Journal of Advances in Social Science and Humanities Received 11 Aug 2020 | Accepted 20 Sep 2020 | Published Online 10 Dec 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15520/jassh.v6i12.527 JASSH 6 (12), 1355−1365 (2020) ISSN (O) 2395-6542

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Hausa Ethnicity: An Identity in Crisis?

∗ Hamza K. Yusuf 1Department of Basic and Applied Abstract Science, College of Science and The Hausa ethnicity has been undergoing identity crisis since pre- Technology, Hassan Usman Polytechnic, P.M.B 2052 colonial days. It has assumed the status of a pan-ethnicity by subsuming Katsina, , . peoples and cultures, transforming them into Hausa or at least Hausa- speaking. This is why the Hausa Race is grossly misunderstood even by members within the society. The introduction of the “Hausa-Fulani” identity by selfish northern politicians with Fulani bloodline in the early 1980s is the greatest miscalculation of the century. The “Hausa-Fulani” identity is only a segment of a segment of the Hausa society. Recogniz- ing it in place of Hausa ethnicity by members will amount to committing a cultural suicide. This paper is therefore aimed at clearing misconcep- tions and correcting wrong impressions. It detects the deficiency of the imposed “Hausa-Fulani” identity as a replacement of Hausa ethnicity. It realizes that the imposed Hausa-Fulani conundrum does not only underrate the might of the Hausa pan-ethnicity but also ostracizes all other important composite identities through intermarriage with the Hausa e.g. Hausa-Kanuri, Hausa-Tuareg, Hausa-Babur, Hausa-Nupe„ Hausa-Gwari, Hausa-Jukun, etc. The paper recommends a banishing of the Hausa-Fulani collocation and identity except as a segment within the pan-ethnicity. The paper provides a comparative historical treat of Hausa and Fulani ethnicities in order to update the uninformed including those who created and imposed the “Hausa-Fulani” project. Keywords: Hausa Pan-ethnicity Identity Crisis

1 INTRODUCTION guage, society, culture or nation. HAUSA is one such ethnicity with a long history of socio-cultural THNICITY has been defined variously, and transformation and development. The home of the according to Oxford Dictionary of English, (Hausaland) is a region on the West Eit is a community or population made up of African landmass located between what was in his- people who share a common cultural background tory known as ‘Western ’ and ‘Central Su- or descent. Ethnicity may also be regarded as a dan,’ now situated in northern Nigeria and southern category of people who identify with each other Nige/r. has historically been the based on similarities such as common ancestry, lan- of northern Nigeria and most of Nige/r

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Republic. It is widely spoken in the West African has not produced a single Head of State, President Sub-region (Nige/r Republic, Republic, Burk- or Prime Minister in the history of this country. He ina Faso, , Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and continued to enumerate them one by one, explaining ) and elsewhere in Sudan and Saudi Ara- that they were not Hausa. It was a shocker because bia. The Hausa language has been broadcast over fa- the same could not be said for any of the two other mous radio and television stations in , , major ethnic groups in the country; Ibo and Yoruba. the Americas and Asia. The British Broadcasting The War Veteran and retired General continued, Corporation (BBC) has been broadcasting news and mentioning three he identified as Fulani. One would programmes in Hausa for over 50 years. No other normally expect the three to be able to speak Fulfulde African language except Swahili, has attained this fluently, but unknown to the General, none of them status. In Nigeria, the second most important modern could even utter a complete sentence in Fulfulde. film industry after the English-based Nollywood is They all speak or spoke Hausa as a first language. Kannywood which is based in , and which uses General Isama was both right and wrong. He was the Hausa language as its medium of transmission. right because that is the impression he got from the There are presently several other television stations, Hausa (or Fulani?) confusion. It is purported that seen all over the world, broadcasting in Hausa. Ex- some opportunistic northern politicians seeking self amples are 24, ST Dadin Kowa, NTA Hausa, aggrandizement and domination, created the “Hausa- Farin Wata, Liberty TV, Tozali TV, Sunna TV and Fulani” enigma. They did this without any research Manara TV. Hausa ethnicity with a long history or consultations on the history of ethnic