Frameworks For Combating Corruption: Developing A Sustainable And Institutional Mode A Contribution Presented By Prof.

Abiodun Amuda-Kannike, San, Fcarb, Fce, Provost, Kwara State University, Malete At The Nigerian Bar Association, Section On Public Interest And Development Law, (Spidel) 2019 Public Interest Annual Conference Which Was Held At Addex Hotel, Aba, In Abia State Of Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

The town called “Ilorin” is presently the headquarters or state capital of Kwara State of Nigeria[1]. It has been further described as a traditional emirate and has a mixture of so many groups of tribes in Nigeria, making up the indigenes of the town as “the melting point” of the Nation of Nigeria.[2]

The focus of the presentation is to look at the legality of the traditional title or royal legality of Ilorin as there has been various controversies as to “why the royal title has to be referred to as “Emirate” and why the traditional ruler should wear “turban” instead of “the crown” and whether any other person can rule the town other than those who are of “Sheikh Alimi” descendants”. The scope of this study therefore would be restricted to the legality or otherwise of the royal institution in “Ilorin” in order to put to rest the unnecessary controversy/argument through the position of law.

It is equally important to look at the following terms in order to appreciate this work;

  1. Legality
  2. Royal Title

Legality:

Legality is defined as the quality or state of being in accordance with the law. It could also be defined as obligations imposed by law[3]. Legality can further be described as an act, agreement, or contract that is consistent with the law or state of being lawful or unlawful in a given jurisdiction.[4]

Royal Title:

Royal title can be defined in this context to mean the name given to the title held by a traditional ruler, and the authority of the traditional ruler of Ilorin.[5]

The political structure of the Islamic Emirates which emanated from Sokoto caliphate cannot be dissected from the relationship between religious scholars and most emirs belong to families of Islamic scholars and preachers especially during the jihad of the Uthman Dan Fodio.

THE LEGALITY OF THE ROYAL TITLE OF ILORIN

Legally speaking, the royal title of Ilorin is “Emir” and not Oba. This can be traced to the recognition given to the title for a long time now and before the advent the jihad, no ruler or traditional ruler of Ilorin exist with title such as “Oba of Ilorin”, or “Oni Lorin of Ilorin” or King of Ilorin. The traditional ruler started enjoying recognition as far as Ilorin is concerned after Fulani Jihad when the first Emir emerged and it has continued along that line till date. It is necessary however, to look at the legality of the ruler ship and what has made it to remain so, for all this years.[6]

THE NATIVE LAW AND CUSTOM

Native Law and Custom of the people of Ilorin is the adoption of the Islamic/Arabic Culture which is the unifying factor of the people of Ilorin and part of their native law and custom is to see the Emir as the leader of the Muslim Ummah/Community. The Emir doubled as the leader of the community as well as the religious leader and his authority and personality are always held in high esteem. Anyone who claims to be a citizen of Ilorin must first of all be a Muslim and religious and if he is not a Muslim nor religious, then he;

  1. must have been rejected as a member of his family.
  2. must have or resigned as a member if his family.

iii.    must not have been comfortable referring to himself as a native of Ilorin.

The definition of native law and customs[7] means an established pattern of behavior of the people. It has been said that native law and customs includes Islamic Law.

Furthermore, J.N. Egwummuo[8] stated that native law and custom is the social habits and patterns of behavior which sometimes tend to evolve without express formulation or consciousness but which in the course of time, ripen into rules which is binding.

Also in the case of OWONIYI VS OMOTOSHO[9] the Supreme Court of Nigeria described customary law as a mirror of accepted usage and because native laws evolved with time, its rules and regulations vary from time to time so as to conform to the reality of the moment which makes it to be flexible. In LEWIS VS BANKOLE[10] the court per Lord Osborne stated;

“is its flexibility, it appears to have always been subject to motives of expediency and it shows unquestionable adaptability to altered circumstances without entirely losing its character”  

What this has shown is that once the native law and custom is not repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience, the native law and customs becomes relevant. The traditional native law and customs of Ilorin community recognizing the stool of our monarch remain relevant and shall continue to remain relevant.

