The Kano of my dream

By Rukayya Abdulhadi

A dream has always been a glimpse of the future—yet to happen and fragments of the past or what we thought to be. But, the Kano of my dream is a Salad of both; past and present.

It has always been hard to differentiate between my dreams and fantasies. What I have always dreamt as Kano, my past, present and future, was just a hallucination. The surest way to make your dreams a reality is to live them.

I dream of Kano to be the peaceful city that it once was – where people slept outside the walls of their rooms undaunted.

A Kano where humans are as safe as birds, swirling inside streets ‘Lunguna’ with no phone snatchers or intimidating drinkers.

A Kano where there is no imposing but tolerant of religion and cultures. Where marriage is bound by love, not ethnicity or race. Where schools outnumbered business centres branded as mosques. Where sect ‘Dariqah’ is not a prerequisite for relationships.

I yearn for Kano to be where nobody has to know someone to get their children educated. Where the rich and the poor eat in the same bowl without distinction. A Kano where anyone sitting on the throne of Emir is respected, their counsel duly noted. A Kano where elders are leaders.

I want Kano to be where every father is a father to all, and every child is a child to society. A Kano, which will not only be the centre of commerce but it is also the portrait that speaks the values of Hausa and Islam. A clustered society that doesn’t discriminate.

A Kano with a unique voice of respected command, youngsters, scared to dare elders. A Kano where respect is bounded by deserving.

A Kano where politics and religion will no longer be an instrument of coercion and manipulation.

A Kano free from the insalubrious dependence of pseudo-clerics, religious entrepreneurs and miracles.

A Kano where religion will not take the place of good governance.

A Kano with critical thinking youth, not human—machines for winning elections.

I dream of a Kano without all the cacophony of the ill-mannered and bastardised semi-illiterate politicians.

A Kano where every girl-child deserves an education, her dreams not shattered by the pretence of street hawking and child marriage. A Kano where female nurses and doctors are welcomed, not accused. Where motherhood and carrier peacefully coexist; accepted. Where a woman’s place is beyond the ‘oza room’.

A Kano where givers give without being asked, where takers take without asking. A Kano free from child labour camouflaged as ‘Almajiranci’.

I would love Kano to be a place wallowing in technology and accelerating towards the future, with a promising economy and fertile land. A Kano where poverty is dying while commerce is thriving.

Where leaders are readers, not a collection of nincompoops monopolising power.

A city where for kids, night tales will replace the abracadabra of TV series and an avalanche of technology with no use.

A Kano of my dream is possible.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Rukayya Abdulhadi is among the runners-up in the 2022 “The Kano of my dream” writing competition jointly organised by Muhsin Ibrahim, PhD, and The Daily Reality online newspaper. He can be reached via rukayyaabdulhaddi@gmail.com.