Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai, on Wednesday, applauded the new Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmad Bamalli for his bridge-building efforts, following his appointment as the 19th Emir of Zazzau.
El-Rufai was responding to remarks by the Emir, who led members of the Zazzau Emirate Council, on a courtesy visit to the Government House Kaduna, on Wednesday.
The governor said that unity is key to the progress of the emirate and the state at large.
El-Rufai encouraged the new Emir to continue in that effort, ‘’bearing in mind that it is the right of every prince to want to be the emir but God only chooses one out of the many.
‘’God has chosen you, through us, the government of Kaduna state.
“My appeal is to continue to bring everyone together, everyone close. Tap into the years of experience that the council members have accumulated in the administration of Zazzau emirate.
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“Working together will make Zazzau emirate achieve great strides in development, peaceful co-existence and unity.
“I call on the Emir to be fair and just to everyone, those that supported him and those that did not, because the competition is over and the hard work now begins,”
Earlier, the Emir had informed El-Rufai that he had been reaching out to each and every contender to the throne for support.
Bamalli noted that contests for the throne is common in every society, as “people will certainly have to vie for the throne whenever it is vacant, provided that they are from the royal family.
“And the pride of every prince is for one day to become the king. It is not an offence, and I keep repeating, it is not an offence, for any interested person to contest for emirship position.
“But after the contest, we will have to close ranks, come together and then serve the people.’’
He thanked the governor for appointing him to succeed the late Emir, Alhaji Shehu Idris, who died on Sept 20 after ruling for 45 years.
‘’The level of cooperation that I received from the kingmakers, other council members, District Heads and the people of Zaria is unprecedented in the last one week,’’ he added.
Bamalli promised to carry all the ruling houses along, adding that “we are one family and we have been together for a long time.
“I have mentioned it severally, I don’t have any reason whatsoever to alienate or sideline any of the ruling dynasties.
“My maternal grandparents come from the Barebari dynasty and the Katsinawa dynasty are my in-laws. So, I don’t have any reason whatsoever to give priority or superiority to my own ruling house,’’ he added.
According to the Emir, “I have served as Magajin Gari for 19 years and I think it is adequate enough to have some experience, to tag along with everybody.
“We are already discussing on the way forward, which Insha Allah, in the next couple of days, we will be back to the state government to present our position, so that we can move forward.”
The Emir commended his predecessor, late Shehu Idris for achieving a lot for the peace and progress of Zazzau emirate for 45 years.
“My desire is to build on the foundation laid by my forebears, including him so that we can have a sustainable and good system of administration.
“The emphasis here is to redefine governance, introduce best practices without interfering with our heritage,’’ he promised.
The monarch assured the governor of his support and that of members of his council and other titleholders and royal family members.
“They are ready to cooperate with the government and support the policies of this administration,” he said.
The Emir also thanked the government for the developmental projects taking place all over the state, including Zaria.