alliances of anthropological transformation and development through intermarriages. Most of these elitist politi- has come of age. Unfortunately, it is probably the cians with Fulani bloodline had been raised in elite most misunderstood ethnicity in Nigeria today! Its surroundings, large cities of the country and even capability to subsume other ethnicities and societies abroad. All their life they have been far away from is also grossly misunderstood. Worst of all, it is the common people to know the real nature of the embroiled in a sinister quagmire that may, God- Hausa and Fulani. Perhaps they did not know that the forbid, lead to its demise. Hausa had intermarried with other ethnicities long before the nomadic pastoralist Fulani arrived from the Lower , in the fifteenth to the sixteenth 2 THE ``HAUSA-FULANI'' CONUNDRUM century. Selfishly and opportunistically they mysti- fied and sanctified the Fulani ethnicity and prepared Sometime in 2017, TVC News Nigeria aired a pro- the ground for the debut of their creation- the new gram called Platform/ Big Talk with General Alabi “Hausa-Fulani” identity which made a mysterious Isama (Retired). The General focused on his northern appearance in the early 1980s. It was all fake, an contemporaries who ruled the country as heads of illusion and charade that could not and cannot have state or presidents, but instead of discussing their a rightful place in any recent or past literature and/or achievements or failures as expected, he talked about mappings in Human or Natural Geography. Never- their ethnicities, observing that the Hausa ethnicity theless, they used political and financial influence to propagate the new injurious concept. A number Supplementary information The online version of of northerners glibly followed and began to address this article (https://doi.org/10.15520/jassh.v6i12.527 themselves as “Hausa-Fulani”. Nowadays, a number ) contains supplementary material, which is avail- of southern politicians, writers and other intellectuals able to authorized users. have bought the idea and are trying to force it on us northerners by hook or by crook. There must Corresponding Author: Hamza K. Yusuf be a catch somewhere! For example Falola et al. Department of Basic and Applied Science, College of Science and Technology, Hassan Usman Katsina Poly- (2020 ) wrote: “there are three major ethnic groups technic, P.M.B 2052 Katsina, Katsina state, Nigeria. in the country [meaning Nigeria]; the Hausa-Fulani, Email: [email protected] the Yoruba and the Igbo”. Falola et al. (2020) were

JASSH 6 (12), 1355−1365 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 1356 HAMZA K. YUSUF MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL wrong because the tiny so-called “Hausa-Fulani” He described his genealogy as being “…in part identity cannot stand for the mighty Hausa ethnicity Hausa, in part Kanuri and in part Fulani.” (Adam, of today. General Isama should have known bet- 2006) This is quite a remarkable method of profiling ter. If you are looking for a pure Hausaman today, ancestry that takes into cognizance grandparents and with Hausa-Hausa-Hausa genealogy then you have a great grandparents of the individual. It can help very difficult task at hand. The retired General was resolve the “Hausa-Fulani” confusion as well as wrong because the Hausa race of today has actually dispel narrow, parochial interests. Following produced nine Heads of state or Presidents in this Ja’afar’s example, my own genealogy comprises country. They are Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of “two Hausa bloodlines; two Kanuri bloodlines; (R.I.P), General , General Murtala two Tuareg bloodlines; and two Fulani bloodlines,” Ramat Mohammed (R.I.P), Alhaji Shehu Usman that means 25% each of Hausa, Kanuri, Tuareg Aliyu Shagari (R.I.P), General , and Fulani, a “mixture of mixtures” indeed! Like General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, General Sani Sheikh Ja’afar, I speak Hausa as a first language, Abacha (R.I.P), General Abdussalami Abubakar and and so my ethnicity or tribe is Hausa, not Hausa- Alhaji Musa Yar’adua (R.I.P). Fulani. I usually emphasize the Kanuri paternal line based on Hausa-Muslim tradition and the patrilineal nature of the society. It is pertinent to note that the 3 THE HAUSA ETHNICITY: A MIXTURE OF above characteristic is true for the greatest majority of Hausa speaking people across the world. For MIXTURES example the Premier of the defunct Northern Region (Sardauna of ) was not more The confusion and misunderstanding about Hausa than 50% Fulani, and so was the first Prime Minister ethnicity is perhaps due to the fact that many people of Nigeria Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Both of do not know that it has progressed and acquired them were part of the “mixture of mixtures.” They a pan-ethnic status. This is quite a normal, natu- spoke Hausa as a first language, ate Hausa, dressed ral anthropological phenomenon according to Barth Hausa and behaved Hausa - they were without any (1969) and Cohen (1978). The potentialities of a pan- doubt Hausa! The legendary Hausa singer Alhaji ethnicity were already noticed as far back as 1908, in Mamman Shata Katsina was also part of the “mixture early colonial days, by C.W. Orr who called it “The of mixtures” identity. He said in a song “sai wawa Hausa Race.”