Kano: Old, new wines in one bottle

Kano is a very important commercial and political city but which has tried very hard to preserve its history and tradition as well as its iconic architectural past. KOLA OYELERE writes that the old and the new parts of the city have interesting narratives to the average visitor.

FOR centuries, Kano has been recognised as a commercial centre, not only in Nigeria but also in West Africa and even beyond. It was an important trading route connecting West Africa to the northern part of the continent. Its hide and skin industry, including textile, especially its dyed textiles, made it an important trading post. It is also an historic city found in the writings of early historian who wrote on West African history.

Today the city boasts of both the old and the new settlements. The old settlement is walled and the indigenes are almost 100 per cent Muslims. Outside the old settlement is the new one, which started off with Sabongari community where those working for the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) were provided with accommodation, transacted their businesses and practised their religion.

“Most of these residents (NRC staff who settled in Sabongari) were either from southern part of the country or North-Central  like the present day Kogi, Kwara, Plateau and other states. They were mostly Christians, though some of them were Muslims,” recalled Malam Ibrahim Muhammad an indigene and resident of old Kano.

One major area of difference between the old and the new city is that in old Kano there are hardly any hotel where sale of alcoholic drinks is permitted because it is forbidden by Islam and its possession is often punished by Shariah law. From time to time those who try to bring alcoholic drinks into old Kano are apprehended by the Hisbah, the Shariah police. Once the trucks conveying the alcoholic drinks get impounded, the owners are charged to court and if subsequently found guilty, the alcoholic drinks are destroyed.

Mosques are common landmarks in the northern part of the country and so it is in Kano. In the old settlement, mosques are ubiquitous, but there is not even one church. According to Alhaji Mustapha Yunusa, another indigene of Kano who is well-versed in its history, the policy to keep churches out has been in place as far back as the early part of the 20th century.

“This has been in existence as far back as even before 1914 when the Southern and Northern protectorates of Nigeria were amalgamated, because the owners of Kano, in order to avert conflicts with others on their official religion, had earlier allocated Sabongari to non-indigenes,” Alhaji Yunusa told Sunday Tribune.

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Another interesting thing about old Kano is that food is not wasted. On almost every street there are almajiris, itinerant quranic pupils, who often move around in groups. If anybody has any leftover of food in his house, the almajiris would take it. They do not refuse to take any leftover; in fact, they beg for them and the food are often snapped up and shared among them as they offer prayers for their benefactors.

In the city, having easy access to buildings and homes may be of great advantage but not in old Kano.  Most houses here carry the sign ‘Ba shiga’ (do not enter or restricted access). The reason is very simple: Muslims keep women in harems and so entering a house has to be permitted by the owner or husbands of the women in the harem. Even when the visitor is permitted to enter, especially a man, he would not be granted access to the women quarters.

The architecture of the buildings is also curiously interesting. The buildings in the old city have their toilets outside, instead of inside the building as obtains in a modern building style. Alhaji Yau Yakassai, who also spoke to Sunday Tribune on the tradition and practices within the old Kano city, explained that this was also done to keep visitors away from the inner parts of the house. Male visitors, especially, could under the pretext of visiting the toilet «miss» their way into the restricted or «ba shiga» areas.

Commercial activities in old Kano do not commence until about 9.00 a.m or 10.00 a.m. Access to pipe-borne water is still low as water vendors are major suppliers of water to many residents. Residents do buy water from the vendors in jerry cans for prices ranging from N25 to N50 per one.

Interestingly the road network inside old Kano city is good, in fact far better than Sabongari area of the new city. The roads in Sabongari area are very bad, except for the Court Road which was recently rehabilitated by the government of Dr.Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. But many other roads in new Kano city are still begging for attention.

Comparatively, life in the old city is easier and cheaper. Food is very cheap. With N50, one could get something to eat. A certain food called garo garo, consisting of rice, beans and dry pepper, could be bought cheaply at N50. For breakfast, at almost every corner there is koko and kara being sold by women and they are as cheap as they come. Here in the old city it does not cost a fortune to get something to eat.

Accommodation is also cheap. A room in the old city could go for between N10,000 and N20,000 per annum, but not so in the new city. The same type of room attracts between N70,000 and N120,000 per annum in the new area.

As tradition marries modernism

By every standard, Kano is a modern African city. The glitz and glamour could be seen in modern markets and malls, gleaming cars and SUVs. Even when people wear their traditional kaftan and babanriga, their destination may not be a shanty called food joint but one of the new eateries and restaurants which dot the city’s landscape.

In the old city, children may haul stones at a lady walking on the street in mini skirt or tight jeans but not in new Kano city. Even married women wear such without anyone taking particular notice. What may not be permitted in the old city for the sake of religious observance is not frowned on in the new.

Almajiris may be everywhere in the old city but they are hard to find in the new. No almajiri would enter an eatery asking for leftover food, talk less of swooping on somebody’s food, assuming the owner was through with eating.

Religious practice is mixed in the new city. Unlike the old city, there are churches and mosques. A church established well over 100 years ago for Christian staff of the Nigeria Railway Corporation could still be found today at Church Road in Sabongari.

Right here in the new city that there are over 5,000 different churches belonging to different Christian denominations amongst which are the Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Celestial, Cherubim and Seraphim, and Pentecostal.

If the early historians who wrote about Kano could come back today to visit the city, they surely would have a different perception of the commercial centre they romanticised in their records. Today, they would not be writing about the old rugged mud buildings and a walled city, they might probably be writing a tale of two cities.