Kano State government says it intends to reconstruct the original Kano city walls with material from numerous demolitions in the State.
Governor Abba Yusuf stated this after inspecting ongoing demolition sites in Kano. According to him, the Police and members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had already been assigned to protect demolition sites against scavengers.
Yusuf said, We went round the city to inspect the various demolished sites. We have decided to use the debris of the demolished sites to rehabilitate Kano city walls to preserve history, beautify the state and make it site of attraction as a national monument.
The Governor urged the people of the State to continue to follow the law, and to report any suspicious movements to security officials so that they can be dealt with quickly.
Kanos ancient city walls were defensive walls initially built to protect the Kano people. The wall, considered West Africas most impressive monument, has stood for nearly 800 years. It was built between 1095 and 1134 and completed in the mid-fourteenth century.
According to historians, the then-General-Governor of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, Fredrick Lugard, claimed, in a 1903 report about the Kano Walls, that he had never seen anything like it in Africa, after seizing Kano with British soldiers.
The walls were initially predicted to be 30 to 50 feet tall and 40 feet thick at the base, with 15 gates encircling them.
