By Abubakar Imam
On Monday, November 11, 2024, His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman, Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR, will officially mark the 29th year of his official coronation.
So far, the reign of this outstanding Monarch has been peaceful. His emriship has been prosperous. It has been eventful. It has also been colourful. It has been quite well with him and his subjects.
With his almost three decades on the prestigious throne, Alhaji Sulu-Gambari has secured a spectacular place for himself in the annals of the Ilorin Emirate and Kwara State at large. He is the oldest man to sit on the throne, at least, in the last one century. He is also the first University graduate to sit on the respected throne.
Alhaji Sulu-Gambari is also the highest ranking public servant who mounted the stool, having served as Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary and subsequent retirement as a Presiding Judge of a Division of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.
With his 29 years in office, the Emir is about leveling the longevity of reigns of his maternal grandfather, Shaykh Abdulkadir Shuaib Dan Bawa; and his father, Shaykh Sulu Gambari, who reigned for 40 and 33 years, respectively.
He is also the longest serving Chairman of the Kwara State Council of Chiefs. Following the creation of Kwara State in 1967, his father chaired the Council for the next 25 years while his uncle, Shaykh Aliyu Babaagba Abdulkadir, held the position for three years.
To those who were around then, Saturday, November 11, 1995 was quite historic. It was a day that the city of Ilorin played host to a galaxy of dignitaries from all walks of life.
The then Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha, was represented by the late Lt. General Muhammadu Balarabe Haladu, the then Honourable Minister of Industries. He was accompanied by the then Minister of Works and Housing, late Major-General Abdulkareem Adisa. The political class was led to the ceremony by the second republic Senate Leader and late Waziri of Ilorin, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki. The top echelon of the military, which was in attendance, was hosted by the man who had the honour and privilege of presenting the staff of office to the distinguished Monarch, Group Captain Baba Adam Iyam. Group Captain Iyam was the then Military Administrator of Kwara State. The late Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, led foremost traditional rulers from all over the country to the solemn event. The judiciary also had a commanding presence. The then Chief Justice of Nigeria, the late Justice Muhammadu Bello, led other eminent members of the Emir’s professional constituency to the ceremony. Many other distinguished sons and daughters of Ilorin Emirate led by the former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, General Babatunde Idiagbon, who came in company of his alter-ego, former President Muhammadu Buhari, were also in attendance. The spiritual class was not left out with the magnificent presence of the founder of the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria, Shaykh Muhammad Kamaluddeen Al-Adabiyy and the Chief Imam of Ilorin, Shaykh Muhammad Bashir Saliu,OON, who led the opening prayers as well as the then Chief Imam and National Missioner of the Ansarudeen Society of Nigeria, Shaykh Ali Arazim Alaaya, who was the Guest Speaker. It was the late Prof.(then Dr) Shehu Ahmad Jimoh, who presented a moving speech on behalf of the Ilorin Emirate Community.
As an undergraduate then, yours sincerely also found my way into the main bowl of the Kwara State Stadium Complex where the event took place. It was a day that would remain spectacularly memorable.
The expectations of all and sundry from the person, personality and reign of the Emir, on account of his experience and exposure, was quite high. It was a great and memorable event as he was officially installed as the 11th Emir of Ilorin at the 11th hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of that historic year.
But as it is often said, “a lot of water has passed under the bridge” of the Ilorin Emirate under the watchful eyes of Alhaji Sulu-Gambari. So many things have since happened. Those occurrences will forever continue to mark out his reign as one of the most colourful in the annals of the southernmost Emirate
As rational beings, people see things from different perspectives. It is so because there are always two sides of a coin. Observers reserved the right to evaluate situations, tenures and personalities from different perspectives. There are those who would always see a cup of water half empty just as there are those who would see the same cup as half full. Perceptions always differentiate positivism from negativism. For me, I am seeing the reign from the side of a positivist in view of so many positive developments that have been recorded since His Royal Highness assumed the throne of his illustrious forebears.
