt from an early age that there are wonderful people in every religion.  After Sr. Katherine no one could ever tell me all Christians were bad people and only Muslims were good.  No one could teach me hatred or enmity for someone simply because they were of a different faith, or stop me from loving those who love me and being kind to those who are kind to me simply because they are not Muslims…….As I learnt more about my religion and more of the Qur’an I saw that the Qur’an teaches us to be kind and good and caring and  just to all those non-Muslims who did not fight us for our faith or persecute us Q60:8-9 for instance).”   

Photos in this story credited to : A Promise Fulfilled: Emir Sanusi of Nigeria visits Adfoyle

by Michelle Robertson – OLA Communications Officer | May 16, 2024 |