- The irreverent treatment of traditional institutions and rulers has intensified in recent years as governance continues to see a troubling shift away from the welfare of the people to vicious and cutthroat consolidation of power.
The importance of monarchs and traditional institutions to the socio-cultural and political configuration of Nigeria can’t be overstated. They’ve been around long before the white man stepped foot on the African continent and redrew the maps of century-old kingdoms and empires to carve out artifical nations. In the contemporary world, traditional rulers are at the intersection of governance and age-old customs. The monarch is the dignified, and the government, the efficient.
In Nigeria, the dignity of the traditional institutions has been subjected to brutal assault by those who are in government and wield political power, as highly revered traditional institutions are desecrated for political expediency. The irreverent treatment of traditional institutions and rulers has intensified in recent years as governance continues to see a troubling shift away from the welfare of the people to vicious and cutthroat consolidation of power.
The nexus between the government and the monarchy, especially the top and highly revered ones in the country, has made many of the traditional rulers pawns on the dreaded chessboard of the political class or collateral that can easily be dispensed with in the deadly power play and gamesmanship that characterise Nigerian politics. It is even worse if the holder of an honorary traditional title is involved in politics and he is not on the same political page as those in power from whom he derives his title. From Ile-Ife to Kano, the message of the governors is clear and unambiguous: support me or lose your throne. Kiss the ring or get kicked out of the ring.
The latest traditional ruler to be a victim of a power move by a leader of the executive arm of government is former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who is also addressed by his traditional title, Waziri Adamawa. On Tuesday, the Adamawa State government announced that it had stripped Atiku of his revered title as Waziri Adamawa. The Waziri Adamawa is the second highest in authority after the paramount ruler, the Lamido of Adamawa. The government cited non-indigeneship for its reason. The removal, which also affects the Walin Adamawa, was disclosed in a circular dated June 20, 2025, and signed by Mrs. Adama Felicity Mamman, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Chieftaincy Affairs under the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
The circular stated, “Following the creation of new Chiefdoms in the state by the Executive Governor of Adamawa State, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, I am directed to inform you that all Kingmakers and Council members in the state must be indigene (sic) of their Chiefdoms. E.g., all Kingmakers and Council members from Adamawa Emirate Council must be indigene of Yola South, Yola North, Girei, Mayo-Belwa, Song and Zumo Districts; while those of Mubi Emirate Council must be indigene of Mubi North, Mubi South vis-à-vis all Emirates/Traditional councils in the state”
This effectively disqualifies Atiku, who hails from Jada Local Government Area under the Ganye Chiefdom, from holding a title within the Adamawa Emirate Council. The development, though branded as an administrative shake-up, has a political undercurrent to it and anyone with fair political literacy and passive current affairs following can see through the shenanigans of the state government. The move reeks of deliberate public humiliation of Atiku by Governor Umaru Fintiri—his former political ally during the 2023 general elections.
You would think certain things are beyond the impunity and arbitrariness of Nigerian politics as they are not only bad for optics, but could potentially damage the very system that those who indulge in these destructive acts are supposed to protect. In Nigerian politics, everyone is fair game, no matter your influence or clout. No convention or norm is too sacred to be desecrated, no character or personality is too pristine or revered to be sullied. No historical happening is beyond revisionism. In politics, as it is in love and war, all is fair. But this continued bastardisation of the traditional institutions by spiteful, self-serving and power-hungry politicians will not end well for everyone.
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