Fulani

By Hassan Abdulkadir

The Fulani are traditionally a nomadic, pastoralist trading people across the dry hinterlands of their domain. They are the largest nomadic ethnic group in the world, inhabiting several territories over an area larger than the continental United States.

The Fulani follow a code of behaviour known as “PULAAKU,” which encompasses patience, self-control, discipline, prudence, modesty, respect for others (including foes), wisdom, foresight, personal responsibility, hospitality, courage, and hard work.

It wouldn’t be fair to judge an entire faith, religion, or tribe by the actions of a few aberrant individuals. It is more just to evaluate them based on the scriptures and teachings of the faith or the traditions and conventions of the tribe. 

History has shown that some of the greatest massacres committed on this planet were by individuals like Adolf Hitler, a European Jewish Christian. However, his actions were never equated with his religion or tribe. 

Similarly, Benito Mussolini and Menachem Begin, who were responsible for numerous atrocities, were not judged by their faith or tribe. Yet, when a single Fulani or Muslim individual commits an act of terrorism, the entire religion (Islam) or tribe (Fulani) is unjustly blamed.

Moreover, the most infuriating aspect of this situation is that many of these individuals are brainwashed and used by heartless people who are not Fulani. For example, videos circulating online vividly demonstrate this is true. In one instance, an arrested Fulani man explains how much the masterminds paid him after abducting someone. 

The amount given to the Fulani men is not even a quarter of the ransom collected, yet they are still blamed. It’s important to note that some of them are forced into this due to intimidation and life threats by the gangsters. These masterminds exploit the Fulani and Bedouins because they know the bush well. 

For God’s sake, as educated, wise, and prudent individuals, how can anyone believe that the people they consider inept could successfully carry out such complex operations without being caught? They can’t even perfectly operate phones. This is unfair. Such acts require logic, strategies, and prudence. However, due to biased perspectives, Nigerians are generalising the entire tribe instead of targeting the deceived and manipulated individuals among them.

Candidly, the truth must be trumpeted. When our southern brothers say “Hausa-Fulani,” they’re not referring to the tribe but to a Muslim or Northerner, whom they consider terrorists, bandits, and so on. Meanwhile, in some parts of the southern region of this country, there are places where humans are slaughtered like animals. Generalising the Fulani as bandits and terrorists is truly unfair and unjust.

All the calamities this country, especially the North, has been facing—such as insecurity, insurgency, banditry, terrorism, and critical hardship—are not due to the Fulani people but are the result of politics, business, and the selfishness of our unpatriotic and tyrannical politicians.

I urge the youth to be patriotic, equip themselves with adequate and pure knowledge, and engage in politics. The rich also have a crucial role to play by sponsoring these energetic youths in politics for the betterment of our country and for the coming generations to flourish.

May Nigeria prosper and thrive, amin.

Hassan Abdulkadir wrote via hassanabdulqadeerabubakar@gmail.com.

By Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu

You might have remembered the post. March 8, 2023, to be precise. It was on International Women’s Day in 2023. It was about Sadiq, the fura hawker, and his wonderful mother, the fura seller at Bayero University, Kano. It was about love, faith, and sacrifice.

A simple Fulani woman sells fura so nourishing, fresh, and delicious that she could be given a slot in any restaurant at Harvard University—not the tree shade she occupies—and is often harassed at Bayero University. She does not sell fura because she needs the money. She sells it because she does not want to be idle. She is wealthy. Very wealthy. No mansions with a sea of workers at her beck and call. No fancy cars. No holiday retreats to the Seychelles. Simple meals. No crabs, oysters, lobsters, or caviar. No shopping in Paris and Dubai. Just cows. Many cows. Her lifeblood. She was willing to sell some of the cows to pay for her son’s education because, as a mother, she believed in him. She loves him and was willing to sacrifice her heritage—the cows—to ensure a sustainable future for him.

The son, Sadiq, has his head in the sky. He wants to fly, to be a pilot. The cost of the training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, in northern Nigeria, was more than ₦7 million. “No problem,” says the woman who lives in a hut with no electricity and draws her water from a well in a land that is not hers. “I can sell my cows for you to become a pilot.”

Unfortunately, Sadiq could not make the student pilot selection tests. Undeterred, she paid for his next choice—Computer Science at Al-Qalam University, Katsina, also in northern Nigeria. What made her a heroine was her sheer determination to see that he was educated. Human resource development at its most anthropological best—more sophisticated than the theories of Robert Owen, Charles Babbage, and Frederick Winslow Taylor, the credited proponents of the discipline. In this single but simple act of sacrifice, we see the power of love and the power of a woman who is not educated in any fancy school but the massive school of life. Yet, she knows, as a mother, the value of human capital development and is willing to sacrifice what she has to actualize it for her child.

At Al-Qalam, Sadiq was no slouch. His mother had sold a few cows to pay for his school fees for four years and also gave him spending money. He invested it in a fura business in Katsina—no doubt bringing Katsinawa the best fura they would ever taste from Kano! He did so to sustain himself throughout his college years without burdening his mother for upkeep money. He even employed some fellow students as his distributors. Extremely outspoken, he was the perfect candidate for the presidency of the Computer Science Students Association of the college, to which he ascended after being the Vice-President II of the association.

