Eid-el-Fitr Sallah: Emir Sanusi Avoids Security Breach, Returns to 1903 Traditional Homage

The Eid-el-Fitr Sallah celebration continues in Kano as Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II returns to the 1903 traditional Hawan Nassarawa homage to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf at the Government House.

In compliance with the security prohibition on the Sallah Durbar, Khalifa Sanusi abandoned the traditional horse ride and reduced the large entourage of traditional titleholders, a practice introduced in 1940.

Apart from foregoing the horse ride, Emir Sanusi, who arrived in a vehicle convoy, also changed his route from the usual state roads to the Government House.

Providing historical context, Professor Tijjani Naniya, a professor of history at Bayero University, Kano, explained that before 1940, the Emir, as the head of the Native Authority, only visited the Governor’s residence and returned to his palace.

He said, “Before 1940, there was no Wajen Kano—that is, the outskirts of the city. The Emir, as the head of the Native Authority, would pay a visit to the Government House to brief the Governor on the yearly happenings in the city and then return to his palace.”

“But by 1940, when Wajen Kano was created, and there were people—most of whom were Hausas but not of Kano extraction—the Emir needed to go around and see them. That was when the present-day Hawan Nassarawa procession using horses was introduced.”

On the security restrictions, Professor Naniya clarified that the police had banned the “procession of horses” in any form. He added that the Emir, in compliance with the directive, restricted all horse rides and instead used vehicles to pay homage to the Governor.

He explained, “What was stopped was the Emir riding horses and passing through state roads, which would have caused problems. But now that he has returned to the original means of the Hawan Nassarawa tradition, there is no violation.”

“The Emir is only coming to the Government House, unlike the usual Hawan Nassarawa, where he would ride horses, go around Kano to greet the people, and then return to his palace,” Naniya concluded.

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