A History of Migration: The Emergence of Gobirawa Enclave in Kano since the 19th Century

Abstract

The migration of different people from various places of the world and their settlement in Kano were closely associated with availability of fertile land for farming activities, and the existence of commercial activities in the town had greatly contributed in attracting many people to the town. Thus, a group of people from Gobir (one of the biggest pre-colonial Hausa state) was said to have migrated to Kano in the 19th century, in search for greener posture either in commercial or industrial sector and settled outside the town. By the end of the 20th century, this new founded settlement witnessed an increasing number of people who were mostly from Gobir and settled in the area for one type of business or the other. Therefore, the intrusion of people since the inception of colonial administration onwards, Kano continued to experience series of enlargement both in population and its physical structure; and since then wards continued to found. Similarly, as a result of the growing number of people in Gobirawa settlement, coupled with its large size that it was finally commissioned and recognized as an independent ward in 1992, and Muhammad Bango who was one of the migrants from Gobir was appointed as the first ward head of Gobirawa. Using both oral and written sources, the paper examines a history of the migration of Gobirawa and emergence of an enclave settlement in Kano. The paper also argues that the emergence and settlement of Gobirawa people in Kano have greatly contributed to the economic and political development of both settlement and Kano state at large.