Oba Of Benin Is Our Father – Controversial ‘Sultan’ Of Edo Clears Air

Leader of the Shua Arab in Edo State, Alhaji Idris Adanno has cleared the air on the controversy that surrounds the plans to coronate him as the sultan of Shua Arab in Benin City.

Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the Edo State Government kicked against the move and described it as a direct insult to the traditions, customs and culture of the Edo people, adding that decisive action will be taken to prevent the actualization of the ‘illegal’ act.

In his reaction, Adanno told reporters that the planned coronation has been cancelled, saying “the whole issue was misunderstood because of the language used. All the tribes from the North who are resident in Edo State are all under the Sarkin Hausawa but we all now have our individual sarkin like those of Kanuri, Nupe, and others.

“In our Shua language, Sultan is our own sarkin and we only wanted to celebrate my appointment as the head of Shua Arab in Benin because we are the second-largest local ethnic group from the North. We are all under Sarkin Hausawa of Benin who gave us an introductory letter which we submitted before the governor of the state, the Oba of Benin, and the Secretary to State Government.

Below is a copy of the aforementioned letter which was sent by the Sarkin Hausawa of Benin to the Oba of Benin, as seen by Gatekeepers News.

He added: “We are all law-abiding citizens and under the laws of the state. We are also loyal to our royal father the Oba of Benin who is father to all of us. We apologise to the state government for the mix-up and as law-abiding citizens, we have also cancelled all the activities we wanted to do as directed by the state government.”

Buttressing Adanno’s statement, the Sarkin Hausawa of Benin, Alhaji Adamu Isa said the whole controversy was as a result of ‘a misuse of language from them’.

He said, “They are a community resident in Edo and they have a large percentage of their people here too, they are into cattle breeding and other businesses. The thing is a misuse of language from them. About five months ago, they came to me that since they are large, they want to have a traditional head so I told them to go and look for someone among them who is going to be their leader and so they came with one Idris and then some issues came up then I asked them to go and resolve it.

“I gave them a date to come back. And then we did the turban of their leader so that in case we have issues concerning them, we know who to hold responsible.

“The whole issue was misunderstood. I was born and bred here in Benin, my father was born and bred here in Benin so I understand the tradition and custom of the land and the laws of the state. It was just a misuse of language. Sultan in their own language means sarkin.”