By Osahon Osahon
The outrage that greeted the purported coronation of Alhaji Idris Adanno as Sultan of Shuwa Arab of Edo State, slated to hold on Saturday, 21st August, has forced him to cancel all activities planned for the event.
The embattled self-imposed leader while addressing a section of journalists in Benin, on Friday, alleged that the program of activities for his coronation was grossly misinterpreted by Nigerians, due to the language used by the Organisers.
He pledged his loyalty to the Benin Monarch, Oba Ewuare II, who he described as father to all northerners in the State.
According to him, “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.
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“In our Shuwa language, Sultan is our own Sarkin and we only wanted to celebrate my appointment as the head of Shuwa 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.
“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,” Addano added.
Also speaking, the Sarkin Hausawa of Benin, Alhaji Adamu Isa, who was present at the Press briefing, emphasized that the whole incident was misunderstood due to the choice of language.
“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 and 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.
“You know our culture, it is easier for you to regulate the activities of people using the traditional heads, that is why anytime we have a large set of people from the same place, we look for a traditional head.
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“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,” Isa stressed.
It is pertinent to recall that while Adanno was making arrangements for his coronation in Benin City, the Shehu of Borno had on the 4th of August in far away Maiduguri, turbaned one Adam Harun for the same title, which was unknown to many residents in Edo.
The development that exposed the disunity among the Shuwa people in the State.
