Muhammadu Sanusi I

Alhaji Sir Muhammadu Sanusi I KBE (pronunciation^ⓘ) was the Emir of Kano from 1954 to 1963, and Acting Governor of Northern Nigeria (1957). He was the eldest son of Emir Abdullahi Bayero. He was a powerful Emir that had substantial influence in the colonial Northern Nigeria. He hosted a grand durbar festival for Elizabeth II when she visited Kano in 1956. The power tussle between him and his distant cousin Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto and accusations of financial malfeasance led to his abdication, and subsequent self-exile in Azare 1963. He was afterwards returned to Wudil town of Kano State, where he spent the rest of his life. It was shortly after his abdication from Emirship that he was appointed as the Caliph of Tijaniyya Sufi Order in Nigeria. It is noteworthy that his grandson, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria reigned as Emir of Kano from 2014 to 2020, was also dethroned by the state government in 2020 then, unlike in his grandfather's case, reinstated as Emir on 24 May 2024 by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf. Sanusi belonged to the reformed Tijaniyya order of Ibrahim Niass.