The story of Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero is indeed the story of the transformation of the Emirate from the authority that controlled the society, to the status of community leadership. It earned its Islamic legitimacy, through service to the people and commitment to the ideals of the Islamic Faith. He was a leader of Muslims of all shades of opinions, not only in Kano as well as of many other Muslims in many parts of Nigeria and the world. Various groups sought his blessings in their activities largely because of his influence and the fact that he was one of the most respected Nigerians. All Africa.com, one of the leading African news websites, described him as Nigeria's "most prominent traditional ruler". Both at the national and international arena, he was regarded as a wise counselor because of his experience and diverse cultural linkages that made him a bridge and an asset in promoting mutual understanding and resolving conflicts.

Ado Bayero lived for eighty-four years (1930 - 2014), fifty one (1963-2014) of which were on the throne of Kano traditional authority. This institution has been in existence since 999 AD with Bagauda (999 to 1063) as the first King. The institution survived because of its capacity to adapt to changing circumstances of the world. It has been affected by global Islamic currents beginning with the Wangarawa who came to Kano during the reign of Sarkin Kano Yaji (1349-1385) and made him to adopt Islam as the official religion of Kano. The next epoch was that of Muhammadu Rumfa (1463-1499) when Shaykh Muhammad bn Abd al-Karim al-Maghili wrote the first constitution for a sub Saharan African state to guide Rumfa. The Jihad of Shehu Usman Danfordio made Islam the ideology of the people and the state. Sarkin Kano Ibrahim Dabo established, the Sullubawa Dynasty. Abdullahi Bayero (1926-1953) and his son Muhammadu Sanusi (1954-1963) harnessed the connections of the Tijaniyya to resist colonial annihilation of the Islamic culture. Ado Bayero put Kano at the national and global stages when he became one of the most influential Muslim leaders in the world. According to the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center, Amman, Jordan, he was "regarded as a wise counselor both at home and abroad because of his experience and ability to mediate between cultures". He was "an important asset in promoting mutual understanding and resolving conflicts between different ethnic and religious groups".

Alhaji Ado Bayero's first major challenge was negotiating between the ruling Northern Peoples' Congress (NPC) elite and his family, because of the forced abdication of his elder brother, Sir Muhammadu Sanusi, and he did that with maturity and respectability. Before he became the Emir, he was appointed Nigeria's Ambassador to Senegal in an attempt to pacify his family. When he ascended to the throne, he was cautious in his relationship with the Regional Government, which had lost most of its support in Kano because of the abdication of Sanusi. The short-lived Kano Peoples Party was formed as a result of this grievance.

During the Second Republic (1979-1983), Kano State which was ruled by the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), an offshoot of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) the party of the first that was anti-traditional rulers. The politics of the PRP in the second Republic should be analyzed within the context of class struggle between the ruling class (the sarauta) and the commoners (talakawa). This struggle could be traced to the NEPU years when it was fighting against the sarauta and its patron, the colonial state. Ironically, NEPU stalwarts in the First Republic all regarded Wakilin Doka Alhaji Ado Bayero as a just and fair person, but when they took power in the Second Republic while he was the Emir, he became their enemy. This was because their struggle was against the sarauta as a class. Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero managed the crisis in a dignified manner.

Subsequent civilian administrations did not openly antagonize the Emirate, probably because of the experience of the first civilian administration, which served as a hard lesson. The relationship was at best cordial or cautious. Most of the civilian governors, if not all, sought favors from the Emir in appointing their kinsmen as Hakimai or District Heads. Governor Aliyu Sabo Bakin Zuwo (1983) requested the Emir to appoint Mustapha, a younger brother of Mallam Aminu Kano as Sai and District Head. Two other Governors made their elder brother and father, who were dagatai (village heads) to be promoted to Hakimai (District Heads). They were Governor Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya (1991-1992) who got his elder brother Ibrahim Gaya appointed as Uban Doma and District Head and Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (1999-2003) whose father Alhaji Musa Saleh was also appointed Majidadi and District Head of Madobi. Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi who was most antagonistic to Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero later sought favor for his brother who was made a Dagaci (Village Head) Governor Ibrahim Shekarau (2003-2011) on the other hand was appointed the first Sardaunan Kano.

