Six months after he was deposed and banished from his domain, the former Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi 11 this Sunday jetted out of Lagos to Kaduna to begin an elaborate visit to some cities in the northern part of Nigeria.

Sanusi who was accompanied by his wives and aides arrived Kaduna City at about 12.00 noon  to a tumultuous welcome by residents who besieged the highway leading to the Kaduna State Government House called Sir Kashim Ibrahim House.

Sanusi decked in the royal attire of a first rate emir rode in a cream-coloured Rolls Royce guarded by armed policemen and other security details. He complemented his dress with his trademark long staff although it was not the colourful official staff of the Emir of Kano.

At the Government House, the deposed emir was received by the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai who said he felt highly honoured that Kaduna was the first state in the northern part of Nigeria the former Sarkin Kano was visiting after he was removed from office.

The governor disclosed that Sanusi was visiting the state not just to see him but also in his capacity as Vice Chairman of the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency which has the Deputy Governor of the state as Chairman.

Sanusi is known to be a very close associate of El-Rufai. The Kaduna State governor openly expressed solidarity with him in his worst moment of travail including visiting him in the remote town of Awe in Nasarawa State where the deposed monarch briefly served his banishment. It was after Sanusi was deposed that El-Rufai made him Vice Chairman of the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency. It was at this time also that the Governor made him the Chancellor of the Kaduna State University. So, observers are largely agreed that Sanusi’s visit is essentially intended as a way of expressing gratitude to a friend who was there for him when it mattered most.

An aide of the deposed Emir of Kano. Dr Suleiman Shinkafi has disclosed to the media that Sanusi will be in Kaduna for a week to receive visitors who had been hungry to see him. The visitors, according to Shinkafi, had wanted to go all the way to Lagos to see him but Sanusi thought it would be too stressful for them. He decided to meet them in Kaduna instead.

From Kaduna, Shinkafi further disclosed, the former Emir will be in Sokoto to greet the Sultan, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar. From Sokoto, he will travel to Azare in Bauchi State which was where  his grandfather, Muhammad Sanusi 1 served his banishment after he was deposed as Emir of Kano by the then Northern Regional Government.