Once bustling but dying Kano cinemas

Kano cinemas, once known for hosting series of activities and entertaining people from all walks of life, are now a shadow of their former selves, Daily Trust has observed.

These cinemas -that’s the few that are still operating, are now struggling with the lowest patronage amidst rise and availability of films on mobile phones facilitated by internet connectivity. However, even the culture of sitting collectively in a large open space to watch a movie has died down drastically.

It was gathered that the few cinema houses in operation now look very old, unkept and barely managed as buildings, seats and other infrastructure look very old and worn out. In fact, most are obsolete.

Daily Trust gathered that the application for the first cinema in Kano and northern Nigeria was made in October 1937 by a Lebanese businessman for the construction of the Rex Cinema—an open-air movie theatre adjacent the popular Sabon Gari market. Later came other cinemas, including the Palace which opened on July 2, 1952 – a year after the El Duniya, which was razed down by fire but was shut in the 1980s. There was Queens Theatre, Plaza, Orion, El Dorado, Wapa (named after the area where the cinema is located) and then Marhaba Cinema. 

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In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Kano’s mainstream cinemas were dominated by British and American films. In the 1950s, cinemas began screening the odd Egyptian and Indian films. By the mid 1960s, Egyptian films had disappeared and Indian films emerged as the most popular film genre (in northern Nigeria at least) though American and some English films were still highly popular. In the 1970s, Hong Kong films began to gain popularity. 

However, according to research in the 1990s, Indian films were shown five nights a week at cinemas with one night for Hong Kong films and one night for American films (mostly cheap action films).

African films were rarely been shown regularly in mainstream cinemas and the notable exception to this in Nigeria is the case of Yoruba films – a small imperfect cinema which emerged from the Yoruba traveling theatre tradition. For the most part, these films were not screened in mainstream theatres but in rented halls formerly used for theatrical performances.

Marhaba Cinema, built in the early 80s, will always be remembered as an iconic cinema house in the history of Kano.

Today however, the building looks like an abandoned farm far from a village settlement. Located in the midst of many buildings and a market by the side, it can only be identified and related with by those who knew it before.

Speaking about the once bustling cinema and its environs, Sa’idu Mustapha described it as a legendary avenue that outlived many.

“Marhaba! The memory is always fresh in my mind and that is why you still meet me here. No matter where I go to, this is where I come back to meet with like-minds before going home. It has become our second home for life.

“This place used to be very busy but sadly, look at it now. Time has outlived it. Let me tell you, in the past, even if you were carrying a dead body to the graveyard, you have to be patient because of the crowd. You cannot quantify the number of people going about their activities here. Businesses were thriving, especially those selling drinks and snacks.

“Marhaba is one of the reasons you still see mechanics and many other things around this neighbourhood. It is sad the place has gone into oblivion, honestly.”

Marhaba Cinema was shut down more than 10 years ago and currently, it has been sold to a private individual who seems to have no intention of reviving it.

Also speaking about the bustling nature of the cinemas, Ahmad Muntari Sabo said it was a place for everyone, including influential individuals, in the society.

“Cinema is a place you go to for leisure. When we were young, we used to see very influential and highly placed individuals going to the cinema. You will see judges, royal and traditional leaders, religious leaders, all going there.

“You will see a whole household, led by the father, coming in to watch films and shows because there was a lot to learn from there but now, there is nothing like that.

“We have left everything behind. Our culture and tradition are nothing to us because we are always looking up to the western world and their lifestyle and trying to imitate it.”

Also speaking, Hamisu Baba Agadasawa said, “Cinema was a learning centre where you go to learn new cultures and traditions of people that are outside your immediate environment. It was not just for entertainment but also for learning.

“The category of people that go to cinema are adults as at that time because they can easily comprehend what was going on and they can learn but now, you see young children, due to change in lifestyle, going there to watch things like football.”

While some cinemas, like the Marhaba, have been closed down, others like Plaza Cinema have been wiped from history as the building housing the cinema has been demolished and a shopping plaza replaced it.

Others like El Dorado and Queens cinemas both located in Sabon Gari area of Fagge Local Government are struggling to keep afloat because of huge decline in patronage.

It was observed that the only patronage that keeps the places alive is football matches that are shown almost on weekly basis. However, they still lack customers coming in to watch matches.

Speaking on the development, Hassan Abdullahi—the manager of El Dorado Cinema, explained that “What we are getting now is mostly from watching football. The market is no more. Like you know, almost everything has changed. I can remember how it was before.”

His assistant, Ubale Abubakar, said “Before, even if you were passing by, you will thank God and appreciate it. However, everything has collapsed. Before, we used to get not less than 2000 persons but now we hardly see 200 people coming in to watch even football. It is no longer people’s priority and most of them don’t even know how the place was originally. We are in a very bad situation honestly. We just pray things become alright and change for good.”

When asked about patronage from film producers and others, he said the decline in the culture of coming to cinemas contributed to the loss of confidence from producers because they don’t recover their money.

“We hardly bring it now because nobody comes to watch and they must have spent a lot of money in producing their films. 

“Secondly, we will have to be paid before a film is shown and when they calculate what they are giving us, they lose confidence and go away.

“Another reason is that people watch from their mobile phones and in the comfort of their homes. So, they feel there is no need. It’s just a waste of time. Even the football, most people watch from their mobile phones and at home.”