Back in Kano, he became a youth activist. He encouraged the formation of the Kano State Nomadic Fulɓe Youth Association in 2018. This was a coalition of all Fulani youth who had some form of education, especially higher education, and could therefore demand integration into society and better attention from politicians for their kraals. Ironically, considering that the power, hegemony, and control are actually in the hands of the Fulani—and have been so since 1807. This created a linguistic anomaly for the Fulɓe youth: those in power claim to be Fulɓe and although they have voices, they care less about Fulani causes. Those who speak Fulfulde and care more about Fulani causes are voiceless in the larger scheme of things.

Sadiq’s Fulɓe Youth felt the only way to gain attention to the plight of the Fulani was to align themselves with a political party. They chose a party not in power, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), because they felt they would be listened to. Ironically, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was in power, would have worked for them because of the “ability to speak Fulfulde” factor, since the then Governor of Kano, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, is a genuine “I can speak Fulfulde” Fulɓe. But they chose the NNPP and its gubernatorial candidate, Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf. They believed in him and devoted themselves to his cause.

During Engineer Abba Yusuf’s campaigns in 2019, a lyricist named Tijjani Gandu composed a political song for him titled, “Abba Gida Gida Abba”/Abba in every home. This actually became more or less Abba Kabir Yusuf’s nickname. With a catchy chorus and hook, it was perhaps the most iconic political song in Kano’s popular culture, even eclipsing “Kwankwaso Dawo Dawo”/ (Kwankwaso re-contest). Someone even had White kids somewhere in the US or Europe dancing to the chorus on social media!

Sadiq and Fulɓe Youth came up with a brilliant plan: map out all the Fulani kraals (Ruga) in Kano using their GPS coordinates in Google Maps to obtain data for easy access to the Fulani kraals (which he pluralizes as ‘Rugage’). Using satellite mapping, it would be relatively easy to determine access, population, and the level of development in each Ruga, which would be effective for campaigning, as well as for other uses—health and vaccination campaigns, schooling drives, etc. Next, the Fulɓe Youth under Sadiq came up with a slogan to campaign for Abba Kabir Yusuf: “Abba Ruga Ruga Abba,” deliberately rhyming with Abba Gida Gida Abba. They were even able to negotiate access to the man himself, i.e., Abba Kabir Yusuf. But it all came to naught.

Sadiq continued his studies, finishing in the autumn of 2023. Everyone knew he was excellent, and when Al-Qalam held a convocation ceremony last year for only First Class students, everyone who knew Sadiq expected him to be among those honored. Alas, it was not to be. However, Sadiq scored a Second Class Upper in Computer Science—perhaps a first for a fura hawker who lives in a kraal.

With such brilliant results in computer science and a committed social philosophy of uniting all Fulani youth in all kraals on a peace mission, it remains to be seen whether his mother’s sacrifice has been in vain. Being the son of a nobody, he lacks access to ‘big people’ who will give him a job. But Sadiq is not one to give up easily. His mind is too sharp, too restless to trudge from one office to another with a large brown envelope carrying his CV and looking for a job in futility.

I won’t be surprised if he uses these attributes to design an Artificial Intelligence routine that would perfect milk production—thus giving us better fura. Who knows? Harvard University might even invite him to open the first AI Restaurant in the world. Before then, as he faces his NYSC in May 2024, it would be a shame to waste his organizational skills. SA on Fulbe Youth? Why not? After all, the kraals also need development and attention—and not only during elections either.

Sadiq is what he is now—a unique, proud, hardworking, and brilliant Fulɓe youth advocate—because of his mother’s love and dedication. An ordinary mother, not the daughter of a “big man” or “important people,” just ordinary, but with an extraordinary commitment to love and sacrifice—and without being a social parasite.

Allah’s blessings for eternity to all mothers of the world on this day of re-embrace of Sadiq’s mother and her lexicon of love.

Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu can be contacted via auadamu@yahoo.com.

By Professor Abdussamad Jibia 

Those of us from Jibia LGA of Katsina state have been mourning for the past ten days. Last week, bandits launched an attack on the Kukar Babangida community of Jibia LGA. The infamous guests had visited Kukar Babangida many times, but this is probably the worst. They killed the ward head, Alhaji Haruna, along with nine others. 

Kukar Babangida is located about 15 kilometres from Jibia on the Jibia-Katsina highway. It was called Kukar Zaure until sometime during the administration of General Babangida when he launched the annual tree-planting campaign at the village. On that occasion, the then Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Muhammad Kabir Usman, renamed it Kukar Babangida. Of course, for a local community to be validly renamed, it must have the blessing of the emirate. In its case, Kukar Zaure was renamed by the Emir himself. The annual tree planting campaign was a very good practice of military regimes that politicians have abandoned for no apparent good reasons.