As the Emir with the longest reign (1963-2014) since the Jihad of 1804, Ado Bayero bequeathed a glorious legacy strengthening the foundation laid by Sarkin Kano Muhammadu Rumfa (1463- 1499) and consolidated by Sarkin Kano Ibrahim Dabo (1819 to 1846), his ancestor and the founder of the Sullubawan Dabo clan. When Ado Bayero became the Emir in 1963, there was only one Juma'at Mosque in Kano City which was the first to be modernized in Northern Nigeria by Sarkin Kano Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero (1926-1953). Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero constructed the Abdullahi Bayero Mosque, the second Juma'at Mosque he commissioned in 1971. Since then, he has commissioned over fifty Juma'at Mosques in Kano metropolis, over 100 in the state and many others in other parts of the country. No other Nigerian leader has had this privilege. He became the leader of Hausa Muslims where ever they were. They looked up to him as the symbol of Hausa Islamic culture because Kano is the leading center of this cultural bloc, which has over 150 million speakers of the Hausa language. No other African traditional leader has had this influence. He was on the list of the most influential Muslims of the World published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center, Amman, Jordan, because of his role in fostering mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence of religious and ethnically diverse communities.

Apart from his support for the Local Government Reforms, as a result of which most other traditional leaders across the country gave him their support. He participated actively in sensitizing the people to accept free and compulsory primary education introduced by the Federal Government, which needed local government support and participation. Kano now has the highest public primary school enrolment of over 3 million pupils as at the last enumeration. The people accepted his call to enroll in schools because of the confidence they had in him as the greatest supporter and patron of Islamic education. He had supported more Islamiyya Schools than any other leader in Nigeria. As a man of Allah, he was attacked in January 2013 after he had commissioned an Islamiyya School at the Murtala Muhammad Mosque; although he survived the attack, this was his last such function. He had commissioned and supported hundreds in the last fifty years.

In Kano, he did everything possible to support all efforts geared towards the socio-economic development of his people. As the Chief Executive of the Native Authority before the Local Government Reforms under which he controlled land allocation, he discharged his duties with equity and sense of justice. This encouraged investment and consolidated Kano's commercial pre-eminence in northern Nigeria. Because of his status and the confidence they had in him many investors came to Kano. A very recent example is the Ado Bayero Shopping Mall, the first ultra modern shopping mall in northern Nigeria, a major private sector initiative with investors from all parts of Nigeria. It brought leading African retail giants: Shoprite and Game to Kano. He was a mentor of his people. This writer is an example. In 1988, he supported the first public presentation of a book in Kano, which I wrote, and in 1990 he personally invited the neighboring Emirs to the public presentation of two books I wrote, one on the Jihad in Kano and the other on the Sullubawan Dabo which was the first on the dynasty.

The saurata in Kano, like kingship in other places, has survived for over one thousand years despite several transformations because it has been able to adapt to changing circumstances. Muhammadu Rumfa established the Tara ta Kano (Council of State) and he also introduced new titles. The titles, before Rumfa were mostly instituted by the Bagaudawa descendants of Bagauda. The original titles of Kano have Dan as the prefix, (meaning son of). According to the Kano Chronicle they include: Dan Buram, Dan Isa, Dan Baba, Dan Akassan, Dan Kududufi and others like Dan Dermai and Dan Goriba. All other titles were later introduced and some were either of Kanuri (Galadima), Arab (Waziri) or Hausa origin (Madawaki, Makama, Dan Iya and Dan Lawal). Ado Bayero introduced twenty-three new titles to accommodate various segments of the Kano society into the sarauta. During his reign he appointed 120 Hakimai (titleholders or district heads); no other Emir in the history of Kano has done that much. He worked with thirty chiefs who were appointed by his predecessors and two who were appointed by the State Government without his consent. It is on the record that Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero revived two lineages: the Jobawa who were left out of the Emirate Electoral College or king-making institution, from 1959 to 1984, and the Sullubawan Tuta who have been out of the entire sarauta from 1915 to 2007. Emir Ado Bayero died on Friday, June 6, 2014, and was buried at the Nassarawa royal graveyard alongside four previous Emirs of Kano: Abbas, Abdullahi Bayero, Muhammadu Inuwa, and Muhammadu Sunusi.