Kannywood

The “Hausa films in English” have, since their debut, been as much praised as they have been criticised. However, while a large section of spectators welcomes the films, many others regard them as a threat to the development of the indigenous language. Others go further to describe them as “non-Kannywood” productions.

However, their initiator and promoter, Malam Kabiru Musa Jammaje, remains undaunted. He is all set to enthral the audience with another Kannywood film in English after the remarkable success of There is a way (2016), This is the way (2017), Light and darkness (2018) and In search of the king (2019).

The soon-to-be-released movie, entitled Nanjala, is the first of its kind in Kannywood. It features the industry’s heavyweights alongside top Nollywood actors like Enyinna Nwigwe, Nancy Isime, Segun Arinze, Sola Sabowale, among others. Moreover, it’s reportedly the most expensive Kannywood movie with a budget worth over N35 million.

The movie was directed by “whizkid” Ali Nuhu, co-produced by Abubakar Bashir Mai-Shadda and titled after its main character, Nanjala. I have only watched its two-minute-long teaser, but I could grasp that the eponymous heroine, Nanjala, is a journalist whose investigative reports would lead to the main conflicts. The film’s themes may include corruption, honesty, women empowerment, the menace of drug abuse, moral decadence, etc. The cinematography is terrific, and the cast seems to give an outstanding performance.

To be right is to describe the film as ‘pan-Nigerian’ due to its production quality, cast, English medium, and the resonance of its message in the country. It’s, of course, promising and will surely appeal to moviegoers from a wide range of backgrounds.

I, therefore, commend the trio of Jammaje, Ali Nuhu and Mai-Shadda for making a Kannywood film with the potential to catapult the overlooked film industry to the international stage. I do hope that it will not disappoint.

Habibu Maaruf Abdu

Kano, Nigeria

habibumaaruf11@gmail.com

27.5.2022

By Lawi Auwal Yusuf

I have been keenly following the recent raging altercation aroused by the hard-hitting comments of Nafisa Abdullahi. Many people have voiced their diverging opinions; some took an affirmative position while others came out against her. However, there is a consensus between the different parties that Almajiris are in a dire condition. Hence, no one would like to see his son in such a critical situation.

Though everybody has the leeway to express his mind, why are we wasting our energies on arguments that will come to nothing? These children are clamouring for justice, not a palaver over their plight. Such wrangle will never let us escape from the shackles of mutual antagonism. I believe that this issue is beyond mere accusation and counter-accusation. On the contrary, we have to go the extra mile. We have to give it our best shot to mark a turning point in this issue. Thus, we must debate matters that will help us clinch a victory over the problem. Put another way, it is more important to shift our attention from pointing accusing fingers at each other and focusing on the solution. This tendency to emphasise the problem rather than the solution is deeply entrenched in society and ravages our daily lives. Instead, it is more logical to put the solution above the issue.

Concentrating more on the problem will put us on a road that goes nowhere. It will keep us going around in circles, remain coasting and yield no helpful result. It will always go against us while our efforts remain in the doldrums. If you think this is the right way to ward off the problem. Indeed, you are living in a dream world. It is time to stop the dispute, draw a line under the issue and face reality, as this intractable desertion is getting out of hand.

Those on the same wavelength with the actress should know that not all the children they see on the street begging are actually Almajiris. Many children from impoverished homes disguise themselves as Almajiris to beg for food or scavenge through garbage, looking for valuable materials to sell for a living.

Furthermore, I want to remind those lilliputians that ridicule the Tsangaya that immensurable successes had been achieved through the system. It was the only institution that catered to the educational needs of our people before the inception of Western education. It was the bedrock of our ancient civilisation that paved the way for modern civilisation. It was the institution upon which the foundation for the development of society rested. It was attended by both the nobles and the commoners.

The Sultans of the Sokoto Caliphate, emirs of its semi-autonomous city-states and other members of the aristocratic class all went to Tsangaya. Also, they received their leadership skills training there and trained other administrators who served in different capacities. Moreover, Tsangaya scholars designed the constitution used to govern such a gigantic empire effectively. In addition to all these, it rolled out the khadis (Shari’a court judges) that administered justice, the Imams that led prayers, and Muftis that issued verdicts to guide authorities and the people on both their spiritual and worldly affairs. They also served then as the think tank.

