* Bello


By Pita Chib, Minna

For the second time within two years, crises has hit Minna emirate council the seat of one of the first class traditional rulers in Niger state.

The emirate will be facing an uprising from princes and major stakeholders in the state.

In 2018, the stakeholders seriously raised objection to the creation and appointments of about 250 district and village heads by the incumbent traditional ruler Dr Umar Farouq Bahago, on the ground that the exercise was skewed in his favour to the detriment of other princes, ruling houses and stakeholders.

The Governor of Niger State,  Abubakar Bello, had to intervene by setting up a committee to look into the dispute before it went out of hand.

But despite the fact that the government  committee had submitted its report and a white paper issued the governor has not constituted a "White Paper Implementation Committee".

This and other reasons may have created quest for the division of the emirate into five autonomous emirates according to a petition submitted to the Niger State House of Assembly and also forwarded to Governor  Bello.

The petition dated 17th March 2020 and signed by 13 of the stakeholders some of them district heads is titled: " Request for the creation of additional emirates in Minna emirate of Niger state"

"It is therefore against the above background that we passionately request Mr Governor to as a matter of urgency approve the immediate creation of Kuta emirate, Paiko Emirate, Galadimankogo emirate, Bosso/Minna emirate and Kafinkoro emirate and a new emir of Bosso/Minna extraction be appointed as emir of Minna" part of the petition now before the house committee on public petitions reads.

The petitioners also hinged their demand on "the failure of the Minna emirate council not to "concede to the government directive which has dragged for too long and has caused a lot of concerns to the generality of the people of the emirate

" Consequently if Minna emirate cannot sustain the marriage of convenience between five (5) component districts then separation becomes inevitable" the petition further submit.

While commending the governor for what they described as "his foresight, fairness and the need to maintain the History of the Emirate without any distortion" the petitioners said the efforts made by some of the elders to resolve the impasse "appear not to be good enough".


There has been no reaction to the petition from the emirate council Secretariat