Magaji Zaure, which is his traditional title, refused to relocate to either Katsina or Jibia as many of his colleagues have done. He has always stated that abandoning his people and running away would be a breach of trust. This time around, he paid the supreme price. If you have been following my writeups for the past eight years, you would understand the kind of frustrations our communities have been subjected to with respect to insecurity. Lives have been lost, women and girls disgraced, people kidnapped for ransom, farmers displaced from their farmlands and communities occupied.

This introduction would only tell you how badly in need people like me are for a solution to the problem of insecurity. That is why my curiosity was piqued when I came across a video clip yesterday.

The clip, which is obviously a news item from a Hausa service of one of those big foreign radio stations, is about the launching of a vigilante group by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Association. The activity, which took place in Nasarawa state, featured a parade by the new recruits in their uniform, a fashion parade by Fulani youth and an interview with the President of the Miyetti Allah group, one Alhaji Bello Abdullahi Bodijo. Very senior police officers also graced the occasion.

According to Alhaji Bodijo, the aim of establishing the group is to assist regular security forces to “peacefully” arrest criminals without killing the innocent. Asked whether or not they have obtained Government approval to establish the group, he only expressed hope that the Federal Government and its security forces would give them the necessary recognition. “We shall also help Nigerian Governors to tackle the problem of insecurity”. 

In Nasarawa state alone, Alhaji Bodijo stated they will recruit 4,000 members. First, they have already screened 2140 selected from different (Fulani) families. He promised to end the security problem in Nasarawa state in six months. While stating they have their traditional sticks, Alhaji Bodijo pledged to seek Government approval to obtain weapons allowed by law.

First, let me commend the Miyetti Allah group for their concern about the insecurity problem bedevilling Nigeria and, for the first time, admitting the contribution of their kinsmen to the problem. That most of the bandits operating in the North West and North Central states are Fulani is not debatable. This became well known during the time of Buhari when he directed Governors in the North West geopolitical zone to dialogue with bandits. All the bandits’ leaders that met with Governor Masari were Fulani, and they are well known, with some of them still moving unscathed even when the Federal Government is spending billions of Naira of taxpayers’ money on insecurity.

With the resolve and non-cowardly nature of Fulani, I do not doubt that if the all-Fulani group decide to face their criminal kinsmen, banditry will come to an end in a very short time. But are they ready to do it?

Miyetti Allah Kautel Hore group has itself been criticised for aiding and abetting criminality on several occasions. Perhaps the best known for this accusation is the immediate past Governor of Benue state. We can also recall that at a point in time, a Zamfara state commissioner of Police issued a warning to the Miyetti Allah group to bring an end to banditry in the state or face the wrath of the law.

The tone of Alhaji Bodijo does not suggest that the Miyetti Allah group is ready to face the criminal elements among their kinsmen, fire for fire. In fact, he mentioned the name of a hardened criminal in the North West and stated that they are ready to partner with people like him to end insecurity. But Alhaji Bodijo has a reply for me if he wants it. What is news about partnering with bandits if the Government, with its security forces and an obligation to protect lives and property, has dialogued with them several times? 

But come. Why Nasarawa state? Does the Governor have any interest in the new Miyetti Allah project? Politicians can be unpredictable. Many of them have been accused of using ethnic militia for their political agenda. Governor Abdullahi Sule should come clean on this.

Or does the Nasarawa project have anything to do with the “innocent” herdsmen killed by the military sometime in 2022? We are aware that the Horijo, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, visited both President Buhari and President Tinubu to seek compensation for his tribesmen even though he has never done so with respect to the many innocent people killed by criminals suspected to be of Fulani descent. How are we sure that this project is not about revenge?

Assuming revenge is not the first idea. If an incident like the one in question happens again, can we rule out a confrontation between an armed Miyetti Allah vigilante group and the Nigerian Air Force? If the group has branches in all states of the Federation or at least the Northern states, would that not be a major disaster?

By the way, this is Nigeria, a multiethnic and multireligious nation. Any security outfit to be recognised by the Government at the state or Federal level must not be ethnically biased. While Fulani herdsmen (Fulanin daji as they are called) have a very good knowledge of the forest because of the nature of their occupation, the collaborators of forest-based bandits are usually hidden in the cities. The victims of banditry are mostly people in the villages, and they can tell the different ways in which bandits attack.  All these mean that an unbiased vigilante group must be composed of different categories of people, not just people with knowledge of the forest.

My advice for MACBAN is to modify their approach. Reach out to other interest groups and form an all-inclusive vigilante group. Government should do the screening with inputs from Miyetti Allah Kautel Hore and other law-abiding groups. 

Recognising the new group without modification is a potential disaster for Nigeria.

Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia wrote from Kano. He can be reached via aujibia@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Idris

The attention of the Association of Fulbe Youths Development Association, Plateau State, under the leadership of AY Umar has been drawn to an unfortunate incident that took place at Heipang Village (located at Plateau State Airport) Barikin Ladi Local Government Area on Sunday 06/08/2023 between the hours of 7pm and 8pm.

Facts at our disposal reveals that some criminals gangs strongly believed to be from Birom Armed Militias groups attacked and killed the innocent FULANI Citizens while they were returning home from the popular cattle market in Bukuru, Jos South, LGA, Plateau state.