Similarly, great scholars impart knowledge, herbalists that cure ailments, astrologists that determined praying times, crescent sighting, weather forecasts and navigation routes came from such a school system. On this basis, Northerners were proud boastfully that they were literates with a systematic way of life even before the imperialists invaded the region. So, we must be grateful for that.

On the other hand, those who take an unfavourable position from the Kannywood model should understand that the system now doesn’t go; it has a lot of issues and needs momentous changes. It is not what it used to be before. It has taken a different dimension in the last decades. We can’t keep going like that. The Tsangaya must be radically renewed, and these downtrodden children must be liberated from such bondage. Their future must be secured. They need to be under the vehement supervision of their parents, accompanied by their affection, psychological support and care. They have to enjoy the comfort of their homes and the bond of kinship ties, as we have all enjoyed. They deserve a decent life.

Lastly, politicians that have been dilatory in dealing with this problem and wash their hands on the matter must back away from such attitude. They must show genuine commitment to eradicating this menace. We must help these children to salvage the country because we have no other country than Nigeria. IT’S OURS!

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano, Nigeria, via laymaikanawa@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Arewa movie producers, under the umbrella of the Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) and Arewa Filmmakers Association of Nigeria (AFMAN), have urged their members to boycott this year’s Zuma International Film Festival (ZUFF).

The reasons for the decision were stated in an undated open letter addressed to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammad and jointly signed by the presidents of MOPPAN and AFMAN, Dr Ahmad Muhammad Sarari and Alhaji Sani Sule Katsina.

According to the two associations, marginalisation and infringement of their fundamental rights are the prevailing reasons that forced them out of participating in the government-sponsored ZUFF Festival. 

“The event was deliberately fixed on ‘Sallah’ day, which, apart from being a festive day for all Muslims in the world, it is also a public holiday meant to honour and celebrate the end of the holy month of ‘Ramadan.’ This singular act precludes all Muslims from participating and benefitting from the festival.”

The release, among other things, concludes that “[W]e doubt if any government agency can organise such national event on Christmas or New-year festive days.”

The coalition also implores the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammad, to step into the issue and address their grievances.

By Ishaq Habeeb

I’ve met Nafisa twice, first at Zoo Road, Kano, hanging out with a friend who’s in business with many Kannywood industry people. Second, when I escorted a friend who visited Kano, Nigeria, from Niamey, Niger Republic. He had been pen pals with Nafisa for some time. So they agreed to meet whenever she’s in Kano.

After my initial attempts to dodge being part of making this meeting happen, I grudgingly agreed to link them up. But, aside from that, I don’t know Nafisa enough as an actress to know whether I like her or her movies.

I mostly remember her from the one-time popular song, “Bankwana sai watarana“, sang by Nazifi Asnanic. But following this Almajiranci debate, I already like her as an activist and looking forward to liking her as – hopefully – a good actress.

As for Naziru, I’ve met him several times. Besides being best friends with his childhood friend Rabiu Uba, I’ve had business reasons to visit his T/Fulani residence last year with Usman G. Abubakar and spent time with the singer in his living room. That aside, I am no fan of his mostly-political music. Nothing personal, just not my genre.

Now back to the original reason behind this write-up; the Almajiranci debate. My stand; Nafisat Abdullahi is right, so is Naziru Sarkin Waka. For those of us that know people in the Kannywood industry and have lived in Kano (the headquarters of Almajiranci in the world) long enough to see the horror of Almajiranci at its peak, we are in a better position to say they’re both right.

Victims of inadequate parenting primarily dominate both Kannywood and Almajiranci systems. Therefore, inadequate parenting is the monster we need to kill. Given that, bearing more children than one can adequately cater for is hugely responsible for bad parenting. This fact proves Nafisa and Naziru right.

Conclusively, the major problem lies with the people that make it their life’s calling always to attack messengers to discredit a message that often serves the good of all – however factual and tangible the facts in the message may be.

