A New Vista for Bichi Emirate

Jameelah Sanda writes that the enthronement of Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero as the Emir of Bichi Emirate will bring development to the town giving his outstanding achievements in business and personal life

For those who don’t know, Bichi Emirate is a Hausa traditional emirate in Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its palace is located in the town of Bichi, Bichi Local Government Area. The Bichi Emirate was established in 2019, when the Kano State Government created four emirates from the oldest kingdom of Kano. The Bichi emirate consists of 9 Local Government Areas of Kano State. These local governments are Bichi, Bagwai, Shanono, Tsanyawa, Kunchi, Makoda, Dambatta, Dawakin Tofa, and Tofa local governments. Old as the emirate is, not many Nigerians know much about it. However, the story has since changed following the appointment of Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero as the new emir of the emirate.

Nasiru was installed as the second Emir of Bichi on the 21stof August 2021, he also married his daughter, Zahra to Yusuf Buhari, son of President Muhammadu Buhari. The wedding fatiha attracted hundreds of personalities from across the country
Thousands of well-wishers trooped to the Bichi township stadium to witness the historic coronation ceremony of Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero as the second Emir of Bichi after his brother, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero served as the first Emir, following the creation of four additional emirates by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero is now the Emir of Kano, ascending the throne after the state government dethroned Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Bichi Local Government, which is about 30 kilometers from Kano city, houses business people, academics, technocrats and politicians. The town hosts the Federal College of Education (Technical) and is also the hometown of the Director General of the Directorate of Security Services (DSS), Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi.

Alhaji Nasiru Bayero, a first class Emir, was officially crowned last month after receiving the staff of office.

Nasiru Bayero, who was born on February 2, 1964, is the third son of the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Abdullahi Bayero and was the first child to be born at the official residence of Kano Emirate House, known as Gidan Dabo. He is a unifier of cultural and religious divides, as well as an accomplished entrepreneur.

The former Ciroman Kano’s appointment was based on section 1 subsection 13 of the Emirate Council Law 2019, which empowers the state governor to appoint new emirs in the state after the government created four additional first class emirates.

On appointment, Nasiru Bayero thanked the Almighty Allah and appreciated the good upbringing he got from his parents. He prayed to Allah to give him the strength to discharge their responsibilities conscientiously and with all commitment.

According to him, “Insha Allah, I will discharge this responsibility placed on our shoulders. All we need are your prayers and support. We are also assuring His Excellency of our good support and loyalty for the development of the state and the nation in general.”

Before his appointment as the second Emir of Bichi, his father, late Alhaji Ado Bayero had appointed him Tafidan Kano and District Head of Waje on May 6, 1994 and later transferred him to Nassarawa Local Government Area as District Head and then to Tarauni on the same status. He was promoted to Turakin Kano and Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar-Gida in 2000. He was also appointed Ciroman Kano by the former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II and transferred back to Nassarawa LGA as District Head.

He had his primary and secondary education in Kano from where he proceeded to the University of Maiduguri to study Mass Communication. He is also a graduate of the Executive Programme of the prestigious Harvard Business School in addition to having a certificate in German Language.

He has had extensive experience working with Continental Merchant Bank, Nigeria; Coastal Corporation (Oil and Gas) Houston, Texas and Hamlet Investment Inc. London, UK.
An accomplished entrepreneur and consummate Manager of people and businesses, he sits on the board of several successful businesses. Prominent among them are SEPLAT Petroleum (a Nigerian independent producer); Platform Petroleum Limited (Nigerian independent producer); and Intels (Oilfields) Services Nigeria Limited said to be the largest marine logistics company in Nigeria.

He was appointed chairman of 9Mobile following the exit of the CBN appointed board and the transfer of ownership of the firm to the new investors, Teleology Nigeria Limited. He is the Chairman of Enclo Limited, a Nigerian company providing currency operations support services to the Central Bank of Nigeria and other financial institutions, as well as security documents design and printing solutions. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Admiralty University of Nigeria, which was established under a Public-Private Partnership with Nigerian Navy Holding and Hellenic Education Nigeria.

Speaking to THISDAY during the event on his vision and the things he hopes to achieve as the Emir of Bichi, the eloquent Emir promised to change the fortunes of his people.

According to him, “Essentially to improve the lives of my people, to broaden their horizons, educate them, provide employment because economists will tell you that there is a difference between growth and development. If you build big buildings and there is no one to occupy them then there is no use building it in the first place. There are people with degrees all over but they have no jobs. You have a degree in mathematics and English, but with no skills. My vision is to use my contacts to bring about the improvement of lives of people to provide training, bring about change and how people look at education itself because what we have in vocational programmes is better than going to have a degree. After coming out with a degree you spend 10 years going about looking for jobs, so I want to improve on that. We want to create employment through investment in agriculture and like I said my perception about the grain market and if we improve it, we are sitting on a gold mine. It will improve the lives of my people, employ people and build factories that will help in changing the narratives, so that is my plan.

Speaking on how it feels to be an inlaw to President Muhammadu Buhari, he stated, “It is just a normal thing. I have to marry my daughter off anyway and of course the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari is a plus, he is very a fantastic man and marrying my daughter to his family is also very good.

He said his children had good moral upbringing and the education to excel in life and sustain the pedigree of his family.

“They are in the process. My first son has already graduated with a Masters and he is 24 and in the job market and my second daughter, I gave her away in marriage this year January actually or December last year. She has her degree last year and Zarah is in the next stage in her final year and there is another one after her, she is also in her final year. They are all in the university, most of the girls. I have more girls than boys. I have three boys and six girls, “he said.