Jos — The Durbar festival popularly known as Hawan Sallah is the celebration of the two annual Muslim festivals, Eid-El-Fitr and Eid-El-Kabir.

The Eid- El-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims all over the world to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, while the Eid-el- Kabir marks the holy pilgrimage (Hajj) and sacrifice.

The Durbar is a spectacular parade of horsemanship celebrated in such cities of Nigeria as Kano, Katsina, Bauchi and Bida. As a traditional culture of Hausa people, the Hawan Sallah involves a parade of well adorned horse riders in beautiful regalia and garments. The Durbar could sometimes hold to serve as a mark of respect or honour to an individual or event.

On the 1st of October, the Hausa/Fulani in Jos and its environs gathered at the Race Course to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitr and reaffirm the inauguration of the Hausa/Fulani traditional council. The weather was friendly with the temperature far below 30 degrees Celsius, making the occasion an itch-free one.

The occasion began at exactly 4: 45pm with the arrival of guests from the nooks and crannies of Jos. First to arrive were Shiekh Balarabe Daud, Shiekh Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, the Chief Imam of Abuja, Shiekh Alhaji Musa the Emir of Bukuru Alhaji Nasiru suleman Muhammed and the movie mogul, Sani Mu'azu (Turakin Sarkin Hausawan Jos).

The Sarkin Hausawan Jos, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Ali, who made a grand entry clad in his white traditional attire with his entourage surrounded by a considerable security, was the point of spectacle at the occasion. Among his entourage were plain clothes security men, Hunters Association of Nigeria (Jos Branch), Yan'Tauri, Fadawa alongside drummers and kakaki (traditional Hausa flute).

The event began proper with a brief horse parade to acknowledge the arrival of the Sarki where horsemen exhibited different skills to entertain him, with loud ovation from the crowd.

During his speech the Sarkin Hausawan Jos thanked the Hausa/ Fulani community for deeming him fit to lead the community. He called on people to be law abiding and celebrate the festival in accordance with the Islamic injunctions, adding that the title conferred on him is different from that of Gbong Gwom Jos, thereby prayed for the quick recovery of Dr Victor Pam (Gbong Gwom Jos).

Similar speeches were delivered by Alhaji Balarabe Daud, the Emir of Bukuru and the Chief Imam of Abuja, Shiekh Alhaji Musa. The speeches were later followed by the spectacular horse dancing and horse riding.

Significance of the event

The Hawan Sallah is as significant as the Sallah event itself. It is a moment when people come out to celebrate not only the occasion generally. The movie mogul, Sani Mu'azu (Turakin Hausawan Jos), said, "Hawan Sallah is very significant both in terms of the religion and culture of the Hausa people whereever they are around the world. Religiously, we have just gone through the period of the holy month of Ramadan; it is part of the celebration of the Eid-el-Fitr", he said.

The Hawan Sallah was also an avenue where the traditional council of Hausawan Jos was reaffirmed, Turakin Hausawa continued, "we just reaffirmed the selection and turbaning of Sarkin Hausawan Jos which we confirmed through the composition of the traditional council".

Alhaji Sabo Shu'aibu, Sallaman Sarkin Hausawan Jos, said that the event was an old tradition of Hausa people. "This tradition of Durbar is as old as the people that practise it. It is an event that takes place in the far North. Therefore, it is not a new thing to the Hausa people, but it is new here in the City of Jos", he confirmed.

Alhaji Haladu Isma'il, who attended the event with his family said, "At times, I go to Kano during Sallah to witness the Hawan Sallah, especially with the beautiful parade of the horses, but now I have no cause to travel all the way from Jos to Kano because of Durbar, it is now here at my door step. I think this is a welcome development".

Malam Salihu, an observer at the event said, "The occasion has kept the youths at bay, making them to shun violence where they all converge at the Race Course to witness the event".

