The remains of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Abdullahi Bayero, who died in the early hours of yesterday, has been committed to the mother earth.
The late emir was buried at exactly 6:15 p.m. inside Gidan Nasarawa Grave Yard where four of his predecessors, namely, Sarki Abbas, Sarki Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero, Sir Muhammadu Sanusi and Sarki Muhammadu Inuwa were all interred.
Thousands of Kano residents trooped out to pay their last respects to the revered royal father who ruled Kano for about 51 years.
Vice President Namadi Sambo led the Federal Government delegation, which arrived Kano late in the morning to pay their last respects to the departed monarch.
Other dignitaries who stormed Kano for the emirโs burial included the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal; former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki; and the Inspector General of Police, MD Abubakar.
Also at the burial were Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State; Foreign Affairs Minister, Aminu Wali; former Governor of Kano State and Sardaunan Kano, Ibrahim Shekarau; Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali NaโAbba and other top government functionaries and traditional rulers.
Kano State Governor, Engr. Rabiโu Musa Kwankwaso, narrowly missed the burial as he arrived Kano about 30 minutes after.
The burial provided an opportunity for his friends and associates to pay glowing tributes to him.
His chief driver, Alhaji Wada Abdulhamidu, said the late emir was a peace-loving man.
He said: โI came across the late emir when I was 10 years old. I have been working for him for more than 60 years. Now I am 70 years old. I have been the one driving him around.
โI was with him until he breathed his last. I was just like a younger brother to him. He never discriminated. He was always calm and peaceful. He was slow to anger and accommodated every opinion. He never looked down on people. โYou would hardly see anything that perturbed the emir. Based on his teachings to us, we also exhibit friendliness and togetherness with the people around us. He was a father to all.
โThe Emir spent his last moments with members of his family, after which he left to sleep in his room but did not wake up the next morning. He died peacefully in his sleep.โ
Alhaji Ibrahim El-Yakubu, (82), who grew up with the emir, said he had lost a bosom friend.
He said: โHis loss is very very painful to me. He showed me compassion. He showed me care. He showed trust and he loved me just as I loved him. You are aware he just came back from a medical checkup and he was very okay. I was supposed to be with him on Saturday, but now I cannot. He is gone and I wait until the day my turn will come. I will meet with him over there. May God give us the grace to get a successor that will live by his legacies.โ
Paying tribute to the late emir, elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, said: โThe death of His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Abdullahi Bayero, is a great loss not only to his immediate family and the people of Kano, but to the entire Nigerian nation.
โBy his death, Nigeria has lost one of its leading figures. Alhaji Ado Bayero is one of the few Nigeriaโs traditional rulers who ascended the throne during the First Republic who were blessed with wisdom and rich experience.
โ He was a man of great charisma, diligence and personality. He enjoyed tremendous respect and admiration throughout his tenure as a First Class traditional ruler.โ
Prof. Dantati Abdulkadir, a former Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) said it would be difficult to get somebody like Emir Ado Bayero to occupy the throne.
He said: โI knew Emir Ado Bayero since I was in secondary school, right from when he was a chief police officer in the Kano Native Authority. Since that time, I was very close to him and I have been following him.
โHe was a man of integrity. He was a patient man, a just leader who regarded all citizens as his sons and daughters. He never discriminated.โ
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Umar Ghali NaโAbba, who spoke with our correspondent at the grave yard, described the late Emir Ado Bayero as a father.
โThe late emir, Alhaji Ado Bayero was not only my emir but a father to me. He was very close to my parents and I grew up knowing him and I really cherished him a lot.
โThe late emir had a very important sense of honour. He was a very purposeful character. One thing I cannot forget about him in hurry is his sense of time. He would always keep to time.
โHe was a leader who led by example. He was a very wise councillor that most of us political office holders got very wise counsel from.โ
