The Kano traditional authority pool of counsellors will swell by an additional one June 26th, 2026 when the Emir,, Muhammad Sanusi II, turbans Barrister Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud as the Garkuwan Kano.
In traditional authority language, the Garkuwan Kano is the guarantor of security or ‘the shield’ but not in the sense of carrying the gun to operationalise defence. It is rather in the symbolic sense of defence, meaning the one who secures by reflecting and projecting the Kano cosmopolitan metaphor of Tumbin Giwa, Intervention is told.
The recipient, more known as AB Mahmoud, is not only a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), he is a one-time Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Kano State. He is also a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). All these make him a Garkuwan Kano archetype – a model for young men and women from Kano.
What is distinguishing of this recipient of the traditional title is that he has been a progressive activist since his days as a student, has interacted across the country and cultivated a national constituency. For instance, it is understood but not confirmed that former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo would grace the event, among other leading names and players of the power elite. This is besides symbolic presences such as the Och’Idoma of Idoma, for instance. With tentacles this far, this Garkuwan Kano may actually have become Garkuwan Nigeria by acting, through family ties, in favour of indivisibility of the nation.
His recognition as the one the Garkuwan Kano cap fits, Intervention also understands, has to do with his developmental activism, particularly in the realm of education and youth support programmes. What that means is that he is Garkuwan Kano for his consciousness of his social responsibility.
AB Mahmoud’s Garkuwa Kano title will bring to three of such elements in contemporary Northern Nigeria as far as Intervention can immediately recollect. There is Dr. Lamis Ibrahim Dikko who is serving as Hajiyan Katsina in Katsina State. A corporate mogul, Dr. Dikko has a radical heritage. Dr. Kole Shettima of MacArthur Foundation was recently turbaned as Yuroma of Machina and now, there will be AB Mahmoud as Garkuwan Kano.
There may not be anything entirely new for members of the modernising elite to be identified and honoured with traditional titles but the current trend has a newness about it in that it is taking place at a time of a return to the ontological roots across the world. It would thus be interesting to see who and where next!
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