(Orr, 1908) Captain A.J.N Tremearne, sai mahaukaci ke raina mafari” meaning only a fool F.R.G.S, F.R.A.I, Lecturer in Hausa at the will not honour his roots. Hausa society from the of Cambridge, also marveled at the way the Hausa past to the present has always comprised of several race was engulfing and subsuming peoples and cul- tribal composites or “mixture of mixtures”, such tures and made this statement “It is almost impos- as Hausa-Kanuri, Hausa-Tuareg, Hausa-Rumawa* sible to say exactly what a Hausa is now, for he is (Romans), Hausa-Mallawa (Malians), Hausa-Nupe, admittedly a mixture of mixtures” (Tremearne, 1911) Hausa-Babur, Hausa-Gwari, Hausa-Jaba, Hausa- The phrase “mixture of mixtures” most importantly Kaje, Hausa-Igbira, Hausa-Jukun, Hausa-Igala, describes the very identity of the Hausa of the present Hausa-Angass, Hausa-Birom, Hausa-Yoruba, etc. and the future. Yusuf (2019) explains that the Hausa Anyone in doubt of the existence of these composites ethnicity is: (“mixture of mixtures”) can investigate the ethnic “a melting pot of cultures and traditions that contains composition of our major cities and towns today. large populations of people who originated from The Hausa-Fulani grouping can and does exist in its other minority or majority tribes of northern Nigeria, own right just like other groupings but does not have sometimes even of southern Nigerian origin.” the moral right to manipulate, dominate, admit or During his 2006 Ramadan Tafsir, Sheikh Ja’afar ostracize others. They do not have the moral right to Mahmud Adam (May his soul rest in peace) gave the decide who the Hausa can intermarry. world a novel method of profiling the Hausa identity. ……………………………………………………………………………………..

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*People who came from Bahr Rum (Mediterranean theirs from the Hausa. As for religious inclination, sea) area specifically Rome, according to Rilwanu both strike a similarity. Majority of the Hausa and (1999) Fulani are . There are only a few Hausa Christians, two percent according to Joshua Project (Barkow, 1973). Likewise there are only a few Fulani 4 EFFECTS OF ADOPTING THE Christians. The effects of adopting a Hausa-Fulani ``HAUSA-FULANI'' IDENTITY identity will undoubtedly involve parochialism, fa- voritism and promotion of Fula society, language An ethnic group has a set of common distinguish- and customs while unfairly denigrating the Hausa ing features which bind members together (Barkow, society and culture. The Hausa race would be seen 1989) There are three distinguishing features in the as an opponent because its catchment area is the cultural traits of the Hausa; language, attire and same and the people are the same. The result is a religion. Members use the Hausa language for com- belittling of Hausa language and culture, and these munication. They wear the peculiar Hausa attire and have already begun. Many people have developed I- are largely Muslims. The third feature, religion may don’t- care attitude about the Hausa language. It’s vary. A few profess the Christian religion, just like no more passionate to speak well, fluently, perfectly in Arab and Fulani ethnicities. The most prominent in Hausa. Hausa grammar and etymology are dis- feature however is the ability to speak the language. respected, even by Muslim clerics who show off Membership usually cuts across social status. The their know-how in grammar and literature. infeasibility of the Hausa-Fulani project is that ma- Some fluent speakers of English also tend to pre- jority cannot speak or understand Fulfulde. They tend not knowing Hausa well whereas their great listen to media broadcasts in Hausa, they were taught grandparents spoke it well. The general attitude of in schools as pupils in Hausa, all the films they people towards the Hausa language is somewhat watch from Nollywood are in Hausa. Some prayers lackadaisical (“rikon sakainar kashi”). This attitude and forms of worship in and churches are may not