Victims of the incident were Umar (adult ‘m’ from Barikin ladi) who was killed and Yakubu (adult ‘m’) from Bokkos sustained gun shot injury and currently receiving treatment in hospital.

Moreso, Yusuf Bibbi (20yrs) and Abdulrahman Bibbi were also ambushed around KwallDistrict of Bassa LGA, when they were going to fetch water for domestic use about 7:00Pm, on Monday 7th August 2023. Both of them sustained enjury and they are receiving medical treatment.

Similarly, another attack was carried out on innocent fulani commuters while returning from the same cattle sometimes in June 2023, involved in the incident were Muazu Aliyu (adult from Barkin), Aminu Goma from Barkin were wounded and one other killed.

Few days later another Fulani commuters were attacked in the same area while coming back from the same market.

Furthermore, one Alhaji Auwalu Shanono of Barkin Ladi was murdered on his way to inspect his herds on Sunday 16th April 2023 by the same armed men suspected to be Berom militias in between Plateau State Polytechnic and Airport, Barkin Ladi, Plateau state. His dead body was recovered with about 10 bullets wounds on it and his bike stolen away. All these were reported to security agencies including the Police and Operation Safe Heaven and all promised were make to take serious action but nothing was done to date while the trend continued not mitigated.

This Association has noticed that, this unprovoked act of criminality has been in practiced for decades although was tackled by former Commader Sector Seven Barkin Ladi when he took necessary security measures around the area sometimes in 2018.

While drawing the attention of all stakeholders, The President Federal Republic of Nigeria, Plateau state Government, the media, international organisations and observers, civil society organisations, religious leaders, Christians Association of Nigeria,(CAN) Jamaatul Nasrul Islam (JNI), Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), TABITAL PULAAKU International, FUDECO, that this incident has resurged and is going on unabated in a time when state Government and security agencies have told the world that all necessary measures have been taken to bring lasting peace on the Plateau state.

It is in view of the above we urged the above mentioned stakeholders and any other interested party to note this developments and further requests as a matter of urgency fetch out the killers in Hipang.

To share more light on the trend is that these Birom Militias gangs do used to pin down on the Federal road Junction of Hipang community fully armed and thereby shut on citing any car carrying Fulani men on the road.

We therefore called on the plateau state Government to act on the issues of security, so that peace shall return to the Plateau state.

We wish to reaffirm that pastoralists are bonafide citizens of Nigeria and Plateau state and hence deserve the protection of their lives and properties as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and International convention and treaties, United Nations and African Union and ECOWAS treaties for the protection of rights of persons and their properties.

We also wish to call on the Fulani youths to show calmness, resilience and eschew all forms of taking the law into their hands and as well have faith that the government will take necessary action in curtailing this trend.

We further wish to state that the enemies of peace should be aware that Fulanis are Nigerians and citizens of Plateau state and therefore, no amount of blackmail and intimidation will make them leave their homes. The ethnic cleansing and profiling that had been ongoing against the Fulanis in the cover story of terrorists to derail the truth in the Plateau must be stopped as a matter of urgency to forestall further breakdown of law and order across the state.

As an association, we reaffirm our unalloyed loyalty to the federal Republic of Nigeria.

Muhammad Idris
FOYUDA Publicity Secretary
08/08/2023.

By Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu

My posting about MU Adamu’s 1968 paper on the influence of Arabs on Kano culture, economy and religious practices has ignited a few responses of personal nature from some readers interested in their own interconnected life stories. This is a follow-up and update.

I think it is wonderful that we begin to interrogate our past so that we can appreciate our present in order to make better plans for the future. We were all besotted with this implausible concept of ‘Hausa-Fulani’ that we tend to ignore other genetic tributaries that constitute the Hausa genetic pool, especially in Kano. Such Majma’al Bahrain is either unknown to many or ignored. Bringing it out means that the ethnic picture of the Hausa is more than the mingling of the Fulani genes with the Hausa – there were dashes of Arab in there thrown for good measure.

For the most part, the Arab voices had been silent. I think it is time for them to voice out their life histories in conversations with their elders. Not to further divide a monolithic Hausa society but demonstrate how the Hausa have been developing into distinct, absorptive people. Clearly, then Hausa is not a language but a people. Ask any individual in Kano with ‘Fulani’ or ‘Arab’ ancestorial roots, and they will tell you they are Hausa, ‘even though my grandmother is Fulani/Arab/Russian/Greek, etc.’

Let’s split hairs here. Having different languages but the same skin colour – whether you are black, white, brown, yellow or (if an alien) green, and submitting to the same central, national governing authority makes you ‘ethnic’. Having the same attributes but without recognition of national authority, only blood and kinship ties make you ‘tribal’. Separation across skin colour is a race, not an ethnic issue. Arabs are a separate race from Africans. So, what happens when the racial divide is crossed (bred)? Will a new ‘race’ emerge?