Right from my childhood and till May,1999, the words on the lips of all politically-conscious people of the Ilorin Emirate was that “the real political leadership” of the State had needlessly eluded us for too long. It was composed in songs. Discussed at various “assemblies” across the Emirate. Some clerics repeatedly mentioned the issue in their “wasi”. I was even present at the opening ceremony of the then IDPU (now IEDPU) National Conference in 1995 where Alhaji Muri Adi, the Principal Partner of Muri Adi Associates, and the late Alhaji Muhammad Akanbi Yahaya, who, as at the time, was the Deputy General Manager (Northwestern Zone) of the defunct Savannah Bank, raised the issue possibly to provoke the response of the then political leader of the State, who was also present. As at that time, the participation of indigenes of Ilorin Emirate in the race of being elected as the “tenant of Government House, Ilorin”, was a mere dream. Efforts were made in 1979. They yielded nothing. The agitations were repeated in 1983. The result was zero. The struggles were also reenacted in 1991. We were again told by the outcomes of the processes that it was not yet time for an Ilorin indigene to govern the “State of Harmony”. No one from Ilorin Emirate was “found good enough” to be elected as the Executive Governor of the State despite the brilliance, integrity, experiences and qualifications of our senior compatriots who participated in those attempts and notwithstanding the overwhelming population of the southernmost Emirate compared with other segments of the State. But today the story has changed remarkably. Ilorin Emirate has produced three of the four Governors of the State elected between 1999 and 2023 through the late Admiral Muhammad Alabi Lawal, mni; Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON; and the incumbent, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON. The last two also served as Chairman of the influential Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
Although the people of Ilorin Emirate have played multi-dimensional and significant roles in the political evolution and development of Nigeria right from the pre-independence struggles, it was only during the reign of this foremost jurist as Emir that the community succeeded in producing its first National Secretary and later National Chairman of a major national political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (which was the then governing party) in Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, CON.
It is also noteworthy that the Emirate has witnessed tremendous physical transformations. Though many would say that the transformations are not great enough considering the resources and other opportunities that it has pleases Allah to avail us with, but I want to say that anyone who has not visited Ilorin in the last 25 years and decided to come now would find it difficult to identify many places he hitherto knew. The transformations might not be great enough but we have moved on so quite significantly from what Ilorin used to be.
The magnitude of prosperity many indigenes of Ilorin Emirate have been blessed with in the last twenty years has been marvelous, pleasant and assuring. The consistent prayers of the Emir for prosperity for his subjects appears to be yielding increasingly mouthwatering dividends. While many of our people are becoming extremely wealthy, quite a significant number of others are getting more comfortable, even at home.
The appointments of several sons and daughters of Ilorin Emirate into positions of authority, most especially at the national level, are also too significant to be glossed over. Since the Emir took over, Ilorin Emirate has produced no fewer than six Honourable Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a figure that doubles the three (3) produced between 1960 and 1995. Two of the five Chiefs of Staff to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are also from Ilorin Emirate, Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed, GCON, who served between 1999 and 2008 under His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR; and briefly under His Excellency, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR; and Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, CFR, who held the office during the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. This is in addition to the fact that, during the period under review, Ilorin Emirate also maintained headship of two courts of records at the federal level through Justice Mahmud Babatunde Belgore as the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria; and Justice Muhammad Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, CFR; as President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria. The reign of Alhaji Sulu-Gambari also witnessed the appointment of the Honourable Justice Saliu Modibbo Alfa Belgore,GCON; as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. A distinguished son in-law to the Ajikobi chieftaincy family of Ilorin was also the President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. It is important to add that the Emirate produced the first Muslim Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON, between 2015 and 2019. The emergence of the former Governor of Kwara State as the Senate President was a greater development compared with the position of Senate Leader held by his illustrious father during the second republic.
The impressive records of Ilorin Emirate in the military and paramilitary services are also marvelous. Prior to his accession, the Emirate could boast of only four indigenes who attained the rank of a two-star General in the Nigerian Army. None of them became a Service Chief. But as at today, one of the indigenes of Ilorin Emirate, Admiral Ola Saad Ibrahim, initially served as the Chief of Naval Staff and eventually retired gloriously as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was the first person of North Central origin that would the position. Indigenes of Ilorin who attained the rank of a two-star General across the military services are now more than twenty-five including Major-General Abdulwahab Ayo Garuba, who served as the General Officer Commanding 1st Division, Kaduna and Air Vice Marshall Lanre Ibrahim Oluwatoyin, the Chief of Defence Space Administration; and Air Vice Marshall Rasaq Olanrewaju, the Chief of Planning, Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, to mention a few. In addition to one of us who served as the National Security Adviser during the tenure of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, GCFR (b.1942) between 1998 and 1999, five indigenes of Ilorin Emirate had since served and retired as Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, two other retired as Deputy Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service. One also retired on the same rank from the Nigeria Customs Service while two did from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps while three others also retired as Assistant Comptrollers-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service. At present, the community boasts of a Commissioner of Police in-charge of the Eastern Port Command in Mr Jimoh Moshood; and two Assistant Comptroller Generals in the NSCDC,Mr Taiye Olowo and Mr Abdulkadir Alao Sulu.