be unconnected with insinuations from the conducted in Hausa, not in Fulfulde. Is it wise to Fulanisation Movement or other adversaries. While drop Hausa for Fulfulde? In Nigeria, Fulfulde is Hausa language and culture are being embroiled in mostly spoken well in Adamawa, Taraba, and this no-good “Hausa-Fulani” conundrum, Ibo and Gombe states. In the northwestern geopolitical zone Yoruba languages are waxing stronger. (Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi) Another problem is the marginalization of Hausa however, the fewer members speak only a diluted names. A careful look at names of young people form of Fulfulde which is about 25 to 50% Hausa. in their twenties and below in Hausaland would Is it wise in this context to drop Hausa for Fulfulde? reveal this fact. Out of sheer timidity or inferiority Hausa language is the most widely spoken and devel- complex, Hausa names are being discarded. Some oped languages in , with vast linguistic uninformed clerics think that the names are animist infrastructure and enviable expert indigenous and names. They fail to draw a line between animism expatriate human resource and capital. Isn’t it unwise and the non-animist society. They overlook other and ungrateful to discard all these achievements, tribal names such as typical Fulani names, e.g. Gorjo, progress and development, for a smaller minority Bommi, Bimbi, Bingyal, Gwajam, Ja’e, Joni, Jobbi, language that is far less developed and that great- etc, but frown at typical Hausa names. If their basis est majority can’t even speak? We will surely be is , then they are wrong. The Holy Prophet a laughing stock of our rival major ethnicities in Muhammad (S.A.W) forbade bad names; confus- the country! The second important distinguishing ing names, queer names, funny names, nicknames, feature in an ethnicity which binds members together names connoting terror, names connoting disrespect, is their attire. There is no contention in this one be- dishonor, disbelief, animism, idolatry, etc. Good cause the nomadic pastoralist Fulani did not have any names must not necessarily be Arabic. In Turkey, particular attire of their own in history. They adopted Muslims still bear Turkish names. In Iran, Muslims

JASSH 6 (12), 1355−1365 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 1358 HAMZA K. YUSUF MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL still bear Iranian names. In India and Pakistan, Mus- to the banditry zones of Katsina state was suggested. lims still bear Indian names. In Indonesia, Muslims The colleague would have the opportunity to see pa- still bear Indonesian names. In Yorubaland, Muslims gan Fulani bandits at work; killing innocent peasants, still bear Yoruba names. In Borno, Muslims still pillaging valuables, raping women and destroying bear Kanuri, Shuwa or Babur names. In Adamawa crops by arson, not in the historical past but right and other places, Muslims still bear typical Fulani here in the present. According to Kperogi (2017), names. Did Prophet Muhammad (S.AW) specifically -herding Fulanis are mostly neither Muslims forbid Hausa names? No. he didn’t, therefore these nor Christians. That means they are heathens or clerics must be wrong. For example, what is wrong pagans. A Fulani friend from Adamawa state once with “Ci-wake” (one born during blossom) if condemned the “Udawa” (a clan of the Fulani) as the Arab names his daughter “Yasmin” (blossoming pagans who were neither Muslims nor Christians. flower)? What is wrong with “Zaki” (Lion) if the He recalled the manner in which they mercilessly Arab also names his son “Al-Asad (same lion)? What massacred other bucolic (or settled) Fulani in parts is wrong with “Gwanda” or “Rabo” (one born during of Bauchi and Gombe states in 2003. My colleague the parent couple’s dispute) if the Arab calls his child and the likes of him fail to reckon with history and “Saddam” (meaning accident, i.e. one born during anthropology and realize that all ethnicities, tribes couple’s dispute)? What is wrong with “Damisa” if or nations were at some time in their life cycles an Arab also calls his son “Fahd” (Tiger)? What is animists. Before the advent of Islam in the seventh wrong with “Dan-Amale” if the Arab names his son century, the Jews used to call the animists. The “Faisal” (the , for its strength and submissive- religion was polytheism and about 313 gods were ness)? What is wrong with other Hausa names such worshipped in Mecca. Islam, a monotheistic religion as Bisalla, Jatau, Tanko, Magawata, Badamaye, Ba- put a stop to all that. The Caliph Umar bn al Khattab hago, Kande, Shakallo, Shadari, Shagumba, Buwai, (R.A.) used to weep whenever he remembered