The Arabs’ contributions to the economy and culture of Kano are far more than any other ethnic group, including the Fulani. Consider the Yemeni alone and their massive contributions to the animal skin trade in northern Nigeria. Initially ‘imported’ as Italian trade agents from Yemen in the early 20th century, they have now become domesticated to the Hausa society. Yes, they are light-skinned, and quite a few speak Arabic; but the mid-generations have lost the Arabic language. As a ‘minority’ group, they intermarried with local African women and their offspring contributed to the sustainable development of culture and life in Hausa societies without the consciousness of being ‘the other’. What are then the cultural specificities that tie them to the Arab world? Can it be in dress, language, food, existential rites and rituals (birth, living, death)? How do theirs – if at all present – differ from those of the Hausa?

Then consider the Lebanese and their input into the goods and products found in various Kano markets – including their influence all over West Africa. They are less integrative with their African hosts but have been linguistically domesticated, and for all intents and purposes, many self-identify as Hausa and retain some living rituals (e.g., food habits). This is an area initially mapped out by Sabo Albasu’s monumental groundbreaking research, “The Lebanese in Kano” (which is based on his 1989 doctoral thesis), and unfortunately, not much else was done on such a scale by other people. I wish he could update and re-print it, as now, more than ever, is the time for it.

The Sudanese, more than the other Arabs, had integrated more effectively into northern Nigerian Hausa communities, perhaps due to the gradation in their skin colours – from extremely dark to extremely light – than either the Tripolitanians, Yemeni, Lebanese or Syrians/Jordanians, whose clearly light skins made them stand out in any group. Establishing themselves in the city of Kano at Sudawa (Sudanese settlement), they formed part of the identity of the Kano city populace.

The Sudanese influence was also more intellectual. While they were instrumental in trade, their main contribution was in education. For instance, when the School for Arabic Studies – undoubtedly the Oxford of Arabic Studies in Nigeria – was established in 1934, it was to Sudan that inspiration was sought, including the teachers. Even what later became Bayero University Kano was first headed by Abdullahi el-Tayyeb, a Sudanese. No talk of Sudan itself being a destination for studies at all levels by northern Nigerians. You don’t see such rush for education in Lebanon or Yemen.

While rummaging through the caverns of an old abandoned hard drive, I came across a booklet that Kantoma (Muhammad Uba Adamu) had asked me to extract from his “Confluences and Influences” as a standalone paper (presented in 1998) and later with additional material, as a booklet. We named it “The Presence of Arabs in Kano”. Lack of funding prevented its publication, but I was able to get it published as a paper in a book project. A link to the paper is given at the end of this posting.

For those interested, I have included the table (from the paper attached) of the 25 Arab-dominated Kano inner city wards. I did this because not many would have the time to read 43 pages of the paper!

Adamu, Abdalla Uba. 2014. The presence of Arabs in Kano. In A.I. Tanko & S. B. Momole (Eds.). Kano: Environment, Society and Development (pp. 125-164). London & Abuja: Adonis & Abbey Publishers.

Or: https://shorturl.at/dgzW0

By Suleiman Ahmed

In Nigeria, an election period is like watching a classic Series for the umpteenth time. You know how it’s going to play out, but it doesn’t make it any less fascinating. The most entertaining episode, of this Series, after the presidential election, of course, is the debate leading up to the Lagos gubernatorial election.

Firstly, the Yorubas must perform a ritual of agonisingly re-iterating the exact same thing: that Lagos is not a “no man’s land.” This is quickly followed by an outcry from the non-Yoruba, Lagos-based (mostly southern) Nigerians. They argue that, as Nigerians, every inch of land in the country, belongs to all Nigerians. That any attempt to deprive them of this right is ethnic bigotry. But how true is this? And do they practise what they preach? Let’s go down memory lane.

A few years ago, when the federal government suggested to some (southern) state governors to provide grazing lands to cattle farmers (who’re predominantly Fulanis) to grow their herds; to control herder-farmer clashes in parts of the country, many of the governors rejected this proposal. (Mostly) Southern Nigerians also took to social media to applaud the governors for refusing fellow Nigerians access to Nigerian lands.

Dangerous words like “invaders” and “take over” were recklessly deployed to stoke ethnic tension. No one cared to remember that these people, too, were Nigerians and therefore were entitled to own land and do business anywhere in Nigeria.

Now, in 2023, it’s election time again, and this same divisive rhetoric is being deployed, albeit in different circumstances. The same people who once championed an anti-Fulani campaign that ensured their fellow countrymen from the north couldn’t get lands in their own country are now complaining of being othered by Yorubas in Lagos. So, I’m asking: why is it ok for them to own lands and freely do businesses, have some influence on who becomes governor in “another man’s land,” but at the same time, see no contradiction in telling northern Muslim cattle farmers to return to the north, to look for land, because “the south does not belong to them?” Why are you concerned that the Fulanis “will take over your land” but are now getting triggered because the Yoruba people feel the same way towards you?

They wanted the land for free

When I first shared my thoughts on this topic on my Facebook Page, some interlocutors argued that the reason for the southern governor’s pushback was that the federal government wanted the land free of charge.

“Free,” in this context, is debatable. When an industry such as cattle farming wants the land for its activities, it’s not usually a mere hectare or two. A reasonable size would be hundreds to thousands of hectares. The size and complexity of such a project is not something private individuals can execute without support from the government.

