Two major ethnic groups, the Hausa and Fulani, make up the majority of Kano State's population. Hausa is the dominant language in the state, as in most parts of Northern Nigeria. Kano State has most recently faced challenges such as attacks by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, inter-religious violence, and extreme poverty. Kano State operates under Sharia law, within the legal framework of the Nigerian Constitution.
Photo of Kano city in December 1930
History
Modern-day Kano State was the site of a number of kingdoms and empires including the Kingdom of Kano, which was centred on Dalla Hill (Hausa: Dutsen Dala) from to 1000CE to 1349. In 1349, the Sultanate of Kano was established when Yaji I converted to Islam and became its first Sultan. In 1463, Kurmi Market was opened, which helped the city of Kano become a centre of commercial activity in Hausaland. The market remains open today and its historic importance is reflected in the state's nickname, the Centre of Commerce.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sultanate of Kano became one of the most powerful of the Hausa Kingdoms. After the Fulani jihad of 1804-08, the Kano Emirate deposed the former sultanate. Emir Ibrahim Dabo made a number of administrative reforms, seeking to increase commerce in the region.
Leaders during this time encouraged traders to move from Katsina, capitalising on raids from the Hausa Sultanate of Maradi. The leaders of the caliphate encouraged the kola nut trade, and Kano was the greatest beneficiary with an annual turnover of about $30million.[citation needed]Craft industries also evolved in the pre-colonial period contributing to the prosperity of the province.[citation needed]
Since Nigerian independence, Kano State has developed a diverse economy, establishing itself as a centre for industry, agriculture, and Islamic banking. Kano State was created on 27 May 1967. In 1991, part of Kano State was separated to form Jigawa State.
Geography
Climate
The rainfall in Kano State has variable rainfall with drought and near-drought conditions between the 1970s and 1980s. Between the 1990s and the year 2015, the moisture conditions improved considerably but rainfall still fluctuated.[clarification needed] Since 2015, there has been a considerable increase in rainfall. Based on a report of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), rainfall averaged by a mean of 897.7mm (35.34in).
In the first quarter of 2022, NIMET sounded an early warning for floods in some states, including Kano. The agency asserted that their warning was based on the amount and distribution of rainfall that had been observed in the nation during the rainy season. According to the Kano State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), 25 local government districts experienced flooding as a result of the extreme rain.
Temperature
The temperature of Kano has risen significantly since the 1960s.[why?] The annual temperature of the state is between 26°C to 30°C for the diurnal temperature, which is high, and measurable between the range of 13.1%, with the relative humidity of between 17% and 90% respectively.
Economy
Many large markets exist within Kano today, such as Kurmi Market, Kantin Kwari Market, Sabon Gari Market, Dawanau Market, Kofar Wanbai Market, Galadima Market, Yankura Market and Bata Market. Many of these markets specialise in certain products, such as textiles or grain. The dye industry beginning in the 19th century contributed greatly to Kano's economy.
Agriculture
Subsistence and commercial agriculture are mostly practised in the outlying districts of the state. Some of the food crops cultivated are millet, cowpeas, sorghum, maize and rice for local consumption, while groundnuts and cotton are produced for export and industrial purposes. During the colonial period and several years after the country's independence, the groundnuts produced in the state constituted one of the major sources of revenue of the country. Kano State is a major producer of hides and skins, sesame, soybeans, cotton, garlic, gum arabic and chili peppers.
A 2018 study of Tudun Wada found that both temperature and rainfall were likely to increase with climate change, causing increased stress on crops, and would require increased climate change adaptation for agricultural practices.
A9 (part of the Dakar-Ndjamena Trans-Sahelian Highway or TAH 5) northwest from A2 at Bankaura (14km north of Kano city) for 71km via Bichi, Dan Zabuwa and Tsanyawa as IBB Way to Katsina State at Yan Kamaye,
A237 continuing TAH5 east from A2 in Kano for 110km across the Hadejia River at Wudil via Takai and Kachako to Jigawa State as the Kano Rd.
Other major roads
The Kunya-Mutum road northeast from A2 to Jigawa State at Duma,
The Kano-Gumel road northeast via Dosai, Gezawa, Kirazare and Dadin Diniya to Jigawa State near Magama,
The Kano-Ringim road east from Dosai via Gwandu, Wangara, Zugachi and Zakirai to Jigawa State at Gorshinsi,
the Gaya-Wudil Rd east from A237 to Jigawa at Dundubis as the Gaya-Azare Rd,
south from A2 at Karfi Ruga as the Kano-Kumbotso-Rano or Rano-Karfin Ruga Rd via Bunkure, Rano, Kibiya, Tarai, Burunburum, Sitti and Masu to Bauchi State at Gwanda as the Sabon Gari-Gwanda-Kafin-Birgi Rd,
the Gwarzo-Shanono Rd north via Bagawi to A9 at Bichi.
Railways
Kano is on the 1067mm Cape Gauge Western Railway Line from Lagos via Kaduna to Jigawa State (rehabilitated 2013), with a new double-track standard-gauge line under construction.
Kano State is home to five universities: one federal university, one regimented federal university, two state universities, and one private university.
According to the 2006 PON census figures, Kano State had a population totalling 9,401,288.[citation needed] Based on the official data by the National Bureau of Statistics, Kano is the most populous state in the country followed by Lagos State. The state is mostly populated by the Hausa and Fulani people.
Abba Kabir Yusuf (born 1963), Kano State Governor since May 2023
Politics
The state government is led by a democratically elected governor who works closely with the state House of Assembly. The capital city of the state is Kano.
Electoral system
The governor of each state is selected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of the state's LGAs. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round of voting is held between the two, highest-ranking candidates.
12Okeowo, Gabriel; Fatoba, Iyanuoluwa, eds. (13 October 2022). "State of States 2022 Edition"(PDF). Budgit.org. BudgIT. Archived from the original(PDF) on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
↑Ujorha, Tadaferua (9 May 2003). "Kano's 500-year-old market". Daily Trust. Biafra Nigeria World. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
↑Buba, L. F. (2010). Spatio-temporal rainfall and temperature variation in northern Nigeria. A Ph.D. Thesis submitted to the Geography Department, Bayero University, Kano.
↑Badamasi, M.M. (2014). Vegetation and Forestry in Tank, A.I. & Morale, S.B. (Eds.) Kano Government, Society and Development. London & Abuja: Adonis and Abbey Publishers.
↑"Kano my state". www.kanodashboard.ng. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
↑Badamosi, M.M. (2014). Vegetation and Forestry in Tank A.I., Momale, S.B. (eds.) Kano Government, Society and Development. London & Abuja: Adonis and Abbey Publishers.
↑Kowal & Knabe, J.M. & D.T. (1972). An agroclimatological atlas of northern states of Nigeria with explanatory notes. Zaria: ABU Press.
↑Olofin, E.A. (1987). Some aspects of the physical geographies of the Kano region and related human responses: Departmental lecture notes. Kano, Nigeria: Denis Standard Printers.
↑Garba, J.I. (2018). "Awareness and Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Tudun Wada Local Government Area of Kano State". Zaria Geographer. 25 (1): 63–75. ISSN2782-7739.
↑"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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