By Sabiu Abdullahi
Prominent author and social media commentator Reno Omokri has strongly defended the Hausa people and their culture after a Facebook user made what many saw as a derogatory comment about the ethnic group.
The controversy began when Omokri shared a celebratory post about his daughter, Oritsetsolayemi.
In response, a Facebook user, Arc Eze Chukwukere Atuegbu, sarcastically wrote: “Na Hausa APC ward chairman go marry this ur daughter. Congratulations sir.”
The comment, perceived by many as an ethnic jibe, drew a direct response from Omokri. In a follow-up post, Omokri expressed disappointment that being Hausa was implied to be an insult.
He described the ethnic slur as ignorant and unjustified.
“I don’t know why you think being Hausa is a derogatory thing. If my daughter marries a Hausa man, I would have no issues as long as it was a love match,” Omokri wrote.
Going further, he praised the cultural and intellectual legacy of the Hausa people, stating they had been writing in Ajami (Arabic script) for over 800 years, long before colonialism.
He contrasted this with what he described as the historical nakedness and lack of formal civilisation among many Southern Nigerian communities before Christian missionaries arrived.
Most notably, Omokri made a bold linguistic claim that has since gone viral:“There is no language in Southern Nigeria whose lexicon is wider than Hausa. None. Absolutely none!”
Language experts have weighed in on the statement, noting that Hausa is not only one of the most spoken languages in Nigeria but also across West Africa.
It is used as a lingua franca across borders, has a deep literary tradition in both Arabic and Latin scripts, and contains thousands of native and borrowed words that have influenced other Nigerian languages.
Omokri’s response has received widespread support and has reignited national discussions about ethnic tolerance, cultural pride, and the historical contributions of northern Nigeria to the broader Nigerian identity.