CHIEFTAINCY LAW

The chieftaincy law of Kwara State recognized only one head of traditional royal stool for Ilorin which is the Emir of Ilorin and not Oba of Ilorin. Though in Yoruba Language, the words are used inter-changeably, but in law mentioned above, the title recognized[11] is the Emir of Ilorin.

Furthermore, it should be understood that no one who is not from the royal house of Ilorin can emerge as the Emir of Ilorin and such person must be related by blood to Sheik Alimi from where the stool came from and has been so recognized today. This is because; the law itself recognized native law and customs of the people in considering who and which royal family should produce the Emir of Ilorin[12].

Therefore, it is not difficult to say that as a result of the custom of the people of Ilorin, there is already a guideline under the native law and custom as to the fact that no one outside the royal house/houses can emerge as the Emir and cases filed against successive Emirs have always failed.

PRECEDENT

There is no doubt that apart from the issue of native law and custom we have discussed, a close link to the issue of native law and custom is the issue of precedent[13].

The word precedent is said to be an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstance[14].

In common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a legal case that establishes a principle or rule. This principle or rule is then used by the court or other judicial bodies when deciding later cases with similar issues or facts. The Latin word is “stare decisis” which is called Legal precedent.

The precedent is in favour of the throne of Sheikh Alimi Dynasty and no other ruler has ruled other than the family of Sheikh Alimi. The rulers of Ilorin so far are as follows[15];

Nos    Commencement   Ending            Names

  1. 1824    1842   Emir Abdulsalam Dan Salih Alimi
  2. 1842    1860   Emir Shittu Dan Salih
  3. 1860    1868    Emir Zubair Dan Abdulsalam
  4. 1868    1891    Emir Shita Aliyu Dan Shittu
  5. 1891    1896    Emir Oba Manma Dan Zubair
  6. 1896 14/1/1914      Emir Sulaiman Dan Aliyu
  7. 1915    Nov, 1919        Emir Shuaib Bawa Dan Zubair
  8. 17/21920 June, 1959      Emir Abdulkadir Dan Shuaib Bawa
  9. 30/6/1959 1992              Emir Zulkainani Gambari Dan Muhammadu Laofe Dan “Bawa “Aiyelabowo V”
  1. 1992   August 1995    Emir Aliyu Dan Abdulkadir “Baba Agba”
  1. 11/11/95 Till date           Our present Emir H.R.H Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari[16]

It is not in doubt that the present Emir’s mother, Hajia Nma who died on Monday the 4th of June, 2019 was not just a Princess of Ilorin but was a complete royalty. When the Emir went on pilgrimage with his mother, while others were carrying their baggage’s, the Emir was carrying those of his mother.

THE MAKING OF A TOWN

Most towns all over the World, gradually settled down with various groups of persons who moved from one place to the other and from one community to other. Ilorin community, is not an exception to development with heterogeneous tribes who eventually became a “united tribe of its own” and it is so unique in Nigeria, that no town can be like Ilorin again in the whole part of the entire nation called “Nigeria”.

Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, put it properly when he described Ilorin as the good example of United States of America, (USA) with almost every “race” in the whole world being citizens of the United States and everyone whose communities are just not like “Ilorin” would want to disunite the community.[17] He therefore advocated for the unity of Ilorin among its leaders and the indigenes.

A close look at the history of a lot of communities in Nigeria as we have said shows “arrival”, “departure”, “re-uniting” and re-alignment vis – a- vis resettling yet everyone is always talking about “Ilorin rulership”, or Ilorin.

The important points to be made here are as follows;

  1. when did the people of Ilorin complained to anyone that they are tired of their religion, “Islam”?
  2. when did the people of Ilorin collectively states that they want their traditional ruler to wear “crown” in Yoruba called “Ade” and the beads?

iii.    when did the people of Ilorin collectively states that they do not want their traditional ruler to be referred to as “Emir” again?

