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| Africa: Subsaharan | |
| The Caliphate of Sokoto celebrates 200 years | |
| 2004-06-18 | |
| Hundreds of west African leaders -- heads of state, Islamic royalty and traditional chiefs -- were due in this ancient northern Nigerian city ahead of a celebration of the bicentenary of the Caliphate of Sokoto, the region's most renowned Muslim kingdom. At the height of his powers, the Sultan ruled a huge tract of northern Nigeria and wielded spiritual and political influence over a huge swathe of territory running through the parched grazing lands of the Sahel semi-desert from the highlands of Cameroon to the cool waters of the mid-Atlantic. "Although the core of the Caliphate lies within the boundaries of present day Nigeria, it covered an area of 250,000 square miles (650,000 square kilometres) and stretched as far as Nikki in Benin, Ngaundere and Tibati in Cameroon and much of the southern part of the Niger Republic," said Ibrahim Gadido, information commissioner for modern day Sokoto State. Even beyond this vast domain, the rulers of Sokoto received tribute and allegiance from lesser princes in Islamic lands as far afield as Senegal and Sudan, he added, as the great and the good of the region gathered in this dusty trading centre near Nigeria's far northern border. The present Sultan, Muhammadu Maccido Abubakar III, will host two days of ceremonies, culminating in a spectacular durbar, a colourful display of the skilled horsemanship of the region's Hausa and Fulani peoples. "All the former heads of state of Nigeria will attend, some of them have already arrived. More than 200 traditional rulers from inside and outside Nigeria will participate in the ceremony, and we are expecting 11 heads of state," he said. It was not clear on Friday which of the invited leaders would be coming to Sokoto. Most are thought to be coming from west and north Africa. Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo will be guest of honour, and President John Kufuor of Ghana's office confirmed he would take part. Since the days when the first sultan, Usman Dan Fodio, and his horseborne warriors ruled the its northern plains, Nigeria has been though several incarnations, and is now run as a federal republic under an elected president. But the Sultan still enjoys great respect and influence as the spiritual leader of the nation's 65 million Muslims, and still has followers in Islamic communities as far away as Burkina Faso. And with the tensions between the Muslim north and Nigeria's equally numerous southern Christians never far from the surface, it is today seen as vitally important for Nigeria's temporal lords to pay proper respect to the pride and tradition represented in the bicentenary spectacular. "There is a need to emphasize the continuing relevance of the Caliphate ideal and re-emphasize its integrative essence, which forged a strong bond of unity, community and solidarity in an expansive multicultural environment," said Gadido.
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| Posted by:Fred |