This question was fairly popular among the candidates as most of those attempted it recognised the reasons for the survival of Saifawa dynasty and explained them correctly. However, a few candidates could not articulate their points very well and therefore scored low marks. The following points were expected to be made by candidates in order to score good marks

Most of the Mais enjoyed long reign which enabled them to operate stable government;
(ii)        the dynasty produced able men of outstanding political and military ability
            e.g. Dunama II,  Ali Ghaji and Idris Alooma;
(iii)       the dynasty was blessed with great warriors.  They were able to sustain the economy and the power of the empire and controlled the central and local governments;
(iv)       conquered provinces were given sufficient local autonomy, so they easily accepted the kanuri over-lordship;
(v)        inter-marriages among various groups of people were encouraged and this helped various classes of people to move into the kanuri governing councils.