Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has barred all traditional rulers in the state from conferring traditional titles without government clearance.
The directive was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by Malam Zailani Bappa, the governor’s Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications.
“All Emirs, Senior District Heads and District Heads in the state are hereby directed to officially seek permission from the State Government before conferring traditional titles to anyone,” Matawalle was quoted as saying in the statement.
He said the directive became necessary to check indiscriminate awards and possible abuse of the traditional institution.
“Henceforth, no Emir, Senior District Head, or District Head must appoint anybody into any traditional office without securing official permission and clearance from the state government.
“Compliance to this directive is now mandatory and failure to abide by it will attract serious reprimand from the state government,” he warned.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the directive came after Emir of ‘Yandoto, Alhaji Aliyu Garba-Marafa, conferred the traditional title of Sarkin Fulani on a wanted bandit, Ado Aleiru.
The appointment generated backlash, with the government suspending the emir and constituting a committee to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, told journalists that though traditional rulers were given the mandate to appoint title holders, the case of Aleru was different.
“The emir ought to have written to government seeking for approval through the governor who will forward the request to State Security Council who will screen to look at the pros and cons.
“None of these were done. It is after the recommendation of the Security Council that the State Executive Council will also have to ratify the recommendation.
“But like I said, this has not been done that is why the state government felt there was need to suspend the emir,” Dosara said.
According to him, the six-man committee investigating the suspended emir has been working and will soon submit its report.
He said that Zamfara government has no objection if communities reconcile to restore peace, “but there are limitations”.
The commissioner said that local negotiation for peace with the bandits have been going on in places like Dansadau, Kaura Namoda and Zurmi.
“The report government is getting is that there is relative peace there as farmers have gone back to farming.
“In Zurmi Local Government Area for instance, with the peace between repentant bandits and the community, the people are farming together without intimidation or fear.
” So, government has no problem with the localisation of the negotiation, and that is what is going on.
“All we are praying for is that, let this be the root cause of having lasting peace in Zamfara,” he said.