a Gagare, Uwani, Maidamma, Dawai, Tinau, Hanau, bad day in Quraish animism. The day he buried his Nomau, Kosau and Jimrau, if they do not connote own daughter alive! Therefore animism is not an the undesirables? exclusive preserve for the Hausa. Both Hausa and Fulani were animists in the past, though some still are. 5 HAUSA AND FULANI AND THE There is a need at this juncture to explain the histori- ANIMISM QUESTION cal origin of the animism trait among the Hausa and Fulani. Some comparative history of both ethnicities In a dialogue on the Hausa-Fulani project, a col- could be cited. league confessed that he and many others preferred The Hausa are said to have originated from Ethiopia, to identify with the Fulani ethnicity rather than com- or “Habesha,” somewhere around the first century promise the animism (“maguzanci” or “maguzawa” or before. The name “Habesha” was transformed to ) factor prevalent in Hausa ethnicity. His submission “Hausa,” representing the ethnicity as well as the lan- was actually a shock because one did not expect guage. According to Late Danmasanin Kano (Alhaji the learned colleague to be ignorant of the fact that Yusuf Maitama Sule) and Late Malam Aminu Kano animism is not peculiar to Hausa ethnicity. Animism (Veteran Politician and Elder Statesman), linguistic is universal and part of the natural anthropological evidences support this legend. The Hausa language stages that every society, tribe or ethnicity goes belongs to the West-Chadic, Afro-Asiatic branch of through, right from the early man to hunter gatherer languages with affinity to Ethio-Semitic languages to some kind of a stone-age man to an animist. of Africa. The Bayajida Legend in Hausa culture Animism is synonymous with paganism or polythe- may be regarded not as explanation of the origin of ism, the worship of many gods. The daftness of the the Hausa but as that for the formation of the seven colleague in this matter was amazing. To buttress the Hausa States (“Hausa Bakwai”) and their satellites point that animism is not peculiar to the Hausa, a trip (“Banza Bakwai”) The former are , Katsina

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,Kano, , Rano, Biram () and engaged in “dabo” a mystical animation-like theatre while the latter are Gwari, Nupe, Kebbi, Koror- where the characters were miniature living beings. rofa (Jukun), Yawuri, Yoruba () and Zamfara. (2016) and the Joshua Project (Barkow, Hausaland or “Kasar Hausa”was an agrarian econ- 1973), limit the location of the Maguzawa to only omy with a powerful kingship institution. Before Kano and Katsina. This is not true, they are actually the introduction of Islam, Hausaland went through found all over the historic Hausa Bakwai states and a gradual process of political and cultural evolu- their satellites. Folkloric evidence may be found in tion based on organised settlements in walled cities Dan Anache’s “Wakar Shago” (“birane”) One of the largest settlements, Kano was The name “Maguzawa” is both a generic term for founded by in 999 AD. Other “birane” “pagan” and an ethnonym for religious designation included Katsina, Daura, Gobir (Alkalawa), Zazzau, (Osewe and Musa, 2018) However, according to Is- Gozaki, Rano and Biram (Hadejia). Between the lamic standard, it must never be used on any follower ninth and the eleventh centuries, the “birane’ saw of a monotheistic religion, e.g. Islam, Christianity or a number of stages of institutional and dynastic Judaism. Nevertheless, out of widespread misuse, the changes that produced a political culture that Yusuf name has acquired a derogatory status and should Bala Usman called “the Sarauta system” (Usman, be banned. The history of the stigma or label of 1981). This development led to the emergence of “Maguzawa” or “Maguzanci” can be traced to the the Seven Hausa States and seven other satellite extreme hatred of those early Hausa Muslims for states. Over time, the Hausa states went through their pagan counterparts. a gradual infrastructural change that strengthened During the 1804 Jihad led by Usman dan Fodio, their political and military capability. Some of the states, especially Daura, Kano, Katsina and Zazzau, the Hausa Jihadists were overzealous and always became strong political units with centralised politi- worried about and discussed their pagan segment; the cal institutions at the end of the fourteenth century Maguzawa (Zehnle, 2015; Rossi, 2019) Because the (Smith, 1964) Hausa societies are predominantly Hausa were a talkative calumnious type they made Muslim and had been so since the thirteenth century so much fuss that the issue became so publicised. No when Kanuri speaking people from Bornu Empire