From the Sultan to Sadauki: What is the Sokoto State Government out for?

By ABDULLAHI ABUBAKAR LAMIDO

Nigerian Muslims and their leaders, political and religious, are taken aback by the unpopular actions of the current Sokoto Stage government against the Sultan, His Eminence Muhammad Saad Abubakar, CFR, mni. Muslim groups in different parts of the country, from the South, East and North have begun to come out and talk against the devilish move against the Sultan and the Sultanate, after thoroughly analyzing the move and its implications on the future of the Sultanate Council. Sokoto Caliphate, which the Sultanate and the Sultan represent, remains the center of Muslim unity, the seat of Islamic leadership and symbol of Islamic civilization not only in Nigeria but also in the entire sub-Saharan Africa.

It is clear now that the governor of Sokoto is out to offend not only the Sultan and the Sultanate. He, actually means something more. No doubt, he, consciously or otherwise, wants to humiliate the Sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate who is the leader of Nigerian Muslims, the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI). But to achieve that he wants to start by dismantling the Sultanate, reduce the Sultan’s power, relegate him to a mere powerless and irrelevant king before finally creating a scenario that will eventually lead to his dethronement. Any discerning Nigerian will not find this difficult to understand.

Many people forget that the Sultan is not the Sultan of Sokoto town or Sokoto State. He is, actually the Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate. He, even with the deliberate weakening and derogation of the Caliphate by imperialists and their boys, remains the leader of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria.

Muslims, represented by the leadership of their Islamic groups, therefore, will not accept any attempt to disregard that important position by a government that claims to be democratic. It is, therefore, important that the governor of Sokoto think twice about the consequences of his ill-advised political action which has the potential of causing him the wrath of the people. He, I believe, should not undermine that.

The government of Sokoto has come out challenging the statement of Vice President on the ongoing hullabaloo in the state. But could there be smoke without fire? Who will assume that the Vice President of Nigeria who was governor for eight years and now occupies a very distinguished position of the second most important citizen, could reduce to the position of publically talking on a sensitive matter of this kind merely based on rumors? After all, is it a lie that the government is pursuing the Sultan? Why would they reduce his powers in that way if they are in good terms with him? Is it a hidden fact that the government is trying to pursue the Sultan?

But more issues are coming out now. There are many more mistakes the Sokoto Government wants to commit that will offend the Nigerian Muslims. While leaders, including the Vice President are cautioning the Governor and urging him to refrain from that disruptive attempt, the governor is now bringing out new plans that portray him as actually being out to attack Islamic institutions and not only the personalities occupying them. In a very disturbing move, the government is sponsoring a bill, presented yesterday at the state house, which will certainly destroy the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Commission (SOZECOM), reducing it from the Commission that it is, to a mere agency under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, to be manned by an ordinary Secretary who is an ordinary Civil Servant.

With this, of course, the vibrant Executive Secretary of the Commission, Malam Lawal Maidoki, will have to leave the office. The Sadauki met the body as an inactive committee and was able to, with the backing of the then state governor and the Sultan, transform it to a globally recognized Commission. The Sadauki’s sin is nothing but his close association with the Sultan who appointed him as the first Sadauki of Sokoto.

Our concern is not about Malam Maidoki whom we know must one day leave the place. Our worry is about the Commission itself which has been helping thousands of the poor in the state as a largely independent body. Of course, through the leadership of the Sadauki, the whole world has come to know Sokoto State as the leader in terms of managing zakat and waqf in Nigeria and the entire West Africa. Sadauki was elected and recently reelected the Deputy Secretary (West Africa) of the World Zakat and Waqf Forum. With the support and guidance of the Sultan, he founded the Association of Zakat and Waqf Operators in Nigeria (AZAWON) as the umbrella body of the over 50 zakat and waqf organizations in Nigeria, serving as its chairman. With all this, he has situated SOZECOM as the leading player in managing Islamic philanthropy in Nigeria. Why, then, would the Sokoto government take an action that will undermine all these achievements and punish the Commission? Even if they want to punish Malam Maidoki for the perceived sin of the Sultan, why would they not leave this all-important Islamic institution alone. Anyone familiar with the Zakat and Waqf work knows very well that reducing the Commission to a mere agency under a ministry is tantamount to rendering it irrelevant and inefficient. And I am sure the tens of millions of Muslims across the globe who keenly follow the activities of the SOZECOM via the Sunna TV and other channels will not forgive the Sokoto government if it destroys this hard-built legacy that has continued to make Sokoto state a role model in helping the poor, assisting the needy and reviving the most important Islamic economic institutions of zakat and waqf.

We will pray fervently to seek for Allah’s intervention so that they do not succeed in the project of uselessing the Sultanate and the zakat and waqf work. May Allah guide the governor to understand the implications of this action, listen to the voice of the people.

Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido
Chairman, Zakat and Waqf Foundation, Gombe
lamidomabudi@gmail.com