Despite the scorching sun in Katsina on Monday, thousands of residents and visitors alike trooped to the emir’s palace after leaving their various Eid grounds to witness the traditional Durbar.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari and his deputy, Mannir Yakubu; senators and other top government officials were among those who witnessed the occasion at the emir’s palace.
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The last time Katsina people witnessed the event which is a rich religious cum cultural heritage was during the Eid-ul-Adha in 2019. Since then, the event had been put on hold due to banditry and COVID-19.
It had always been suspended by either the emirate or as a directive from the state government, not because the two metropolitan cities of Katsina and Daura were not safe for a peaceful durbar, but out of sheer sympathy and solidarity to the frontline local governments that were under banditry attacks.
In Katsina metropolis, this year’s Sallah Eid took place at different locations, with varying times, ranging from 7:30 am to 9 am, to enable residents to be able to perform the prayer at one location or another, after which men, women, young and old as well as little children who might be witnessing the Durbar for the first time, converged on the emir’s palace to witness his return, while others lined up along his usual route back to the palace to pay their homage.
The arrangement was such that the emir’s contingent would be the last to arrive, while the contingents of all the district heads under the emirate would come one after another, adorned in their regalia, depicting grandeur, knightship and horsemanship, with their horses also adorned in various colourful and gorgeous ornaments.
The emir’s contingent, which is inexplicably the largest, had in it different sub-contingents, worthy of note was the dressed in queen’s guard attire, denoting the close and strong tie the Katsina emirate has with Buckingham Palace.
On his part, the emir, Dr Abdulmumin Kabir Usman, who mounted a white stallion, was garlanded in the all-white top to down, including the royal umbrella that was providing a shade, an outing which so much exited his subjects and that which symbolises peace and purity.
Some residents who spoke with Daily Trust expressed their happiness over what they called the gradual return of peace and normalcy in the state.
Dr Rabe Darma, a popular politician and a governorship aspirant, said apart from the COVID-19 which forced the suspension of the durbar, there was no cogent reason for the suspension in the subsequent years, adding that the insurgency was limited to the frontline LGAs.
“This is part of Hausa tradition, part of Katsina tradition; the Sallah celebration is part of what our young people should know, as long as we are going to sanitise and prepare it to look like an Islamic celebration; it is okay so that the young people should know its essence,” he said.
Muhammad Kabir Sani, a resident of Katsina, said, “Our sallah in these recent years, where there was no durbar, was just like soup without salt. We would only go to eid and return home, without doing what we are used to. But we are grateful to God. This is a testimony that peace is gradually returning to our state.”
Emir preaches devotion, entrepreneurship, love and charity
While addressing the mammoth crowd at his palace, the emir admonished Katsina citizens to remain devoted to the worship of almighty Allah, saying if they do that, Allah will intervene in their affairs and make life easy for them.
“This entire mammoth crowd that gathered here today, one day none of us will be alive. If that is the case, which we all believe to be so; what then remains of us other than to remain devoted to the worship of Allah? If we do that, Allah will make our affairs easy for us in this world and in the hereafter.
“Similarly, this is not a time where somebody will sit down and be expecting help from others. You must all stand up and go in search of lawful means of livelihood. If we do that, those of us that are blessed by Allah should show love to their brothers and give charity, as such we will all live a better life,” the emir admonished.
‘Elect leaders who will do better than us’ – Gov Masari
Earlier, in his Sallah message, Governor Aminu Bello Masari called on the citizens to elect leaders that will be better than the present administration for the country to make progress.
“We must also pray that Allah will guide us to elect leaders that will better our lives. Like I always have been saying, the success of this administration is bringing leaders that will do better than us. That is when we can say our country, our state, is progressing,” he said.
He tasked the citizens of the state to sustain their level of commitment, devotion and kindness learnt in Ramadan, so that peace and normalcy will continue to return to the state.
He urged the citizens to remain prayerful and patient with the challenges which he said were not peculiar to the state but the world over.
“The world economy has been seriously and greatly affected by the falling oil price because of its demand, and then came COVID-19 which came with its own social and economic consequences which affected the growth of our people. We thank Allah because we were able to feed during the most difficult time of the pandemic because we have gone back to farm.
“Coming out of COVID-19, then the Ukrainian war which also has its global impact, and also we have our Sahelian /West African instability caused by armed banditry, drug trafficking and trafficking in arms. But we thank Allah for his mercies and we should continue to pray to Him so that our security will continue to improve,” the governor said.