doubt they suffered from a persistent hate syndrome and Wangarawa (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke and that may be called “Maguzanci/Maguzawa-phobia.” Senuofo) from Empire introduced and con- They even made attempts without success, to re- verted them to Islam (Palmer, 1908; Greenberg, classify the Maguzawa into a separate ethnic group 1960; Adeleke, 2005). However those who refused to (Barkow, 1973). It was excessive, even the Arabs accept Islam retained their traditional pagan religious did not try to create a separate ethnic group for their beliefs and are often referred to as “Maguzawa” animists. The Yazidis in Iraq are suitable examples. Although they were despised, there was no caste The attempt to create a separate ethnic group for system among the Hausa (Greenberg, 1960). The the Maguzawa was unethical and illegitimate, but it term is said to come from the Arabic “Majus,” hence managed to survive up to the present day as found in “Majusawa” but it is not so. Temple (1919) in Haour some folkloric evidences: and Rossi (2010) described the Maguzawa as descen- dants of “Maguji” the miner and smelter and one • Garkuwa Katsina poetic chants on the tribes of of eleven pagan chiefs who originally led the clans Nigeria of Kano. Pagan practices included black magic or fetish (“tsafi”) and use of iskoki cults, pouring wine • The legendary Mamman Shata’s song: “Baban and animal blood on stone altars. Several gods and Kabiru Maikudi Maska” goddesses were worshipped e.g. Magiro or Bagiro on Kwatarkwashi hill (); Tsumburbura on The Fulani (Fulbe, Fula, Peul) are a minority eth- Dala and Gwauron Dutse hills (Kano) and Pilgrim- nic group wherever they may be found in West mage at Kufena and Turunku (Zazzau). They also and Central Africa (Nigeria, Nige/r, Mali, ,

JASSH 6 (12), 1355−1365 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 1360 HAMZA K. YUSUF MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL Cameroon, , Gambia, Sene- nabbi inabba nabban Joda” The pantheon of spir- gal, etc).Their language (Fulfulde) belongs to the its invoked and the gods and goddesses are purely Senegambian branch within the – Congo fam- Fulani; “Inna” (Mother of All), “Mainakada,” “Dan ily of languages with affinities to Wolof and Serer Babule”and “Barahaza” (‘yar Fulani mai kokuna) (Arnott, 2003) They are a nomadic pastoralist society Folkloric evidence of the latter can be found in Alhaji generally unclad save for a piece of animal skin wrap Mamman Shata’s song “Sarkin Bori Sule.” (“walki” or “warki”) around the waist. The males Another vice led by Fulani priestesses is the “Danko” would usually carry a long herding stick and a sword cult. The priestesses would pretend to communicate or dagger for self-defence. Their whole life revolved with spirits in the spirit world so that solutions or around cattle herding, which is often prone to vio- healing could be obtained for their clients. lence, thuggery and thievery. Nomadic pastoralists Fulani clans like the “Hemaga:” also engaged in are like this even today. Kperogi (2017) says “their other traditional, cultural games. whole religion is usually just the welfare of their cattle” This is animism and in this regard the Fulani In the late 1960s the Hemaga would periodically hold animists (Fulani-Arna) are no better than the Hausa a kind of festival or carnival also called Hemaga animists (Maguzawa). In fact they are even worse be- on market days of rural areas then, such as Kankia, cause the latter are more peace-loving. One wonders Dutsinma and Charanchi. It was a snatchers’ carnival why the latter, whom the former labelled as “Arnan where the Hemaga would snatch anything in their Gona” by virtue of their industriousness and love for sight; food, money, jewelry, cakes, whatever, and farming, did not return a similar label, animists-to- dash off. They wore nothing but a piece of animal animists, “Arnan Shanu” for the former’s love and skin wrap (“walki”) around the waist. Their heads ‘worship’ of cattle. carried horrible hair-dos consisting of islands of kinky tufts of hair (“tukkaye”) dotting the centre of The existence of the “Fulani-Arna” is shown in folk- the head from the back to the front. Long circular loric evidence –a tune from the traditional boxing metallic earrings dangled from their ears. Each man (“”) house in Kankia, in the late 1960s, by carried a small drum (“talle”) which they played and Ya’u Makadin Maza, thus: sang in chorus: “Gorjo dan Fulani-Arna “Dan marakinmu ya fi Maigidanmu.. Jarumi na Mai- dan marakinmu ya fi Maigidanmu.. Gorjo ya kashe ya tayar dan marakinmu ya fi Maigidanmu ” Sai a bashi kambun girma” From the dialogue with