The academic world also recorded a more visible and impactful presence of Ilorin Emirate-born intellectuals across all fields. Before his accession, we could count on our finger tips the number of indigenes who attained the pinnacle in the academic profession. Today, they are so many and varied that we now have an Ilorin Emirate Professors’ Association (IEPA). IEPA has close to two hundred active male and female members while many others are warming up to join the league of eggheads who had attained the pinnacle of their careers. The number of those who have earned doctorate degrees in various fields are not only in their hundreds but are also on the increase.
Years back, it was rare to find an institution of higher learning located in Ilorin that would be headed by an Ilorin indigene. I do not know of any except the Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, Ilorin, which was headed by the community’s first Professor of Islamic Studies, Prof. Musa Ali Ajetunmobi, between 1992 and 2000. Today, such an awkward instance of “Ilorin o lese” even on their own soil has been deposited in the morgue. The appointment and consequent phenomenal performance of the Talba of Ilorin, Prof. Shuaibu Oba AbdulRaheem, OFR, (b. 1947) as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin between 1997 and 2002, seems to have changed that perception and opened the floodgate of similar appointments. The community has since produced four other Vice Chancellors such as Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, OON; Prof. Muhammad Mustapha Akanbi, SAN, and Prof. Medinat Folorunso Salman. All other institutions of higher learning in Ilorin have enjoyed the leadership of one indigene of Ilorin Emirate or the other at one point or another in their histories.
Before the reign of Alhaji Sulu-Gambari commenced in 1995, Ilorin Women were hardly seen as a force to reckon with in any realm. They were often dismissed as nitwits, rumour peddlers, noisemakers and uneducated party goers, which they were not. Today, two of them have served as Honourable Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are Arc. Halima Tayo Alao, who served in three Ministries across the tenures of His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and His Excellency, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua; and Senator Rukayat Gbemisola Saraki, who served as the Honourable Minister of State in the Ministry of Transportation. Two also served as Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria namely; Hajiya Khairat AbdulRasaq-Gwadabe, who represented the Federal Capital Territory at the Senate between 1999 and 2003, and Hajiya Rukayat Gbemisola Saraki, who not only represented Kwara Central at the Upper Legislative House but also has the record of being the longest serving federal legislator from the North-Central Geopolitical Zone. The first and only female Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb, is also a proud daughter of Ilorin who served in the course of this glorious reign. One of “his daughters”, Hajiya Muinat Bola Sagaya, also became one of the nation’s most influential female entrepreneurs. Several distinguished daughters of Ilorin Emirate also attained the pinnacles of their careers at various times. No fewer than twenty of them are retired or serving as Permanent Secretaries of different ministries at the state level. One of them, Prof. Medinat Folorunso Salman, was recently appointed as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the Kwara State University of Education, Ilorin. Another frontline Ilorin lady, Mrs Khadijat Wuraola Garba, was also appointed as the pioneer Registrar of the Federal College of Education, Ilawe-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Interestingly, our women folk have founded an umbrella organisation that would be speaking for them. The body, which would soon be unveiled, is operating under the inspirational leadership of the pioneer Provost, College of Medicine, Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun, Osun State, Prof. Aishatu Ahmed Gobir; and Prof. Saudat Salah-Abdulbaqi, a proud daughter of the pioneer National Missioner of the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria and immediate past Imam Imale of Ilorin, Shaykh AbdulRahman Salahudeen Al-Adabiy.
One other area in which Ilorin Emirate has done very well under the watchful eyes of Emir Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari is in the realm of peace building and promotion. No serious or pernicious misunderstanding has occurred amongst the good people of Ilorin Emirate and between the indigenous people of the Emirate and others who lived amongst them. The Emir has succeeded greatly in promoting harmonious relationships which enhanced commercial progress of Ilorin Emirate and confirmed the appellation of the State as the “State of Harmony “, which is derived from the age long tranquility of Ilorin.
It is also on record that the Emir has introduced so many chieftaincy titles, which were hitherto unknown in the traditional political lexicons of Ilorin Emirate. These titles included Mufti, Talba, Zanna, Jarma, Wakili, Wambai, Marafa, Sardaurna, Sarauniya, Kuliya, Gaskiya, and, of course, Dan Amana, which was bagged by the amiable Executive Director, Finance, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Dr Abdulkadir Tunji Nagode, to mention a few. The significance of these titles should be seen in the appreciation of the contributions of distinguished Ilorin compatriots who were conferred with each of those titles. The conferment also served as a stimulant to other patriots to emulate the holders of such titles in order to deserve one in the nearest future.
