•Inside His Sprawling IKOYI Mansion
•His Cars, Wives & Children Revealed!
The former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi exudes all shades of royalty and power. The highly revered former Emir of Kano is known as a man of style, becoming an emir has not taken off those qualities. Even when you meet Emir of Kano for the first time, you will be shocked that he looks younger, fit and his royal garbs are always out of this world with his matching shoes. Even few days after he was deposed over a year ago, he was seen going out dressed in his full regalia because once an Emir is always an Emir according to the northern emirate tradition.
The Emir of Kano serves as the leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order in Nigeria, historically the second most important Muslim position in Nigeria after the Sultan of Sokoto who is the leader of the more populous Qadiriyya sufi order in Nigeria but after his deposition, he got the biggest Islamic title in Africa, the leader of the Dhariqatul Tijjaniyya group thereby making him the new caliph, Khalifa of the group in Nigeria.
That the former Emir of Kano lives big is like stating the obvious because he has all that money can buy. Many people look up to him and his philanthropic nature to his people has warmed many hearts towards him. Being number 2 powerful Emir amongst the rest makes prominent individuals look for his attention. He attends parties but goes to the very topnotch ones. He lives in affluence and it shows in all aspects of his life. Despite this deposition, he is still an Emir in all ramifications only that he has no territorial control. He is entitled to all the cultural privileges of an emir to the end of his life.
The former Emir is actually many things, rolled into one. He is a banker extraordinaire, former CBN governor, member of Nigeria’s Fulani Oligarchy, and one of the most powerful and richest traditional monarchs in Nigeria. He is also known for his fantastic cars, which marked a beginning for modernity, while he was still Emir of Kano. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has a house in Ikoyi, Lagos, where he currently resides. It is also reported that the banker has other houses, like mansions in Ikoyi, Lagos that are reportedly worth tens of millions to billions of Naira. A trip into his newly built Ikoyi mansion will surely wow you, he has his eyes on classy things and no wonder, it is an architectural master piece. Although he comes from Nigeria’s mainly rustic North, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi stands out as a thoroughly modern man in his thinking and general lifestyle. One way he loves to express his trendiness is through his love of expensive regalia, exotic and expensive cars.
The man who has achieved successes in all his endeavors is also doing well in his home front. According to Islamic injunctions which he greatly believes in, he married 4 wives whom are Sadiya one of the daughters of the Late Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, his second wife is Maryam while his 3rd wife is Rakiya, while the 4th wife is Saadatu daughter of Alhaji Musdafa. He also has 12 children, which consists of 5 suave sons and 7 pretty daughters. The man who loves to be associated with good things of life surely knows what is best for him when he married some of the beautiful ladies from the north as wives. Each of the 4 wives bore him 4 children each and his 1st born is Mohammed whom always accompanied his mother, Sadiya to many social functions, also some of his daughters are Yusra and mufida amongst others. The man who all his children were born in Lagos says in one of his interviews, “I am a Lagos boy as well and my children were all given birth to and groomed in Lagos”.
He owns a 2016 Rolls Royce Phantom VII which cost $418,000, approximately ¦ 150m. This is the first publicized private car purchased while Lamido Sanusi was Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II. The MS-1 customized plates are, of course, reflective of the former Emir’s name.
There is no record of Lamido Sanusi owning a Jet like so many of his fellow wealthiest men in Africa. However, after the former Emir was deposed, he has been seen a number of times with a particular private jet which flies him everywhere he goes.
Born into the Fulani Torodbe (Sullubawa) clan of Kano on the 31st of July 1961, he was crowned on the 8th of June 2014 as the Emir of Kano, succeeding his late great-uncle Dr. Ado Bayero (who died on Friday 6 June 2014). Malam Sanusi was a successful banker and was a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He was appointed on 3 June 2009 for a five-year term. Malam Sanusi is the grandson of Muhammadu Sanusi (The 11th Fulani Emir of Kano ) He was a career banker and ranking Fulani nobleman, and also serves as a respected Islamic scholar. The global financial intelligence magazine, The Banker, published by the Financial Times, has conferred on Sanusi two awards, the global award for Central Bank Governor of the Year, as well as for Central Bank Governor of the Year for Africa. The TIME magazine also listed Sanusi in its TIMES 100 list of most influential people of 2011.
He had his primary school education at the St. Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Kakuri, Kaduna where he got his First School Leaving Certificate, FSLC then he had his high school education at the King’s College, Lagos from 1973 to 1977. He was admitted in 1977 to the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna State where he finished with a degree in Economics in 1981 and later he was off to the International University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan and got a degree in Islamic Law. He did his national youth service (NYSC) at the old Gongola State (now Taraba and Adamawa States) after graduating from ABU and later registered for his masters degree programme in Developmental Economics at the same ABU and he finished in 1983 with a distinction in Monetary Policy. He was a lecturer of economics at ABU. It was after his brief teaching career that he veered off to banking and he spent tremendous 29 years in the banking sector before he became the Emir of Kano. He has worked with Icon Limited (Merchant Bankers), a subsidiary of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of New York, and Baring Brothers of London. He moved to the United Bank for Africa in 1997 in the Credit and Risk Management Division, rising to the position of a General Manager. In September 2005, he joined the Board of First Bank of Nigeria as an Executive Director in charge of Risk and Management Control, and was appointed Group Managing Director (CEO) in January 2009. He was also the Chairman, Kakawa Discount House and sat on the Board of FBN Bank (UK) Limited. Sanusi is recognized in the banking industry for his contribution towards developing a risk management culture in nigeria. Sanusi was the first northerner to be appointed CEO in First Bank’s history of more than a century.
His family is so dear to him and therefore never jokes with them. All of his four wives are university graduates, while one of them just finished a master’s programme. The Lamido of Adamawa, who holds a PhD in engineering, is said to be very excited at the examples the northern royals are setting in giving education to women in a region considered to be very conservative about female and western education. Sanusi II’s first wife, Sadiya, who is a daughter of the late emir, Ado Bayero, holds a bachelor’s degree in education (history) from the Bayero University Kano (BUK) and speaks Arabic.The second wife, Maryam, holds a BA (combined honours) in Arabic and Islamic studies also from BUK and is about completing her dissertation for a master’s degree in education from the University of Abuja. She speaks Arabic and Italian.
The third wife, Rakiya, has an LLB (law) from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and an LLM from the University of London. His fourth wife, Sa’adatu just graduated.
-TAYO OYEDIJI