First, it was Digital Imam, speaking truth to Presidency on the escalating level of insecurity. Then Nafisat, for speaking out against Almajiranci, a menace we all agree needs urgent addressing. Then almost concurrently, Naziru, for speaking out against the prevalent immoralities in Kannywood, which is being perpetrated chiefly by victims of inadequate parenting.

Now, one can only pray, as a people, may we learn to hate our problems more than we love judging who’s reminding us of their presence for us to FIX them.

Ishaq Habeeb wrote from Kano via simplyishaqhabeeb@gmail.com.

By Aminu Mohammed

I have observed the raging debate over the Almajiri debacle in the last few days, especially the antagonism against a Kannywood actress Nafisa Abdullahi. The actress voiced out against parents who send their children to urban centres to memorise the Quran under the guise of an Almajiri system.

This issue resonates with me because I was once an “Almajiri”, though in a modernised form of learning. I was a product of Arabic and Islamic education. I am still grateful to my late father for seeing the wisdom in sending me to the College of Islamic Studies Afikpo, a boarding secondary school in Southeastern Nigeria funded by a Saudi Arabia-based International Islamic organisation Rabita Alamul Islam (the Muslim World League). Unlike some of my schoolmates who later studied Islamic studies at Islamic University Madina and Azhar University Cairo, Egypt, I decided to study International Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, against my father’s wish, whose dream was for me to be an Islamic scholar.

I am still at a loss wondering why the actress is being pilloried for telling the truth. If you ask these intellectual lilliputians and Nafisa’s traducers whether they will be comfortable sending their children out to beg on the streets under the guise of Quranic education, they will never say yes.

Before you call me “Karen farautar yahudawa”, an agent of Jews, which our people are fond of calling those who seek societal change and are in tune with modern realities, let me clarify that I did not attend a conventional secondary school. I advocate an integrated education system involving the acquisition of both western and Islamic education. 

I will never advocate against memorising the Quran or acquiring Islamic knowledge because I was a beneficiary of that. At the boarding secondary school in Afikpo, Ebonyi state, we were taught Hadith, Fiqh, Balaga, Tafsir, Tajwid, Saqafa, Sirat, Ulumul Falsaf, Sarf and Nahw, among other subjects, by some Islamic scholars mainly from Pakistan, Egypt and India. I was able to speak Arabic with confidence on completing my secondary education. I even took some Arabic courses as an elective throughout my studies in Zaria. Even here in Germany, I still communicate with my neighbours from the Middle East in Arabic.

I am not worried that this article will generate antagonism in some quarters or be pilloried for triggering anger in some folks. But the truth of the matter is that we cannot continue on this trajectory. This system can no longer continue the way it is; otherwise, we may be heading towards the precipice. 

The word Almajiri is derived from the Arabic word “Almuhajirun”, meaning a person who migrates from his locality to other places in the quest for Islamic knowledge. During the colonial era and a few years after that, the schools were maintained by the state, communities, the parents, ‘Zakkah’, ‘Waqf’ and augmented by the teachers and students through farming.  “Bara”, begging as it is known today, was completely unheard of. 

Mallams and their pupils, in return, provide the community with Islamic education, reading and writing of the Qur’an, in addition, to the development of Ajami, i.e. writing and reading of the Hausa language using Arabic Alphabets.  Based on this system, which is founded upon the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith, the then Northern Nigeria was broadly educated with a whole way of life, governance, customs, traditional craft, trade and even the mode of dressing.

However, the system was corrupted in the past few decades, with teachers sending the children to beg for food on the streets. Similarly, many irresponsible parents were unwilling to cater to their children. Thus, they send them away to cities to purportedly acquire quranic education.

The current Almajiri system is not only archaic but atavistic. We must tell ourselves the truth that society is drifting. What we are facing today regarding security challenges in the North will be child’s play if our people refuse to change their ways. There is no gainsaying that the future is bleak if what we can boast of is an armada of malnourished and unkempt children who are roaming the streets under the guise of Islamic education. Eventually, the children may not acquire any meaningful skills to become useful members of society. 

I am not a prophet of doom and derive no joy in pessimism. But, I do not see a bright future for a region struggling with a depleted human resource, coupled with millions of underage children clad in tattered clothes with bowls roaming the streets begging for food. I do not foresee any meaningful progress and development in such a society.

