X-raying The Economic Reach Of Igbos In Kano State

With a reputation in fair trade commitments including tanning, footwear, cosmetics, earthenware, furniture, textile, and other industries, plus politics, Kano State is the second-largest industrial center of the country, only behind Lagos State.

The verve with which industry is engaged and exploited in Kano State makes it a certain destination for migrants who leave their native locations for greener pastures and amongst these migrants are the Igbo people.

Here is a breakdown of the economic reach of Igbo people in Kano State.

There are about 2.5 million Igbos living in Kano

If we work with this incredible estimation, it would go without saying that the Igbos are the predominant migrant ethnic group in Kano State and this explains why the Igbos play critical roles in the economy of the State.

The Igbos began to migrate to Kano in the mid-1960s, at a time the Yorubas were the dominant migrant group in the state, and over a couple of years, the Igbos took over, dominating not only habitable spaces in Kano, but the business sector also.

And even though Igbos in Kano have been displaced a number of times, including the period of the civil war and the anti-Igbo progrom that preceded it, Igbos have continued to hold an enviable sway on the economy of Kano State.

Igbo traders have a sizeable economic presence in all the 44 LGAs in Kano State

Igbos living in Kano are massive investors in all sorts of trade and studies have shown that there are substantial populations of these South-Eastern traders in virtually every Local Government Area in Kano State. Some say, there is no market (major or minor) in the State where you will not find an Igbo trader.

Read this – Everything we know about the Indigenous Igbos in Benue

As a result of the age-long practice of providing migrants with a specific settlement, the Sabon Gari area of Kano State was given to migrants from the Southern region of Nigeria. Hence, the Igbo population is very much concentrated in this Sabon Gari where they dominate other migrant ethnic groups.

At the Abubakar Rimi Market in Sabon Gari (the most popular market in that area to be precise), the Igbos are massive dealers in spare parts, a trade in which Igbo people virtually have a monopoly in most parts of the country.

They are not just dominate in Sabon Gari

Apart from Sabon Gari, other areas where Igbos dominate include Maitara, Riegele-Meru, Brigade, Bompai, Naibawa, and Gyedi Gyedi (which is reportedly where the current Eze Igbo of Kano State resides).
The economical exploits of the Igbo people in Kano State seem to be the reason behind even more domination.

There have been reports that there is a highbrow area at Zungeru Road, behind Kano Airport, that is exclusively owned by the Igbos. Speaking out against it, Dr. Abdullah Gadon Kaya was quoted by Emergency Digest to have said, “Government should not allow such [i.e Igbos owning a place in Kano] to be happening when we cannot go to Onitsha, Aba or Enugu and create an exclusive place for Northerners like that.”

According to Vanguard, Igbo investors in Kano State have capital commitments in a trade that runs up to an excess of 10 trillion naira.

In the civil service

While it goes without debate that a typical Igbo has a tendency to become an entrepreneur, the Igbos in Kano are also working with the government in significant numbers.

They have been substantially employed by the government in several public agencies including Railways, Post and Telegraph Department, Fire Service, and so on. Few Igbos are also working in the Kano State government service.

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Written by Johnson Onyedika, Enugu