Gidan Makama

Aside the wall-engraved writing that says “Welcome to Gidan Makama Museum” in Nigeria's Northern city of Kano, the other objects that welcome you are a long- and short-range canons stationed at the Museum's entrance. Though they have since lost their semblance to lethal weapons of war, more than a hundred years ago, they were used by one of the British Empire's most successful colonial ambassador Lord Lugard.

In 1903, Lugard led his soldiers from Zaria to conquer both the fortified city walls and the indigenous soldiers of Kano. Those canons helped to batter the city's ancient gates, among them the Kofar (gate) Kabuga (the Hausa word for hit or battered), after they had failed to gain entry through Kofar Dukawuya.

This piece of history ushers you into the house of heritage with its many stories, secrets and revelations. Gidan Makama itself is reputed to be the oldest house in the city of Kano, and daties back to almost 500 years ago. It is still preserved in its original mason-laid form. Owned by the Makama title holders of the city, it was bequeathed to the government by the Emirate and the Kano State government.

Essentially, the house consists of a Zaure, the foyer, which leads into the courtyard, which itself leads into a labyrinth of rooms. Attached to the building are the living quarters of Lord Lugard, where he took up residence after conquering the city. However, time and inadequate preservation took its toll on the building and portions of it caved in. It is yet to be rebuilt.

There are several exhibition rooms in Gidan Makama, each housing different facets of the city, and each telling its own story: early fashion, commerce, domestic utensils, religion, culture, war fare, and the nobility. The guide first takes you into the colonial exhibition room, where memorabilia of the era is showcased. There is a picture of taken in front of Lancaster House, where Northern ministers had gone to participate in the discourse for Nigeria's independence. Then there is the picture of Queen Elizabeth, dressed in royal regalia during a state visit to Kano in 1956, at the height of the glory of the British Empire. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, frontline Nigerian nationalist and politician, is also shown in another picture, campaigning to a cross section of the Yoruba community (circa 1956).

In another show glass, the visitor is shown the city's tradition of commerce from antiquity, a way of life Henry Barth, 18th century European explorer, attests to. Barth says the Kano clothknown as Dagin Kano or Kano knotwere exported to faraway North Africa. In the same glass are a Barclays Bank money-bag with a 100-pound insignia, and a jute bag of groundnuts placed on a weighing scale. The accompanying tablet recounts that the commodity was a major resource during the colonial days. At the time the Dalar Gyada Kano or the Ground pyramids of Kano was at its zenith and was a distinctive part of the Northern economic landscape. Currencies from the olden days the Manilas

As a tribute to Hausa music history, musical instruments from the distant past forms part of the exhibition. On display are instruments Sarewan hauren Giwa or Ivory tusk flute no longer in use due to the endangered state of the African elephant. Next to the exhibition were artifacts of warfare as used by royalty. The Sulke, a bullet-proof vest (also known as the chain mail) was imported from Europe by explorers like Barth and Staudinger. Other war paraphernalia were the Garkuwa, a leather shield, a war cap and an iron shield made by local blacksmiths, all of which made up the war cache of bygone wars fought by the Emirs of Kano against invaders and hostile neighbours.

House chores in Hausa land has not changed much from the way it was in the past. This can be glimpsed from the artifacts on display, most interesting being the 600-yeqr-old Pot or Tunkunyan Ruwa, reputed for its excellent preservation and bequeathed to the museum from the Indabawa area of Kano were it has been handed down from generation to generation over past centuries. Amongst farming implements on display was a rather long modeled hoe the size extinct now.

There is also a monument to the predominant religion of the Kano peopleIslam. The exhibition features a assortment of Islamic memorabilia: the city's map route to Mecca; texts brought by Abdullahi bin Fodio after the Jihad that brought Islam to the city; a reproduced model of Tsangaya classroom; a system of Koranic boarding education still practiced in the North today; the Dantata Koran; the belted leaves-type scripture copied by Mallam Dan Babale and printed in London with funds from Sanusi Dantata (circa 1964).

The final exhibitions are the metal gates on display at the lobby of Gidan Makama. The construction of the city walls of Kano, which started around the 11th Century, remained highly fortified till the invasion of the Jihadist and European colonialist in the 18th century. The fortification and height of the walls was said to have amazed Lord Lugard. The city was said to have started by the order of King Gijimasu in 1100 AD. Further contributions were made by Mohammed Rumfa (1463-1499), and Mohammed Nazaki (1618-1623).

Aside the real 18th century gates on display were tablets explaining the intriguing names behind the City gates. Kofar Nasarrawa was the city gate where the Emir and his subjects celebrated each war victory. Kofar Waika is another interesting gateway: Amir Mohammed, one of the rulers of the city, fled through the gates as the forces of his rival entered the city from the South in 1894; from that day onwards, no Kano ruler has passed the gateway ever since in honour of the flight of their forebears.

Gidan Makama peaks with visitors during the Sallah periods when children come around to learn about the past and how their forebears lived. Schools in the state also organize excursions around July, bringing their students to the museum as part of an outreach program. The metaphor of the house is in the excursion of a group of public school children in the gale of the Harmattan in the courtyard of Gidan Makama, chatting with one another as they walked around the exhibitions and exclaiming on how the people of yore lived. Someday too, in the very distant future, they too shall become relics from the past, just like the heritage of their forebears in the 500-year-old Gidan Makama.

The little revenue generated is from the gate takings. Foreign tourists pay 200 Naira, while local adult tourists are admitted with a fee of 40 Naira. The museum is managed by the National Commission for Museum and Monuments (NCMM): it is in a bad shape and in need of rehabilitation. Interest and support for the museum has come from several unusual quarters. In the past, the electrical works and some rehabilitation of the house were undertaken by the Indian Community in Kano.

The Bride's Room, a new wing added to the house showcasing the ornaments, decor and size of a typical bride's room in Hausa land was donated by the council chairman of Madobi local government in Kano state. A septuagenarian, who is the Sarkin Magina or the Chief Mason, personally takes responsibility for carrying out small rehabilitation works at his own or the management's expense.