I still recall, in 2012, when former President Goodluck Jonathan visited Sokoto to inaugurate the Almajiri Integrated Model School in the Gagi area of the Sokoto metropolis. This boarding school was equipped with modern facilities. As a journalist working with THISDAY Newspaper then, I was there at the commissioning and even interviewed the school’s principal Malam Ubaidullah, a few months after the inauguration. I was excited that there would be a gradual process of taking Almajiris off the streets, as was promised by former Sokoto governor Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. However, the euphoria was short-lived as governments in the region neglected the programme while the school buildings rotted away.

I wonder why our people antagonise those who want the system to be reformed or outrightly banned in the North. Are we comfortable seeing underage children roaming the streets under such dehumanising conditions? Have we pondered over the looming famine in the Sahel as forecasted by global development organisations, of which Northern Nigeria is part due to climate change worsened by overpopulation? Are we not witnessing the level of insecurity pervading the region because of societal neglect and marginalisation caused by a rapacious elite?. Do we sit down and pray and wait for a miracle to happen while expecting that our problems will go away?

Already we are battling with banditry in the Northwest due to societal neglect of a segment of the society that we use to mock because of their ignorance. And things will even get worse in future unless drastic action is taken to reform the system to enable children to memorise Quran in a friendly atmosphere devoid of hunger and deprivation. The current Almajiri system is a pathway to perdition.

Parents should stop sending children to cities if they are not ready to cater for them. These children should stay in their localities and learn under a school system presided by their Islamic teacher or Malam. The state governments must engage those Quranic teachers and pay them a stipend. I know this is doable because the government has the means to do that.

Unfortunately, much resource has been wasted on frivolities instead of channelling it towards revitalising the Almajiri system. We must wake up from our slumber and direct our energies toward finding a way to tackle problems in our society. Taking action is the key, and I believe that is the only way we can expect to have stability and peace in the polity.

Aminu Mohammed is at the school of Sustainability, Christian- Albrechts- Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached via gravity23n@gmail.com or stu219013@mail.uni-kiel.de.

Director: Yaseen Auwal

Producer: Rahama Sadau and Abubakar Bashir Maishadda

Screenplay: Yakubu M. Kumo

Language: Hausa

Company: Sadau Pictures

Release Date: 18/02/2022

Cast: Rahama Sadau, Umar M. Shareef, Rab’u Rikadawa, Asma’u Sani etc.

After a brief hiatus in Kannywood, superstar Rahama Sadau is back with an eponymous movie NADEEYA. There have been high expectations of the film because of the good reputation of its director, Yaseen Auwal, and the female lead, Rahama Sadau, who also doubled as the producer. It, however, failed to open with a bang due to little publicity as it wasn’t initially made for the big screen.

The film is an issue-based drama about ‘upbringing’. It depicts how some parents spoil their kids, specifically daughters, and the practical difficulties such children face in life. The story revolves around a pampered daughter, Nadeeya (acted by Rahama Sadau), who faces similar challenges after her marriage.

Plot:

On their first day as newlyweds, Nadeeya’s husband (Umar M. Shareef) begins to discover mysterious things about her. She prays badly and can’t correctly perform even a simple ablution, not to speak of the ritual bath. The husband learns further that his bride doesn’t master domestic chores like cooking and housework. She once cooked a pretty heinous meal that nobody could eat. He is, thus, obliged to question her past. Viewers are then shown a series of flashbacks as she recounts her story.

Nadeeya is, since childhood, spoiled rotten by her father (Rabi’u Rikadawa). The father tried hard to get rid of anything that could cause discomfort to his favourite daughter. He had once fought an Islamic school teacher for punishing her and eventually pulled her out of the school. He also divorced her mum for disciplining her. Therefore, she was brought up single-handedly by the impious father with a maid doing everything for her. Nadeeya is now extremely remorseful and ready to change for the better. The story continues…

Critique:

The film is, indeed, hard-hitting and very meaningful. Through the eponymous character, it shows that children’s first learning begins at home, and their personality and morals depend largely on how they are raised. It also reminds of the responsibility of protecting one’s family from the hellfire, as contained in Qur’an (66:6). It reiterates that the responsibility is on both parents and husbands — this is seen in the portrayal of Nadeeya’s husband (Umar M. Shareef).

