Kano was famous for its magnificent
groundnut pyramids during Nigeria’s period
of agricultural boom in the 1960s and early
1970s. Its groundnut pyramids became
synonymous with the country’s agricultural
wealth, and Kano was regarded as an
economic hub in West Africa.
A pyramid could be built with as much as
15,000 full bags of groundnut. Invented by
the late Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, a prominent
groundnut trader, the groundnut pyramids
were a tourist attraction and symbol of
wealth. Dantata was one of the successful
businessmen who supplied the Royal Niger
Company (RNC) with most of its groundnut
demands. His groundnut were kept at
facilities in Kofar Nasarawa and Kofar
Mazugal in Dala.The pyramids came about because licensed
agents would go to rural areas, buy up
groundnut harvests and bring everything to
Kano for eventual evacuation by train to the
export facilities in Lagos. Curiously, as
groundnut production declined in the
1970s, the pyramids disappeared and were
replaced by buildings and roads. However,
the Kofar Mazugal location of the pyramids
at Dala remains intact till today.
When Daily Trust on Sunday visited the place
our reporter discovered that the location
has been converted to a football field,
campaign ground and test-driving location.
People were also seen gathering there for
one purpose or another on a daily basis.
Despite the long years of its abandonment,
traces of the triangular shape of the
pyramids could still be seen all over the
place.
Many of those who witnessed the
groundnut boom and the famous pyramids
located at Kofar Mazugal in Dala, Bebeji,
Malam Madori, Kofar Nasarawa and
Dawakin-Kudu areas, regarded as the hub of
trading about 60 years ago, are unhappy at
the pyramids’ disappearance. Those who
spoke to our reporter recounted the
glorious days of the groundnut trade .
Alhaji Illiyasu Danladi, who was a young man
during the groundnut boom said, “It was
over 60 years ago. I was a teenager then,
but I can remember the activities here. I
lived close to the abattoir. Cars in the state at
that time were not more than 10. What we
had were donkeys and camels. Camels
represented trailers. People were poor, but
we all lived in peace. We were not jealous
over the successes of one another. If you
had N10, I would pray to God to give me
N20. I would not try to collect yours.
“This area was bushy and not tarred. We
had trains and railway tracks that led to
Lagos. I didn’t participate in the groundnut
business. We used to watch the activities
from here. At that time, this place used to be
filled with people who brought groundnut
from different areas. A lot of customers
came from other places to buy groundnut
and other products.
“Although farmers participated in farming
other crops, like rice, the most important
crops were groundnut and cotton. That was
where the federal government was getting
its revenue from. Whoever was privileged to
witness the period of the groundnut boom
in Kano will not be happy to see the way it
has disappeared. But the government can
revive it. In Kano, we still have the capacity
to produce groundnut in large quantities,
even more than we produced during the
boom.
“I remember that I saw white people many
times here. We watched some of them as
they took pictures of the groundnut
pyramids. Nobody would not be fascinated
by the way those bags of groundnut were
arranged before they were taken to Lagos.
Why did they stop it? In those days, it was
the only business that was booming here in
Dala.
“Some of our people also sold kolanuts
around here, but most people came here
because of groundnuts. We will be happy to
see the groundnut pyramids back. You can
see that the field is still there. Any day I walk
through this field I remember the activities
that went on here for many years. If you
were here some years before now, you
would have seen the rail lines. They were
destroyed during the construction of
roads.”
Malam Zakiru is an old man. According to
one of his sons, Adamu, he is over 88 years.
He was a kola-nut trader at a market close to
the location of the groundnut pyramids at
the Dala area of Kano city. Recounting his
memories of the period, he said: “Traces of
the groundnut pyramids are still there. You
can go and take a look for yourself. I didn’t
work there, but I still have the memories of
the activities that took place there from the
1950s. I had friends who were labourers
there. They were helping to arrange the
bags of groundnut to form pyramids. I was
selling kola-nuts at the market here, so we
could see what they were doing from here.
Whenever it was time to place the last bag
of groundnut on the peak of the pyramids
we would leave whatever we were doing to
go there and watch how it would be done.
It was only one man that did that. His name
was Dabge. I haven’t seen him come out for
many years until I heard he died some years
ago. It was fun watching him climb the
pyramids to the peak without being assisted
by anyone. Whenever it was time to place
the last bag of groundnuts on the pyramid
he was the one who would do it and people
would gather to watch him.
“That was the most exciting time at the
pyramids. I was young then, but I don’t
think I had that strength to do what those
labourers were doing with bags of
groundnut at the pyramids.”
Also speaking, another community elder at
Dala, Malam Sheriff Aminu, said that going to
the pyramids was like going to the market.
“No one went to the groundnut pyramids
unless there was a reason. Unfortunately,
they allowed that business to die. That
period, the agents would gather the
groundnuts in pyramids and transport them
to Lagos.
“Alhaji Alhassan Dantata was the one
running the business here. Many farmers in
the villages were harvesting for him.
Whenever it was the season, you would see
people bring groundnut from different parts
of Kano to the locations of the pyramids on
camels and donkeys; only few people had
vehicles to bring their produce here. His
own was to get labourers to put them
together in pyramids. When this was done,
the agents would later transport them to
Lagos for shipment abroad. Most of his
customers were outside the state and the
country. The groundnuts produced in Kano
at that time were beyond what the state
could consume; they were even beyond
what the country could consume. You would
see farmers bring their produce for sale
from different villages. The next day you
would see another set of people coming in
large groups and everywhere. The field
would be filled with people selling
groundnut. But now, things have changed.
“You can see that the place is now used as a
football field. Those who want to learn
driving and religious preachers also use it.
Even politicians use it during election
periods as a campaign ground.”
Malam Aminu also said that he and some of
his friends always watched the labourers as
they arranged the bags of groundnut to
form the pyramids. “They would continue to
arrange the bags until they got to the peak.
“There was no road here (pointing at the
IBB Way built by the PTF during the late Sani
Abacha era). Only a railway line was here. It
was constructed to link the two groundnut
pyramids located at Dala and the one at
Kofar Nasarawa. From Kano Radio House to
this place, there was no road. When the PTF
came to construct the road, they removed
the rail line.
“Look at this wall, from up to that end was
used as groundnut pyramids. The field
belongs to Alhaji Alhassan Dantata. If you
look at it carefully, you would still see traces
of the pyramids carved out in a triangular
form.
“The federal government had made efforts
to revive the groundnut industry and rebuild
the pyramids many years ago. Former
President Goodluck Jonathan, on his visit to
Kano during the presidential campaign,
promised that his administration would help
the people to revive the groundnut
pyramids, as well as put in place, the
necessary infrastructure to boost its
processing and packaging. He said there
was the need to empower Kano people and
boost trade and industry here. In 2014, he
said his administration, under the
groundnut value chain programme,
expected to produce an additional 120,000
metric tonnes of groundnut valued at N24
billion (US$ 155 million) and supplied to
small, medium and large scale processors.
According to him, the project was planned
to be implemented in 15 states - Jigawa,
Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Bauchi, Benue, Borno,
Gombe, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger,
Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara - in the North-
West, North-East and North-Central geo-
political zones of the country.
But nothing was heard of the project till the
expiration of his administration in 2015.’

They abandoned it for oyel money. No wonder them want protect the one Naija by all means.
ND dey suffer, Fooolani dey enjoy.

The story long, but just as the guy above me said.....Na oil money make them abandon am

Oga I didn't even bother to read the long epistle. I only wanted to see the before and after pics,those things motivate me to go back and read the story

oil money block our leaders reasoning

Its a pity