Perhaps, the pivotal role the Emir played in the mobilisation of support for the poorest of the poor across the Emirate following the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago is a very significant mark of good leadership. That the Ilorin Emirate Palliative Fund, which successfully operated under the joint-chairmanship of the Danmasani of Ilorin, Engr. Suleiman Oba Yahaya, FNSE; and the former National President of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union, Alhaji Aliyu Otta Uthman, fsi, generated over N50,000,000:00 within a few weeks and distributed palliatives to over 15,000 beneficiaries was a worthy development. As if that was not enough, the Emir also committed over N6,000,000:00 of his personal resources to the purchase of 400 bundles of corrugated iron sheets, which were distributed to the victims of the devastating rainstorm disaster, which rocked the Emirate in September, 2020. I need not say that, that was the first time (in my lifetime) when an Emir would take up such a challenge faced by his subjects with such seriousness and commitment of personal wealth.
Before Alhaji Sulu-Gambari took over the leadership of the Emirate, the community was compartmentalised into only four Local Government Areas. Today, the number had been increased to five with the creation of Ilorin South Local Government Area with headquarters at Fufu, which came into being in 1998 under the Sole Administratorship of Arc. Halima Tayo Alao.
This respected Monarch also ascended the throne when just one University, the University of Ilorin, was the only ivory tower in town. The story is remarkably different today as we now have five other functional universities located within the Emirate. These institutions are Kwara State University, Malete; Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin; Ojaja University, Eyenkorin; Ilorin; Muhammad Kamalud-Deen University, Ilorin and the newly established Kwara State University of Education, Ilorin.
The number of indigenes and residents of Ilorin Emirate who are accomplished professionals in different fields of human endeavours has also skyrocketed. As at 1995, such individuals are far and few in-between. The magnitude and calibre of these professionals is now completely innumerable and wholesome. Take for example, the legal profession, the number of indigenes of Ilorin Emirate who were Senior Advocates of Nigeria as at 1995 was two (late Alhaji Abdulganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, OFR,.SAN (1927-2020) and Alhaji Aliyu Alarape Salman,SAN (1942-2024) while the totality of Ilorin based Senior Advocates of Nigeria was not more than five. Today, Ilorin Emirate has produced no fewer than 19 Senior Advocates of Nigeria while the city is now the base of more than twenty distinguished learned silks. One of the additions is the Ciroma of Ilorin, Prince Abubakar Sulu-Gambari, who was elevated in 2022 and Mr Yunus Abdulsalam, who emerged as the youngest silk appointed from the Ilorin Emirate in 2024.
In fact, during the period under review, the Ilorin bar produced two Presidents of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) while one of them also served as its Secretary-General. As it is among lawyers so it is in other modern professions with many accomplished medical doctors, seasoned Chartered Accountants , Chartered Engineers and veteran journalists and prolific broadcasters with several of them editing national dailies such as Dr Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, who served as the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); and Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who is the current Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), among several others.
In 1995, it is either you listen to Radio Kwara, Ilorin, or no other at all. That situation, no doubt, restricted information processing and sharing, despite being an essential ingredient of democracy and development. As at the last count, Ilorin Emirate and its environs now host more than 15 different radio stations, which afford listeners pluralistic sources and means of disseminating information. It is a pleasure that the current leader in the world of radio broadcasting within Kwara State, Sobi FM, is owned by a distinguished son of the soil, Mallam Lukman Olayiwola Mustapha.
Ilorin, prior to and since the establishment of the Emirate, was known, according to Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi, the author of “The Growth of Islam Among the Yorubas” as a spiritual lighthouse for generations of Muslims across the Yoruba-speakng part of Nigeria. This is not just because of the large presence of renowned and resourceful Muslim scholars but also due to the availability of attractive places of worship and institutions of learning. That history was about to be eroded until the comprehensive remodeling and reconstruction of the Ilorin Central Jumaat Mosque was shouldered under the auspices of the Custodian of the monument, His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin. The completion of the edifice’s remodeling, which marks it out among the best in contemporary Africa, restores that age-long reputation. This image is further boosted with the recent appointment of the Malami Ubandoma of Ilorin, Shaykh Dr Abdulkadir Jumuah Salman, as a member of the influential International Union of Muslim Scholars based in Doha, Qatar.