Nonetheless, despite some scenes being highly overdramatized, the director, Yaseen Auwal, succeeded in handling the serious theme with the utmost gravity. He deserves an accolade for making this topical movie that not only slams indulgent parents but also underlines the need for religious knowledge. Additionally, the film’s locales are beautiful, except for the bride’s room, where we see cracks in the painting. It was also well shot with an audible sound.

Again, the actors all did well. The lead, Rahama Sadau, is no slouch at acting. She melded every action with a fitting gesture, making a brilliant performance throughout the movie. M. Shareef tried to deliver his dialogue. He impressed in the scenes where he recites the Qur’an and where he teaches Nadeeya about Islam—although his chemistry with her didn’t take. However, Rabi’u Rikadawa did excellently as usual.

On the whole, Nadeeya is a well-made movie. I recommend it for those who are tired of Kannywood’s overblown romantic melodramas. Rating 3.5/5.

Habibu Maaruf Abdu wrote from Kano via habibumaaruf11@gmail.com.

By Usama Abdullahi

It’s highly frustrating that music is swiftly dominating Nigeria. So many people, especially teenagers, consider and consume music much more than anything. Despite their indecency and vulgarity in most videos, the youths see the musicians and actors as role models. 

One hardly watches a music video that’s free of impurity or indecency. Unfortunately, this is not seen only in the music industry, but it has become the norm in the entertainment industry. Take, for instance, Nollywood. Unsurprisingly, the movies they release every year are mostly not good for the sanity of Nigerian adults, let alone children.

Yet children sit comfortably to watch this with their parents – their so-called responsible parents. The comedy skits are much worse. Women who get featured in those comedy skits are usually inelegant vixens. They derive joy in flashing their nudities before the audience. And the audiences are often vulnerable kids. They are kids who barely think independently, so they learn whatsoever they see. 

What’s more disgusting is the vulgar languages in these skits and movies are not being filtered or edited by the supposed editors. This is proof of willful neglect of the future of young adults. But who do we blame for this? The blame lies with the supposed editors, reckless actors, irresponsible parents, vulnerable children, or the entertainment industry for its fatal disregard for prevailing indecency. I won’t fault anyone for this because society at large is undoubtedly blamable.

I’m writing this because I’m also a victim. I watch some comedy shows when I feel bored sometimes. But what I used to watch in the past few years is quite different from what I watch today. There’s an unfortunate compromise in our entertainment industry. Some contents are not merely nasty, but they are rather invective. The actors use swearwords and vulgar language excessively. For this reason, watching it diminishes the good morals that parents have infused in their children. 

We can see that moral decadence in children’s increasing disrespect and utter preferences for filthy films other than films with educative content. They imitate what they see in these movies, hence the overwhelming rate of juvenile crimes. And they are too quick to download newly released songs or films, but they fail to install PDFs for free books. Moreover, they can mime words from multiple songs, yet they barely memorise a single line from their books. This is why there’s a continuous decline in the education sector.

It didn’t surprise me when I heard a seven-year-old lad miming “Coming”, a song by Naira Marley featuring Busiswa. I can’t deny his talent for miming, but, given his age, the thing is, the song is grossly inappropriate for his hearing. That is it! Arguably, there are a lot of children who have mastered numerous songs. But, you know what, this mere mobile phone has flawed the reputation of many children and corrupted their behaviours.

Do you find it hard to believe me? Please, do create a time of your own and glimpse through TikTok. I bet you can’t believe what your eyes would see. The most important question is, how do we build a better future for the upcoming or unborn generations? With all these “unavoidable” indecencies, can we actualise this vision? 

Although the damages seem too much, still we can lessen it through the help of the National Film and Video Censor Board (NFVCB). Therefore, let’s appeal to the NFVCB to double their effort in seeing that songs with foul lyrics, X-rated movies, video clips and comedies are filtered or banned entirely from cinemas or social media.