Therefore, it was not out of order for the federal government to step in to help with things like making the land available and then building the infrastructure needed for the place to function properly. After which interested parties can be invited to come in and rent/buy spaces to set up shop. These farmers were clearly going to pay taxes to local authorities and generally operate the same way market stall owners do in places like Kano, Lagos or Aba.

Having said that, let’s say, for the sake of argument, I agree that the federal government wanted the state government to give “free” land to the cattle farmers; why was the response not: “bring more money!” Or “let’s have a better financial agreement?” We didn’t hear of any such request — of a better (financial) offer, from the southern governors. Instead, what we got from them, and many southern Nigerians, were: “the Fulanis should go back to the north and ask for land there,” “this is a plan by the Fulani government to take over our land and hand it over to their people,” and many other unpleasant, divisive comments. The protest from the south was a clear message to those cattle farmers from the north. It was made known, loud and clear, that their land was in the north and not in the south. What happened to being a Nigerian citizen with full rights anywhere in Nigeria?

We can’t be comfortable with othering and divisive languages when it involves the Fulanis and then suddenly become appalled when they’re deployed against a different group of people. It doesn’t work that way. We cannot, on the one hand, say things like Idoma land, Ijaw land, Tiv land, Igbo land, or Niger Delta land (or Niger Delta oil) and then throw tantrums when Yoruba people say Lagos is Yoruba land. You’re clearly not appalled at any injustice. You’re only now concerned because you are at the receiving end of it. What you’re practising is Selective Outrage (apologies to Chris Rock), and it is hypocritical.

Suleiman Ahmed is a writer and the author of the socio-political novel, Trouble in Valhalla. He tweets from @sule365.

By Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu

Muhsin Ibrahim had started a very interesting thread on his Facebook wall about language usage in northern Nigeria. Basically, the argument is about whether predominantly Hausa (his publics) should intensify their use of English in public discourse, especially now that things are getting more virtual. There has been a lot of resistance in using English among the Hausa because of the belief that using English (or other languages, except Arabic) leads to the erosion of identity. Muhsin urges the Hausa to embrace or at least immerse themselves as much as they can in the English language to gain a competitive advantage. I agree with him.

The arguments against the use of English are predicated upon language and identity. Generally, language symbolizes our identity and conveys identities to those who speak them. But how true is this in an interconnected world? I have a friend whose children were born in Hong Kong. They are adults now. They hardly speak Hausa. Does that make them Chinese? Imagine an Urdu-speaking Pakistani immigrant whose children were born in Wales and do not speak Urdu. Does that make the children Welsh?

In South Africa, the apartheid regime used language as one of the yardsticks, besides skin colour, to develop its divide-and-rule ideology against the black population. If a Black South African somehow was able to speak fluent Afrikaans, does that shifts his identity and make him White? I have encountered Hausa merchants in the Deira section of Dubai’s textile market speaking fluent Hindi – are they then Indians?

I once encountered a Yoruba mechanic in Gusau – born and bred there, but could only speak the Sokoto dialect of Hausa, not my absolutely wonderful Kano dialect, and informed me that although his parents were Yoruba, he does not speak the language. So, what was he? Bayarabe or Bazamfare? The Kano Hausa even created sociolinguistic categories for his situation: ‘Ɗan Kasa’ (‘son of the soil’), ‘Muna Kano’ (immigrant non-Hausa, Hausa-speaking), ‘Muna Hausa’ (immigrant, non-Hausa, retaining immigrant language identity). The two ‘outsider’ categories are easily recognized by Kanawa, who describe their Hausa as ‘wata iri’/strange. Oh, they will interact freely with you – until you come to marry one of their daughters!

So, does merely speaking a particular language confer on the speaker the identity of the originators of the language? We learn English and Arabic. Become fluent in them. Does that make us English or Arabs? Thus, if we speak other languages besides our mother tongue, does that shift the specific gravity of our identity? I have three adult children (an oxymoron, I know, but there you are!). We always address each other in Hausa, but we always write to each other in English! Does that alter our identity?

Then the big one. Any DNA test on me will reveal that I am genetically Fulbe (Silsilɓe/Torodbe mix). I don’t speak Pulaar. I tried to convince myself that I should speak Pulaar as a form of anchor to an identity. When I asked Aliyu U. Tilde about the easiest way to learn the language of my genetic ancestors, he suggested marrying a Fulɓe woman! Not on the cards – I am a single-wife person for life.

So, I moved into the anthropology of cultural preservation. At one stage, I was even the Grand Patron of the Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (FULDAN) Kano Branch. During one or two erratic meetings, I was the only one who could not speak Pulaar – and I was the Chairman! We set up an evening class school at Gidan Makama school in Kano to teach Pulaar. Not many people came – despite the usual posturing of many Kanawa that they are Fulɓe.

