The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has bagged a doctorate in Islamic Law at the University of London, United Kingdom after a successful defence of his thesis.
The remarkable moment was captured in a video, which showed the revered emir overwhelmed by emotions after the panel of experts informed him that his thesis was approved without any correction.
The video showed Sanusi receiving congratulatory messages from the panel during a virtual meeting.
The thesis was on: 'Codification of Islamic Family Law as an Instrument of Social Reform: A Case Study of the Emirate of Kano and Comparison with the Kingdom of Morocco.'
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The reinstated monarch started the PhD programme in 2020, shortly after his ouster from the throne by then-Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje.
He relocated to the UK to fully focus on the programme.
Emir Sanusi's academic journey
Barely five months after his dethronment, Sanusi was granted a visiting fellowship at the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford.
This was after he was awarded an honorary doctorate in finance at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in 2019.
He earned his first degree in Economics in 1981, followed by a second bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies and fiqh at the Africa International University in Khartoum, Sudan in 1997.
Sanusi, a former Cent Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, is arguably one of the most educated Nigerians to ever become a monarch in the country.