Usama Abdullahi wrote from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com

• Director: Ali Gumzak
• Producer: Abubakar Bashir Maishadda
• Screenplay: Jameel Nafseen
• Language: Hausa
• Company: Mai-Shadda Global Resources Limited
• Release Date: 28/01/2022

Mai Shadda Global Resources Limited, a film production company that recently emerged as Kannywood’s powerhouse, has produced many blockbusting comedies with the veteran director, Ali Gumzak. Their last release, Kayi Nayi, was the biggest hit of the previous year. However, as the new year arrived, they came in with another comedy entitled LAMBA.

The film is a social satire set against the backdrop of ‘Audio money’ (a slang term for the fake display of wealth). It tells how some three young men (Adam A. Zango, Umar M. Sharif and Ado Gwanja) flaunt false riches to impress the classy girls they meet on social media. They look for the girls who post their filtered, stylishly snapped pictures on the platforms.

Quite incidentally, the girls, too, are living under false pretences. They rent all the trendy clothes and latest phones they use. They hire everything from a dubious merchant, Salo (Aminu Shareef Momo), at any price. The unveiling of their true identity and what transpired later is shown in brilliantly executed hilarious scenes that get the audience laughing throughout.

The film bears some striking similarities to Makaryaci and Kalen Dangi (both directed by Ali Gumzak in 2017), but this doesn’t make it a clichéd one. It’s, in fact, somewhat of an unconventional comedy for having up to three choreographed song and dance routines. The songs are pretty melodious and well shot. But Zango’s dance in the last one, which has thumping music, impresses the most.

Also, due to the film’s need for multiple actors, the producer (Mai Shadda) didn’t cast his favourites (M. Shareef and Maryam Yahaya) alone. He, this time, featured Adam Zango alongside many others. This is particularly interesting for, until this film, the star (Zango) has not appeared in any big production since Karamin Sani (Dir. Falalu Dorayi, 2020).

Moreover, Ado Gwanja, Aminu Sharif (momo), Maryam Booth, Amal Umar and Aisha Najamu acted in pivotal roles. Dubbing artist-cum-actor, Sultan Abdurrazak and rising starlet Ummi Rahab also play supporting roles along with many new faces.

All the leading cast show great comic timing. Zango is larger than life, and Gwanja amuses with great gusto. M. Shareef shows a vast improvement as an actor. Aisha Najamu shines with her signature look, and the new faces seem promising. The credit should go to the director (Ali Gumzak), who handles them effectively.

In sum, though LAMBA lacks an innovative script, it’s an excellent comedy that succeeds in tickling the funny bone. It will surely entrance you and leave a long-lasting smile on your face. Watch it!

Habibu Ma’aruf Abdu wrote from Kano via habibumaaruf11@gmail.com.

By Saddam Ungogo

Light and Darkness (2018) is one of Kabiru Musa Jammaje’s Kannywood films in English. He is a fantastic filmmaker with ideas, but I always feel it isn’t a good idea to make such films. If it is something worth doing, Ali Nuhu would have made a few, Karan Johar would have made a Bollywood film in English. Instead, however, we saw indigenous films winning prestigious global awards.

At the Oscars, we even have an award category called ‘The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film’ (known as Best Foreign Language Film before 2020). It is given to feature films produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue.

Directed by Hassan Giggs, written by Ilyasu Umar Maikudi and co-produced by Kabiru Musa Jammaje and Abubakar Bashir Maishadda, Light and Darkness is a story that revolves around Alhaji Balarabe Maikadara (Rabi’u Rikadawa), who is allergic to western education. The movie was set in an urban Hausa society of the 2000s, and it turned out to be a domestic drama with ‘education’ as its central theme.

Alhaji Maikadara was a well-endowed businessman. He married his second wife, Raliya (Rahma Sadau), with a promise to let her further her education, but after having her under his watch, he transgressed his end of the bargain. He had two grown-up children, Abba (Nuhu Abdullahi) and Basma (Maryam Booth), with his late wife. He chased Basma out of the house when she protested his intention to give her hand out in an arranged marriage. Instead, Basma preferred to go to school.

The film tries to identify the significance of education, paint it as light, parade the remonstrance of ignorance, and sketch it as darkness.