The Emir has also impacted significantly on the philosophy, essence and acceptability of the main sociocultural organisation of the people of the Emirate. Before his fatherly intervention, the body was known as the Ilorin Descendants Progressive Union. It was Alhaji Sulu-Gambari, who during the tenure of Alhaji Ahmad Hameed (d. 2009) as the National President, succeeded in influencing the change of its nomenclature to what it should be and it is; Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union(IEDPU).
Twenty-nine years ago, the number of Housing Estates in and around Ilorin were very few. It is significant to say that so many others have been built and are being operated by the government and individuals over the years, thereby confirming the growth and expansion of the Emirate as well as the increase in the population of the residents and people of the Ilorin Emirate. Many streets within the indigenous segments of Ilorin, which no one hitherto thought will be tarred are now asphalt laid for the benefit of the subjects of this distinguished jurist.
Alhaji Sulu-Gambari assumed office with the reduced magnitude of the presence of the federal government in Ilorin following the downgrading of the status of the Ilorin Airport and the relocation of the Niger River Basin Development Authority. The two agencies were subsequently brought back and their status restored in the course of his continuously golden reign in addition to a few other federal establishments such as the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Budo-Egba.
The introduction of the Ilorin Emirate Durbar festival in 2018 by the Emir is another important cultural revival, which is returning the city of Ilorin to its age-long reputation as a cultural hub. Until very recently, the people of Ilorin Emirate appeared to have neglected this age long cultural festival, which is now a veritable vehicle of bringing them together. The reintroduction of Durbar has, no doubt, been very significant in this direction .
Those who were familiar with the palace of the Emir of Ilorin and its vicinity during the reign of the previous Emirs would attest to the transformations they have witnessed in so many instances. Many modern buildings and the operational styles of the palace bureaucracy have been changed to meet contemporary tastes and dictates in a way that turned what the Emir inherited into antiquity.
In 1995, the number of indigenes of Ilorin Emirate working in the services of the Federal Government was disappointingly minimal. The reasons may be many and unrelated to the local situations but it is very clear that the number of senior officers of the federal government produced by Ilorin Emirate was insignificant compared with our population and qualifications . So bad, that for more than three decades, no indigene of Ilorin Emirate attained the rank of Permanent Secretary in the Federal civil service. Happily, the number of Ilorin people working as high ranking staff of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, though not yet adequate and commensurate, have been increased tremendously since 1995. It is a pleasure that prior to the eventual privatisation of the power sector, two of the PHCN succeeding companies had indigenes of Ilorin, namely Engr. Alapansanpa and Alhaji M. T. Balogun, as their Managing Directors/Chief Executive Officers. Apart from the Jarma of Ilorin, Alhaji Aliyu Kola Belgore, who served as the Managing Director of the rested Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) prior to the ascension of Alhaji Sulu-Gambari, Ilorin Emirate has produced Chief Executives of two frontline commercial banks. The first one is Dr Shehu Kuranga Muhammad, who served as Ag. Managing Director of the keystone Bank and the other is Mr Adam Nuru, son of the first West African Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Prof. Saka Nuru, who was the Managing Director of the First City Monument Bank. I am quite sure that the Emir is also proud of the emergence of Dr Shuaib Lamido Belgore as a Permanent Secretary. He attained the rank three decades after the retirement of Ambassador Abubakar Garba Gobir, the late father of the highly distinguished Wazir Kasar Hausa and Madawaki of Ilorin, Alhaji Yakubu Garba Gobir, from the same status in 1988. This development is in addition to Mallam Ahmed Bolaji Nagode and Prof. Abubakar Olarenwaju Sulaiman, who are Directors-General of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) and the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies, respectively, among other high-ranking technocrats across various MDAs produced by Ilorin Emirate since 1995.
The criticism that Ilorin Emirate is not a fertile land for industrial growth has been seriously dismantled in the course of the tenure of this outstanding jurist. The tremendous successes and increasing expansion of the Kam Holdings Limited, Dangote Flour, LUBCORN, Tuyil Pharmaceutical Industries and Shelter Setters Company, among others, is a testament to the fact that with the right leadership, Ilorin would continue to attract more investors and investments from indigenes and non indigenes.
I congratulate the Emir for leading the people of Ilorin Emirate through all the above and others that circumstances would not allow me to enumerate. Yes, the above are monumental but we are far from eldorado. We can and should do more under his leadership. Just as the enigmatic Alhaji Sulu Gambari often said that “Ilorin is very blessed in all resources; all we need is to be prayerful, united, peaceful and patient”, I enjoin the good people of Ilorin to join hands with this distinguished 11th Emir in praying and working for more development. May the rest of the reign of Maimartaba be longer, more peaceful and more prosperous.
Imam is National Secretary, Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union.