  1. when did the people of Ilorin collectively states that they are no longer “Ilorin indigenes” even when they have several ethnic and historical differences but have stayed together for years immemorial as united family/families?
  2. were other towns such as Ile-Ife, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Lagos (Eko), Bauchi, Just to mention a few not settled upon by people from other towns including the traditional rulers?
  3. If as it was being said and rightly so that the Fulani took over the reign of power in Ilorin, as there was no particular traditional ruler of Ilorin community, what is wrong with that legally?

vii.   Is conquest no longer part of the grounds legally recognized upon which a traditional ruler can emerge including the ownership of land?

viii.  Does the Oba of Benin and Oba of Ogba Land in Rivers State not traced their Ancestors to “Ile-Ife”?

  1. Did the Oba of Lagos not trace his Ancestors to “Benin”?
  2. Is “Oshodi” not a sojourner from Niger State (Tapa) and is “Oshodi Town and Epetedo” not under Oshodi descendants?

It is not in doubt that there are so many questions to be asked those who are always against Ilorin in terms of our traditional rulership. The truth about it is that we are comfortable with our unity and above all,

  1. Ilorin though speaks “Yoruba”, Fulani, “Hausa”, Nupe etc at times, it has its own unique Language which is “Ede Ilorin” (Ilorin Language).
  2. Ilorin is a tribe of its own among several tribes in Nigeria.

iii.    Ilorin covers about five (5) Local Government Areas of Kwara State in Nigeria of West Africa within the African Continent.

With five (5) Local Government Areas making up Ilorin community (Ilorin Emirate), and with the umbrella union properly registered with Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja, as (Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union, IEDPU), with the  Emir of Ilorin being a permanent chairman of the Kwara State traditional council, with the Emir being among the three (3) traditional rulers who are traditional heads of Kaduna and its metropolis, the Emir of Ilorin deserves to be referred to as “His Eminence” as no traditional ruler in Kwara State is ahead of him and you do not bear the same “title” with your father, when he is on the throne. The Kwara State House of Assembly does not need their Emir or the Ilorin indigenes, to complain before amending the Chieftaincy Law of Kwara State to reflect the rightful status of our traditional ruler.

SUMMARY

In this work, we limited our scope to the legality of the throne/Emirship title of Ilorin to justify its legality.

This work becomes necessary because of the attack on Ilorin through writings, social media and other presentations about the legality of Ilorin and its ruler.

The work discussed the issue of native law and customs, precedents, the Chieftaincy Law of Kwara State, the making of the community of Ilorin, showing it occupies five (5) Local Government Areas.

We eventually summaries the work, proffer recommendations, and concluded the work as expected. Bibliography was equally provided.

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is therefore recommended as follows in order to continue to legalize the Emirship title and the Sheikh Alimi dynasty;

  1. the Kwara State House of Assembly especially the members of the Kwara State House of Assembly representing Ilorin West, Ilorin South, Ilorin East, Asa and Moro respectively, to immediately initiate an amendment procedure with a view to amending the Chieftaincy Law of Kwara State with the title of our Emir to change from His Highness to His Eminence because the Emirship is a key unifying factor to the indigenes of Ilorin.
  2. the unity of our community/kingdom must never be compromised no matter the area of our disagreement because those communities who do not have our kind of Native Law and Customs, those who do not have united indigenes have been out and would be out to destroy ours and once they succeed, it is the Ilorin kingdom who will suffer more in terms of losses.

iii.    the Youth bodies of Ilorin especially the students should as a matter of necessity create a programme of event every year in the name of Nma the late Mother of the present Emir of Ilorin, about the date of her death in commemoration of her motherly role not only to the Emir but to the entire Ilorin because here was a woman born royally, in affluence and in position of authority royally till her death, she remained humble and respectful worthy of emulation, therefore, among such event to remember her good work is to organize events such as;

  1. national seminar on the legality of Ilorin as a town
  2. national seminar on legality of the Emirship/throne of Ilorin.

iii.    national seminar on the dignity and unity of Ilorin women.

  1. national seminar on peace and security of Ilorin as a town.
  2. national seminar on the development of Ilorin kingdom.
  3. there should be articles to be published in journals explaining the true position about Ilorin just like other towns/communities/ kingdoms in Nigeria in order to counter the negative stories and distortion of facts by detractors.
  4. there should be more law books to be written with the focus on the law relating to Ilorin and its people.
  5. there should be a way of legalizing our tribe which is Ilorin, therefore, as expected, where you fill in any form and there is “tribe” column, fill inside it “ILORIN” it is legal and Ilorin as a tribe has come to stay.