The film has good intentions, but it lacks preparation. Something tells me that the film cast was selected based on who they are or because they could speak English. Stories are supposed to call for actors.

Viewers were rushed through the storytelling, the story was stitched with anxiety, and the dialogues were incompatible with the character profiling.

Jammaje decided to be the line’s director, which I think was a blunder. He assigned uneducated characters to speak big grammar and talk with idiomatic expressions. Perhaps he was trying “to use the opportunity to teach English to viewers”, as he bragged in a Daily Trust interview on January 7, 2017.

Throughout the movie, I asked myself what audience the filmmakers had in mind while putting it together. Staged in an urban setting, written in English and with education (girl-child education included) as its cardinal message, this story was huge. Its target audience should be rural Hausa communities where there is a high level of out-of-school young people and children, where western education is still not condescended. If that is the case, the language used in transmitting this message must have spooked away from the suitable audience of the movie.

This is 2022. The movie was made in 2018. Maybe nobody would even care about this review, even the filmmakers themselves. Jammaje made many movies after this one, including The Right Choice, which his co-producer Maishadda called the “biggest Kannywood project ever in terms of finance”,…costing N35m.

The Right Choice (2020) was worth N35m. It featured top Nigerian stars from both Kannywood and Nollywood industries, such as Sani Mu’azu, Segun Arinze, Sola Sobowale, Nancy E.Isime, Enyinna Nwigwe and Ali Nuhu.

With The Right Choice, Jammaje Production must have learnt that they needed to be more pragmatic and made a complete Nollywood movie. Or, maybe, a Nigerianized film so that Jammaje could teach his beloved English language through his role as he would get educated cinema-goers lining up for his work anywhere around the world.

As for Hausa consumers like me, do not dare bring something like Light and Darkness ever again.

You might be promoting my culture with Light and Darkness, but honestly, you were killing my language!

Saddam Ungogo is a Kanp-based broadcaster and singer. He can be reached via candidsaddam@gmail.com.

By Habibu Maaruf Abdu

Since the middle of the previous week, the trending news on Kannywood has been revolving around a racy film entitled Makaranta. The Kano censorship board declares the film’s director Aminu Nasara wanted for releasing the uncensored film trailer, which embodies obscene content.

The trailer starts with a school setting, and a female voice is heard talking about jima’i (‘sex’) crudely without euphemism. Two female students are then shown conversing in a classroom where one of them advises the other in a vulgar dialogue as follows:

“Banda tsabar sakaci da dolanci kawai kina zaune har ya buɗe jaka ya ɗauki bireziya baki sani ba. Idan kikai wasa da wannan dolancin kina sakin baki wataran sai ya cire miki pant…”

“If not for sheer foolishness, why would you just sit there while he opened a bag and took the bra without you knowing. Unless you are careful, he would, one day, take your panties off…”

The aforementioned are just a few of the many vulgarities in the trailer. So, if the two-minute-long trailer alone is this bad, how do you expect the complete film to be? Males and females are even shown touching one another and licentiously dancing in some scenes!

No doubt, such despicable movies are a threat to the well-being of our society. They can negatively influence viewers, especially the young generation, and dent our beautiful reputation as the Hausa Muslim populace. A film is a reflection of the society where it’s produced. I, therefore, strongly condemn the immoral movie. Making such a film is insolent, and all those involved should be brought to book.

Although the film director is trying to dissociate it from the mainstream Kannywood, his claims are unacceptable because the film is mainly in the Hausa language. Moreover, many of its characters are portrayed as Hausa Muslims (We hear names like Luba, Saudat and Suwaiba). Our society, therefore, has every right to follow it up since it’s something which, they think, could tarnish their image. The director is thus subject to both public outrage and censors punishment. The National Film and Video Censors Board should collaborate with their Kano counterpart to ban this film and impose a total ban on all films of its kind.

I will conclude by commending the efforts of the Kano censorship board in sanitizing Kannywood. Moreover, I call on them to devise more extreme punishment in dealing with the perpetrators of immorality in the industry. This would serve as a deterrent to others.

Habibu Maaruf Abdu wrote via habibumaaruf11@gmail.com.