I was Bayero’s favourite son, says Atiku

Tributes continued to flow for the emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who died early Friday morning.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said his relationship with Bayero was “of a father and his favourite son spanning over three decades”.

President Goodluck Jonathan described Bayero as “one of the most respected traditional rulers in the country during his long and very successful reign”.

The emir died at the age of 83. “He died early this morning but I cannot confirm officially because the palace has its own traditions and procedures,” a senior government official told TheCable earlier before the official confirmation.

Initial reports indicated that he died from heart attack. Bayero, who ascended the throne in 1963, was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in Nigeria.

He was on the throne for 50 years.

In recent years, there had been at least three attempts on his life by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, although only one was reported in the media.

After one of the attacks, he had to be flown to London for treatment. It is believed that he never fully recovered from the attack as he came back on a wheelchair.

Two of his sons were injured and his driver and bodyguard were killed in the failed assassination attempt.

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His early Islamic education was in Kano, where he also attended Kano Middle School.

In 1947, he finished from the School of Arabic Studies and then joined the Bank of British West Africa as a clerk. He left two years later to join the Kano Native Authority.

In 1952, he went to Zaria Clerical College, after which he contested and won a seat to the northern regional house of assembly.

Bayero, who was fluent in French, Arabic, English and Hausa, was head of Kano police from 1957 to 1962 after which he was posted to Senegal as Nigeria’s ambassador.

In October 1963, following the death of the emir Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa, Bayero was installed the 13th Fulani emir of Kano, shortly after his 33rd birthday.

He was the 56th ruler of the Kano kingdom. His father, Abdullahi Bayero, was also emir for 27 years.