The city of Kano stands at the crossroads where two worlds meet – the wandering Touareg (Berber) tribes from the desert,
and the African Negroes from the jungles to the south. Adding to this volatile mix are the Hausa people, who have traditionally made Kano their home.
Kano state is also the centre of the Shia movement in Nigeria, and the Shia faith has gained many adherents there in the recent past.
Kano is the ancient city-state of Nigeria. The old city of Kano is more than five hundred years old - and the entire city is enclosed by a great mud wall that is upto fifty feet high and forty feet thick!
The city of Kano brings to mind memories – of houses made of mud baked in sunshine, girls in the marketplace who wear spots on their cheeks, and vulture that feed on refuse thrown upon the streets. In fact the mud houses would have dissolved in the brief - but intense - summer rains, were it not for projecting spouts from the roof that disperse the water into the alleys.
The old city of Kano is full of life – and the lanes of Kano are probably as crowded as any found in a metropolis. But the heart of the city is the open market-place, where traders make bargains and display their goods. The market place is more than a mile across, and among the wares that the stall holders sell are embroidered clothes, carpets and gowns. In the market place, many local money-changers are to be found; and they will convert one’s money into the currencies that one needs…