Next, with some funding from Maison des Cultures du Monde in Paris, I produced two CDs of Pulaar children’s songs (Surbajo, Short Round Crew), and with the help of the British Council in Kano, held a Pulaar music festival, Voices from the Desert, and included a Pulaar rap song (Wazobia Waru). I have no clue what the artists were singing! I next personally sponsored a series of video lessons on how to speak the language and paid lots to make the finished product sleek and professional. I planned to upload the lot on YouTube. That was four years ago. I never got around to it. If I could, somehow, learn Pulaar, what, exactly, would I do with it – none of my publics speaks it; so, with whom will I converse this new form of lost-and-found language identity?

I stopped all that and quit deceiving myself on the issue. Not even my great-grandparents from both sides of the genetic pool spoke it. At all. Only lovely, glorious, wonderful Hausa. In this, I stand with The Nigerian Bahaushe, where I belong. Gregor Mendel, the father of the modern study of Genetics, rest in peace.

So where do I find the intersection of my identity – at the junction of Hausa and Pulaar languages? And please, don’t say ‘Hausa Fulani’. There is absolutely nothing like that. The fact that the ‘Hausa’ was written before the ‘Fulani’ suggests a linguistic dominance, at the very least, not a genetic chiasma.

Yes, there is often a particularly strong link between language and a sense of belonging to a national group, a sense of national identity. Further, although fears are voiced in some countries about the loss of national identity caused by learning foreign languages, especially English, there is little, if any, research evidence to justify this fear. Studies of language and identity have traditionally focused on how individuals or groups maintain, construct, project or negotiate their social identities in and through linguistic practices. Speaking English, however, does not make you English (not to talk of being Welsh, Irish, or Scottish), even if you are British.

It is believed that languages become endangered when they are not passed on to children or when a metropolitan language dominates over others. The tenacity of the Hausa language and its speakers will only endanger those who come in contact with Hausa, not the other way around. No matter how much immersion in English the Hausa have, I doubt if they are in danger of losing their language and identity. After all, what is identity?

Broken down to the interpersonal level, identity is a person’s sense of self, established by their unique characteristics, affiliations, and social roles. We must therefore see identity as a shifting focus on multiple planes – cultural identity, professional identity, ethnic and national identity, religious identity, gender identity, etc. Language can bind but not suppress them.

Thus, acquiring the English language gives the Hausa a competitive advantage in any international communication while, at the same time, tenaciously retaining their identity. I know. I am one of them!

Prof. Adamu can be contacted via auadamu@yahoo.com.

By Dr Abubakar Mohammed Gombe

It is interesting to understand the divine marriage between a country and its citizens, specifically between Nigeria and Nigerians. In such a marriage, no amount of lives lost puts asunder. The mysterious marriage keeps producing low-quality products who believe eliminating half brothers will better their lives. Nonetheless, the marriage produced the golden voice of the continent that was, however, eliminated by the products of his mother.

The first army General who coordinated the marriage affair was also eliminated by the same products. Many more military coordinators in charge of the Nigerian marriage were eliminated. The latest were the homemade healthy transition of General Sani Abacha GCON; the prison made transition of MKO Abiola with General Shehu Musa Yaradua, and the contagious transition of President Umaru Musa Yaradua GCON. Yet, the marriage stands. It was only death that did them part.

A three-year civil war could not put asunder. The Ojukus were forcefully retained for the survival of the marriage of interest that occasionally accepts religious and tribal killings and hailing such acts by pardoning popular champions like General Zamani Lekot of the Zangon Kataf crises by the IBB regime and rehabilitating others for communal reintegration by the Buhari regime. These are sincerely done to sustain the cracked marriage until death.

The emergence of popular movements like Boko Haram, IPOB, Kidnapping, Cattle rustling, Herdsmen, Bandits, and Terrorism move to ensure the marriage failure. Still, the lifetime Unity in Corruption among the children of the marriage, which recently pardoned Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, is stronger than the distraction of the popular movement groups that also exploit brothers of the same marriage.

While Unity in Corruption ensures poor education for brothers and sisters of the same marriage, BH went on destroying primary and secondary schools. They also vandalized electricity supplying poles and transformers to complement Unity in Corruption’s idea of rural electrification. IPOB, in its territorial states, declares Monday as an additional weekend while Kaduna officially declares Friday as the beginning weekend. In their territorial states, Bandits know all the army free zones where they peacefully operate without stepping on army toes. Cattle rustlers also know where there are no cattle, and so, instead of taking away cattle, they take the lives of entire villages that provoke them by not keeping cattle, their needs.

Nigerian lives are not safe on the road, on rail and at the airport. One finds it difficult to comprehend a passage in which children of the same mother kill within the home. Yet, the marriage stands and keeps producing children. Everyone identifies with the mother in a polygamous family and blames half brothers. In the Nigerian case, there is only one mother with several tribal lands. It seems only the Fulani have no land. Yet, the Fulani also join the powerful elites’ movement of Unity in Corruption. Under the same mother, the socio-political and economic status becomes the dividing line. The certified children that form Unity in Corruption blame the Almajiri for retrogression.  

Then, the most disturbing effort of closing universities to seek the attention of the I Assure You Regime by the educated class that formed ASUU appeared with the support of their supporting staff of SSANU and NASU to seek revitalization. ASUU believes closing universities and sending brothers and sisters home will pain Unity in Corruption. It indeed doesn’t. Instead, ASUU complements Unity in Corruption in denying access to university education and actualizing BH’s mission while in self and family hunger. While most state universities in the north religiously observe the ASUU strike, some state universities in the south graduate students. Yet, the marriage stands till death do us part.  