The crowd

The crowd was in thousands, it was almost as far as the eye could see. Sallaman Hausawan Jos, Alhaji Sabo, who was among the organizers commented, " We never knew the crowd was going to be that much because that was the first time Jos was witnessing the event. Therefore, I must confess that we underrated the crowd, but this will make us to make further provision for the event".

A security man with the Jama' atul Nasril Islam, Isa , who was sweating profusely, admitted that it was too difficult to control the crowd, "To be honest, the crowd is almost beyond our control because as you can see, we are having difficulty in controlling it and people are still trooping out".

A man who attended the event and craved for anonymity advised, "They should make proper arrangements when next they are going to organise such an event. There should be adequate security men, a stand by ambulance and similar provisions that would be in proportion with the crowd because if the event is going to continue in the subsequent Sallah, the turnout is going to be beyond description".

Tourism potential

In states like Kano and Katsina, the Durbar festival has since been a tourist attraction as people come from Europe and the United States of America to witness the event. Not only that, the festival has attracted many reputable people from Africa and its beyond. For instance, Queen Elizabeth (2nd) Margate Thatcher, Lord Lugad, Moumar Gaddafi and Robert Mugabe have all attended the Durbar festival.

Plateau state, being the home of peace and tourism, can benefit from this event. When the General Manager, Plateau state Tourism Corporation, Yakubu Nyam, was contacted on the potentiality of the occasion for tourism in the state, he said that "Durbar is a tourism activity. We in plateau state, that is, the Ministry and the tourism corporation, are working on a calendar for all the festivals and cultures to enable people from other parts of the country and the world to attend".

Sallaman Hausawan Jos further elaborated on that, "This is going to be our own contribution to the state in terms of tourism which is one of the things the state is known for".

Composition of the traditional council

The Hausa people are known for their administrative organisation through the traditional title holding. Plotmicor, a historian had, in his writings when describing the Hausa people in Jos (during the colonial era), quoted the then Division Resident Officer in a letter to the Divisional officers(in Jos) as saying, " had the British not arrived, these people would have evolved some......administration for themselves".

Many years after reducing the Sarkin Jos from to Magajin Gari and later to Wakilin Gari where the last on the throne was Alhaji Ali Kazaure (1973), the stool was left vacant up till date as Ahmad Sani (2001) put it, "Alhaji Ali Kazaure who was the last person to hold such post of wakilin Gari was relieved of his post without any reason given to the Hausas and the stool remains vacant to date........".

Expressing his views on the recent efforts to revive the traditional council, Mu'azu (Turakin Hausawan Jos) said, "we are like many other people distinct in our cultures and traditions and as such, we badly need a person that will lead us in that regard. Today we have confirmed based on the teachings of Islam, that wherever Muslim gathers, there must be a great leader and Inuwa Ali Sarkin Hausawan Jos is the leader of the Hausa/Fulani people in Jos".

Although the council was selected long before the event, the Hawan Sallah however served as an opportunity to reaffirm the council in the presence of thousands of spectators. The Hausa traditional council encompasses the Sarki, Waziri, Turaki, and Madaki, Dallatu, and Sarkin yaki, Sallama, Zanna and Shama. Other titles include Sarkin Samari, Magatakarda, Sarkin Fada, Garkuwa, Maji Dadi, Dan Isan and other council members.

Challenges

In organising such an occasion, especially at a first time, the chance of having a hitch free event is next to impossible. According to Alhaji Sabo, Sallaman Sarkin Hausawan Jos, one of the problems that the organizing committee experienced was the provision of horses for the Durbar. "Jos is not a city like Kano, Katsina or Bauchi where they have them in abundance, so we had to go to all the way to Bauchi to make more provision to augment the ones we have here, therefore imported over sixty horses from Bauchi".

The organising committee members confirmed that they had a tough time planning the event, especially in the area of finance, "but all that we have gone through was surely an experience for us to enable us handle subsequent events better".