THE SOKOTO CALIPHATE IN MODERN NIGERIA:
Ending it, Mending it or Reinventing it? - 7

[Preamble ]   [Formation of the Caliphate ]   [Foundation of the Caliphate ]    [Decline of the Caliphate ]   [British Intervention ]   [Modern Nigeria ]   [The Caliphates in Modern Nigeria ]   [Ending it, Mending it or Re-inventing it? ]  The Caliphate in Modern Nigeria The first set of natives did not appear to be quite enthralled by modern Nigeria, nor were they in a hurry to dismantle the Caliphate. Indeed they tried their best despite pressures from their advisers, to maintain and retain the system. The full assault on the Caliphate was to come immediately after the 1966 coup. This coup itself was the second invasion of the Caliphate, this time by natives. After the coup there appears to be an incomprehensible urge towards reform for the sake of reform. As if stampeded by some interested parties, they were rushing all manners of reforms the implications of which have not really been studied. By 1967 prisons, police and courts have been wrested from what had remained of the Caliphate. Barely a decade later came the famous Local Government Reforms that looked like the proverbial last straw. If we did not anticipate this in 1976, we now know we are the worst for it. Our values have been run down faster, communal conflicts have clearly increased, corruption has been taken to levels unprecedented and the wrong signals have been sent to the younger generation, who, in a hurry to make it, believe that it is foolish to be virtuous. We are still waiting for someone to shows us the gains of this "reform". The third major assault on the Caliphate was to come 25 years later, in the form of the coup attempt led by Major Gideon Orkar in 1990. This time it sought to expel the whole Caliphate from modern Nigeria. This did not succeed, so it is difficult to see what would have happened. But it represented a continuity in the assault on the Caliphate and could have been the ultimate if it had succeeded. That it could even be contemplated and that after the attempt no significant reaction was noticed, was one evidence, if evidence was needed, that the Caliphate in modern Nigeria was no more. Now anything else looks possible, it is already looking like every regime could come with its Sultan. The Emirs themselves did not help matters. Tied as their hands may be, they have the interest of the ordinary man who looks up only to them for relief from the mounting burden that modern Nigeria keeps placing on him. As custodians and symbols of the values of the Caliphate, they owe us all to defend these values when ever they are assaulted, especially the values of justice, probity and courage. Ingratiating themselves with one regime after another may give them security of tenure but it certainly would not give the respect and confidence of people who bear the brunt of these regimes. That they confer all manners of titles to people whose only qualification seem to be wealth, which too often is acquired by means that are, to say the least, dubious, only further deepens the scepticism of many of us, especially the poor and down trodden who constitute the majority of their constituencies. The ‘new rich’ who acquire (or purchase, as some would prefer) these traditional tittles, flaunt them everywhere, but do not always conduct themselves in manners and decorum which conform to the expectations of these titles. All these go a long way to wash away what little prestige the institution could hope for in the circumstances. What the young are being taught is that, hard work and probity do not pay, what pays is money made anyhow. This is the greatest catastrophe yet. The worst, perhaps are the ulama’, for in the system of the Caliphate these are the conscience of the Ummah, they have a duty to raise their voices against injustice, they have a responsibility to arrest the drift, indeed like the case of Shehu and his team amply demonstrate, they have an obligation to regenerate society (tajdid) and restore it to its original path and purity. In short they represent the hope, the last hope of the Ummah. We can therefore understand Muhammad Bello’s concern in al-Dihkra, that the worst stage of decline is that of the ulama’. Bello’s observation, that the ulama’ "fall into dispute, mutual rivalry and enmity, resulting from their competition for worldly things, power and authority." has so aptly captured our situation today and summarises the role the ulama’ have played. Their love for wealth and influence has been carried to heights unprecedented since the Caliphate, heights where they are prepared to divide the Muslim community, destroy its body politic, ignore gross injustice and sometimes give helping hands to tyranny and oppression. By abdicating their responsibility to tell the rulers the truth and by being ever prepared to pray for any ruler for a fee, they not only participated in the dismantling of the Caliphate, but also in the wrecking of modern Nigeria, the brunt of which we all now bear.

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