INSIDE THE ANCIENT GANI FESTIVAL

The lives and culture of the people of Hadejia emirate tend to have a distinct feature from the rest of Hausa land. The dialect and intonation especially in the remote villages are unique. Another uniqueness of the Hadejia emirate is the Gani festival.

Hadejia emirate is usually referred to as “Ginsau birnin doki” loosely translated as “the city of horses.” It is well positioned in the Sahel, very close to the northeast and the Niger republic. Hadejia emirate is one of the important emirates in Jigawa state, and Nigeria in general. It covers Hadejia, Kirikasamma and Auyo local government areas.

It was my first time in the far end of the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria, and I was lucky to be in Hadejia prior to the Gani festival. The Gani festival is an annual durbar to commemorate the Eid-ul Maulud (usually 12th of Rabiul Auwal of the Islamic calendar) which is the day the noble Prophet Muhammad was born. Last year, it was celebrated on the 9th November, 2019.

On the day of the Gani festival, the sun rose with a special shine, making the festival a very colorful cultural display. All the members of the emirate council as well as title holders came in various beautiful and radiant regalia with skillful horse riding to pay homage to the Emir, His Royal Highness Alhaji Adamu Abubakar Maje.

The Gani is a much cherished festival almost of equal importance as the other Eids to the people of Hadejia emirate. All sons of the land come home to witness this festival. The Gani festival attracts crowds from other local governments within Jigawa state. Yobe, Bauchi and Kano states come in to witness this grand event. As gathered from various interviews; the Gani has been celebrated for centuries in the emirate as well as the neighboring Gumel emirate and also in Daura, Katsina state.

The three-day festival is packed with loads if cultural activities. On the first day, the Emir and his entourage go to greet the queen mother, and move around to receive prayers from around the town afterwards. There is a brief admonition by the Emir for the people to be steadfast to their religion, be more industrious at all times.

On the second day, members of the emirate council, title holders and their entourage come in succession to pay homage. It is usually the most anticipated part of the festival as there are horse racing, drumming, trumpeting (Algaita, Kaakaki, Kaho and other types of wind instruments), singing and dancing and local dane guns shooting display and much more.

The third day is set aside for the younger ones. The children of the Emir, emirate council members and title holders also form their entourage and pay homage to the emir. This also very lovely to watch. This is somehow a baton exchange to the younger generation to carry on with the Gani fest in order to preserve this cultural heritage.

The atmosphere was always a happy one, and there is no sense of panic as police and other paramilitary were deployed in good numbers to secure the length and breadth of the emirate throughout the period of the festival.

Hadejia is a lovely place to cool off from the hustle and bustles of the city life of Kano and Kaduna.