CONCLUSION

It is not in doubt that Ilorin Community/Kingdom is not just Ilorin township as its people are in the majority, in five (5) different local government areas of Kwara State and the main traditional ruler and headship are legally installed from time to time as Emir. The uniqueness of the native law and customs of Ilorin indigenes makes it unique as it is the blending of culture, tradition in such a way that non of such culture or tradition must portend idolatry character against Islam and Islamic tenents.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. BOOKS/JOURNALS/NEWSPAPER/PAPER PRESENTATIONS
  2. Prof. Ibrahim .A. Gambrari, C.F.R; The role of the Intelligential in the social economic development of the community; A paper presented at the Induction and Award Ceremony/Inaugural meeting of Ilorin Emirate Professors Association at African people’s Hall, Onikanga Road, G.R.A, Ilorin, Kwara State
  3. J.N Egwummuo; Dynamics in Nigeria Legal System (2003) Academic Publishing Company, Enugu Pg. 86.
  4. INTERNET MATERIALS
  5. Legality: see; https://dictionary.cambridge.org; Accessed through the internet on 9/10/2019 at 1am
  6. Legality: see; https://en.m.wikipedia.org; Accessed through the internet on 9/10/2019 at 2a.m
  7. Customary law; https://www.researchgate.net; Accessed through internet on 9/10/2019 at 3am.
  8. Precedent; see https://www.oxforddictionaries.com; Accessed through the internet on 10/10/2019 at 9p.m
  9. Traditional States of Nigeria; worldstatesmen.org; Accessed through the internet on 10/10/2019 at 11:20pm
  10. Editor (2019 – 06 – 2013); profile of the 11th Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, Royal News; Accessed on internet through https://en.m.wikipedia.org on 10/10/2019 at 6pm
  11. STATUTES
  12. Section 3 of the 1999 Constitution and first schedule (part 1) to section 3
  13. Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law of Kwara State Cap C9
  14. CASE LAWS
  15. OWONIYI VS OMOTOSHO (1961) 1 All NLR pg 304 at 309
  16. LEWIS VS BANKOLE (1908) 1 NLR pg. 81 at 100-101

[1] Section 3 of the 1999 Constitution and first schedule (part 1) to section 3

[2] The Local Government Council which forms part of Ilorin Kingdom are; Ilorin East, Ilorin South, Ilorin West, Asa and Moro respectively. These are five Local Government Areas out of the 16 Local Government Areas.

[3] Legality: see; https://dictionary.cambridge.org; Accessed through the internet on 9/10/2019 at 1am

[4] Legality: see; https://en.m.wikipedia.org; Accessed through the internet on 9/10/2019 at 2a.m

[5] This shows that every traditional ruler in Nigeria is clothed with a title which in most instances is called “Royal title”.

[6] Legally speaking there exist no royal house nor ruler of Ilorin as at this time.

[7] Customary law; https://www.researchgate.net; Accessed through internet on 9/10/2019 at 3am.

[8] J.N Egwummuo; Dynamics in Nigeria Legal System (2003) Academic Publishing Company, Enugu Pg. 86.

[9] (1961) 1 All NLR pg 304 at 309

[10] (1908) 1 NLR pg. 81 at 100-101

[11] Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law of Kwara State Cap C9

[12] Ibid

[13] Precedent; see https://www.oxforddictionaries.com; Accessed through the internet on 10/10/2019 at 9p.m

[14] Ibid

[15] Traditional States of Nigeria; worldstatesmen.org; Accessed through the internet on 10/10/2019 at 11:20pm

[16] Editor (2019 – 06 – 2013); profile of the 11th Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, Royal News; Accessed on internet through https://en.m.wikipedia.org on 10/10/2019 at 6pm

[17] Prof. Ibrahim .A. Gambrari, C.F.R; The role of the Intelligential in the social economic development of the community; A paper presented at the Induction and Award Ceremony/Inaugural meeting of Ilorin Emirate Professors Association at African people’s Hall, Onikanga Road, G.R.A, Ilorin, Kwara State. Nigeria on 10th August, 2019