Considering the time, the response of the previous regimes, the regime of assurance with less action, and the possible incoming regime, ASUU ought to have a comprehensive retreat, call off its hunger strike, restrategize and declare regime change in Nigeria with the support of SSANU, NASU, Colleges, Polytechnics, NUT, students, parents and good citizens.

All Nigerians are deeply involved, and all political and armed movements are sponsored either to sustain Nigeria’s marriage for sponsors’ personal gain or to put asunder. With all the prophesies, projections and armed movements, the marriage of amalgamation remains. What Nigeria needs is the game-changer, and that changer can be found in ASUU. Nigeria needs focus and determination. ASUU must go into governance en mass. Otherwise, one or two members hardly make a meaningful impact.

ASUU should simply declare for the office of the Federal and State University Visitors, Senatorial Districts, Federal and State Houses of Assembly in the 2023 general elections and work with SSANU, NASU, Colleges, Polytechnics, Monotechnics, NUT, students, parents and good citizens. Nigeria must be saved. We remain Nigerians till death do us part. 

ASUU must retain its strong UTAS team and set in motion its national planning and enforcement team, policy enforcement team, economic team, company revival and creation team, employment creation team, national security management team, education monitoring team, patriotism enforcement team, salary and pension enforcement team, manufacturing promotion team, local and international lobby team, Crude oil and refinery enforcement team, action or resignation enforcement team, among others,  

Let’s use our hunger to save our country. With ASUU, SSANU, NASU, Colleges, Polytechnics, Monotechnics, NUT, students, parents and good citizens, Nigeria can be saved.

Let’s save Nigeria till death do us part.

Dr Abubakar Mohammed Gombe wrote from Gombe State University. He can be reached via amgombe2@yahoo.com or +23408060839578.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Materialism is not limited to friendship or brotherhood; marriages and relationships also suffer greatly.

Friendship and brotherhood are gradually losing their true meaning, if not buried at all, because of this sudden shift of behaviour to materialism, The Daily Reality gathered. 

The menace led and is still leading to the breakdown of many relationships, including marriages, thereby manifesting itself into a serious problem in society – such as the increase in the number of widows and heartbreaking individuals.

The Daily Reality speaks with some people on this issue.

People like Aisha Mujitaba believe that guys pretend to be rich in life in order to woo girls.

“Nowadays, both loves and marriages are based on materialism; that is how equivocation and deception have chipped in in the process of getting married.

“Guys pretend to be wealthy in order to win girls’ hearts. Consequently, when they are joined in matrimony, the true nature of what the person is will be revealed. This leads to the breakdown of relationships,” Aisha said.

Parents were also accused of encouraging this lingering issue in society, according to Suwaiba Umar. 

She said, “Today, parents encourage their children to marry rich people. Marriages nowadays are not for the sake of Allah, the almighty. That is why guys make-believe a big life.”

Frowning at this behavioural change, Juwairiyya Aminu compared marriages in the past and marriages today.

She said, “Marriage in those days was entirely different from the marriage in these days, including the process, lefe (trousseau), ceremonies and whatnot.”

Both girls and their parents find it very exciting to have rich as their husbands or sons-in-law, making it difficult for the poor to get married.

“A poor man finds it very difficult to be loved, much less being married. But when a rich person proposes, without hesitation or any proper investigation on his religion, habit or maturity, he will be accepted,” Sa’adatu Shu’aibu.

Buhari Ahmad posited that guys fear being rejected by the girls, let alone the parents. For this, he said, “Guys make a pretence of big life out of fear of being rejected by girls and their parents.

“That is why guys now rent clothes, hats, shoes, bikes or even cars when visiting their suitors.” 

Materialism: What Brings About It?

Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Abdullahi is a lecturer at the Department of Nigerian Languages, Bayero University, Kano. He told this reporter in an interview that many reasons made our society materialistic.

“There are so many reasons which contribute to the moral decadence we are witnessing today in the Hausa society. I can summarily list them as follows:

“1. Deficiency in terms of Islamic education and pursuing more in terms of Western educational life and style.

2. Negative modernity

3. Access to the new media and multi-media stuff which led to increasing in absorbing haram items.

4. Lack of proper orientation, etc.”

The solution to materialistic life

“Having sound Islamic education and fear of Allah, pursuing what is halal in any form of education and social life; and abiding strictly to Islamic teachings are the solution,” Sulaiman added.

By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed deep grief over the recent atrocious killings in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The incident has claimed the souls of not fewer than eighteen people, The Daily Reality discovered.

Buhari’s lamentation was in a press statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu.

The president has lamented that the incident was not in keeping with the principles of the peace agreements reached between the two ethnic groups, Irigwe and the Fulani, in the area.

“My thoughts are with the families of the victims in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace,” the president said.

Buhari warned that “Every group taking the law into their hands claims to be retaliating. As a society, there is no place for this sort of violence. This is unacceptable.”