By Faruk Ak Waziri
I have always enjoyed learning new words, a hobby I developed while reading short stories and classic novels in junior secondary school. To better understand unfamiliar words, I began enriching my vocabulary, leading to a close friendship with the Oxford Dictionary.
Years of checking the dictionary have, apart from broadening the scope of my vocabulary, expedited my conversance with the basis behind the idea of a single word having several usages—a part of English language learning that wasn’t taught to me on a deep scope at school probably because it is deemed ‘advanced’ and therefore only sparsely incorporated into the Nigerian English curriculum for secondary school level.
But my romantic attachment to the Oxford dictionary at that stage proved vital by equipping me with the knowledge I could have ended up missing, like the majority of my colleagues, because I had discovered therein that explanations regarding why a single word may have different meanings are attributed mainly to how people who lived within a particular period used it in context. This means a word may no longer have the meaning it used to entail a century ago. I found this idea of words evolving to adopt new meanings based on the context to which people living in a certain period apply them.
My curiosity to learn more about this fascinating word metamorphosis led me to an English term called Etymology. Etymology is the history and study that trace the origin and development of a linguistic form, such as a word, to its earliest recorded usage in the language where it first appeared. Stumbling upon this term felt like putting the final jig in a puzzle.
I finally learned that a word or term only translates to the meaning people consistently ascribe to it. And if, over time,such a term starts to be forced into use to convey a sense different from its original definition, the prevalent acceptance of this newfound usage gradually integrates into another connotation of the term, often suppressing the predominant standard meaning.
When this happens, the new meaning of a word is said to have been absorbed into mainstream usage. Sometimes, this shift in meaning results from deliberate distortion by a select group of people. For example, the Hausa word “Aboki”, which traditionally means “friend” in English, has been twisted to carry a derogatory implication in southern parts of this country.
This change often results from a willingness to accept one’s uninformed intuition about a word rather than its actual meaning. However, in most cases, distortion and bastardisation stem from a lack of understanding of the original meaning. This last point, which is the main purpose of this post, highlights the ongoing misrepresentation of the terms “alpha” and “alpha man” within the Arewa Facebook community as a case study.
But before that, let’s briefly stroll through the history of what was once the world’s predominant usage.
Originating from animal social dynamics, ‘Alpha’ is a word associated with the leader in a group of wolves known collectively as a pack. In a pack, the alpha is the fiercest, strongest, and most dominant male wolf. Embodying attributes such as bravery and those described by the aforementioned adjectives makes the alpha the standout leader of the pack. Metaphorically, “alpha” describes a male human possessing characteristics similar to the leader of a pack of wolves. He is referred to as an alpha male when a person excels above his peers, is assertive, and is hardly sentimental.
The term “alpha man” was continuously used to reference positive qualities in a man, such as leadership, charisma, ambition, confidence, decisiveness, and composure, up until the late 20th century, when it started to witness a semantic shift. The once positive connotations of the term began to be twisted to mirror the traits of toxic masculinity. This distortion continued through media portrayals, books, and online platforms, changing the concept into the laughing stock of what it once meant. Over two years, this distorted usage of the term graced the northern Nigeria online media space, especially the Arewa Facebook community, where it has since become a common address among male users who pridefully identify with the tag.
The average Arewa Facebook alpha man propagates and would even argue that “alphanci”,; the ideal behaviour of an alpha man is a function of how stiff and emotionally closed off he tends to be mainly in his relationship with a loving partner—a wife or girlfriend. An alpha man shouldn’t chase a girl he likes and must never be explicit about his affections. However, as they believe, that must never be the case with the partner—she has to make it obvious her obsession with him, how much she loves and cares for him, because as enshrined in the alpanchi handbook, “man is always the prize”, and so the lady must contend with the burden of making the relationship work by constantly striving to maker her alpha man happy, lest she ends up losing him—her ‘very precious prize’.
Today, especially within the Arewa Facebook community, the term “Alpha man” is no longer a tag for the confident, ambitious man—it is now a shorthand for someone overly aggressive, controlling, and egotistical. Instead of focusing on qualities like leadership, empathy, and care, the word is now a function of how domineering a man is to his spouse or girlfriend, a measure of how he treats her with dismissive nonchalance.
In TV shows like The Originals and The Vampire Diaries, we’ve seen how Klaus Mikaelson, a hybrid possessing both the fiery vampire side and the ruthless werewolf gene, makes sacrifices for love. Despite being an alpha, Klaus listens to Camille and follows her guidance. For Caroline, he shows mercy on multiple occasions—something he rarely does.
In Twilight, Jacob Black did everything he could to win Isabella’s heart, embracing his role as an alpha. But now, the so-called “Arewa Facebook alpha man” does everything to the contrary. He treats his partner with disdain, wrapping toxic masculinity in the guise of being an alpha. The concept that was once premised on strength, leadership, and care now twists to an exaggerated caricature of masculinity, where aggression and control are celebrated.
What is called “alphanci” has become more like masked misogyny. Alphopi or Alphawa, while hiding under the guise of a serious, no-nonsense persona, their actions towards women and even their stance within their circles only reveal a subtler form of suppressed misogyny.
To the average Arewa Facebook alpha, you’re either an alpha or a simp—that’s the extent of their black-and-white thinking. They push for “alphanci” in a cult-like manner, and disagreeing with them means risking ridicule and condemnation from their ingroup. This behaviour has further mainstreamed the distortion of what was once a positive term. Now, when you hear “alpha,” it’s hard not to associate it with their toxic behaviour, even though most of them don’t even grasp the word’s true meaning. This is the effect of a concept that’s been relentlessly bastardised. Of Arewa Facebook community alpha men and the culture of mainstreamed bastardisation.
And can be reached via farukakwaziri019@gmail.com or as Faruk Ak Waziri on Facebook.