the colleague mentioned Owing to their nomadic way of life the pagan Fu- earlier, it was gathered that many people are ig- lani did not settle enough to create gods and god- norant about our history and just believe that the desses for worship. The “Bori cult” was described Hausa were nothing, that the Fulani conquered them as a pre-Islamic traditional religion of the Hausa and brought them Islam and civilization. This is people (Danfulani, 1999; Besmer, 1977;Sullivan, not true. The truth is that by the time the nomadic 2015) However, considering the terminology and pastoralist Fulani came to Hausaland from the lower other ingredients of the cult, Bori is purely a Fu- Senegal (Futa Toro/Futa Djalon) in the fifteenth to lani phenomenon. It is a possession trance ritual sixteenth century and started to convert to Islam, the which employs adorcism (cf exorcism) to heal ill- Hausa were already settled, civilized and Islamized ness. I vividly recall as a boy in the late 1960s, these for over three centuries. Yoo (2009) confirmed that slender Mbororo women with their big dangling by 1200 AD, all the Hausa city states had Muslim circular metallic earrings dancing to a trance. They rulers. The claim that Muhammadu Korau (c. 1450 would also be chanting the epithets like a mantra; - 1493) was the first Muslim king of Katsina is also “Ye…yero…dan Babule ..yero,…ye …yero…dan false. The earliest conversion of the Hausa to Islam Babule …yero” and “nabbi inabba nabban Joda… was by Kanuri-speaking people from Bornu empire

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(Adamu, 1978 ; Alkali and Usman, 1983; Adeleke, to topple their Hausa overlords (“Sarakuna”) who 2005), and then by the “Mallawa” or Malians who imposed on them heavy taxation and harsh economic came at first as traders, and secondly as Muslim conditions. At the time of the Jihad, many pagan scholars. According to Adamu, the Malians transhumant pastoral Fulani bandits (Fulani-Arna) were collectively called “Wangarawa” and consisted infiltrated the Jihadi Army for their selfish lust to of the tribes of Bambara, Malinke, Soninke and kill and plunder. The evidence of this incident can Senuofo. Claims by some that the Fulani were among be shown from the extremely angry reactions of a them are false because by that time the Fulani had not great commandant of the Jihad Abdullahi bin Fodio even started to convert to Islam (Palmer, 1928; Yoo, (Abdullahin Gwandu) in his book “Infaqul Maisuri.” 2009; Zehnle, 2015) Little wonder that the great grandchildren of those Therefore, the earliest people to embrace Islam in bandits are still wreaking havoc in Katsina, Zamfara, what is now Nigeria were Kanuri speaking people Sokoto, etc, by way of banditry, rustling, kidnapping followed by Hausa and lastly the Fulani, The 1804 and plunder. My colleague still wondered why many Jihad in Hausaland met a society already made or people associate animism only with the Hausa de- perfected. There was nothing the Fulani Jihad lead- spite the fact that animism was and still is prevalent ership under Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio could offer in among the Fulani community. The answer is simple. terms of infrastructural facilities, tools or amenities The early Hausa Muslims especially those who par- of life. They did not have them. With the success ticipated in the 1804 Jihad overzealously despised of the Jihad, they inherited virtually everything, their animist counterparts (Maguzawa). They were from the institutional structures of government, po- even stupidly less tolerant than the Arabs. In addi- litical titles, the elaborate court ceremonial /feudal tion they were (or still are) a talkative, calumnious social relations and even the hereditary principle of people who made the issue assume an almost global succession (Adeleke, 2005), to the army, weapons, dimension (Zehnle, 2015; Rossi, 2019) The Fulani extensive agriculture, and commerce, fishing, on the other hand, are more reserved. They saw their mining, black smithing, and weaving, dye- animism issue as an internal affair not worthy of ing, modes of clothing and dressing (e.g. ‘taguwa,’ discussion with strangers. Unlike the Hausa, they ‘tagiya,’ ‘riga,’ ‘yar-shara,’ e.t.c), games and sports, never ever contemplated creating a separate ethnic folk medicine, to even dish varieties and styles of group for their animists. Before launching the 1804 their preparation. The minority Fulani nobility in- Reform-Jihad, Sheikh Usman dan Fodio had two termarried with the Hausa extensively such that it goals. The first was to convert the multitudes of is hard to get the original pure Fulani but hybrids pagan Fulani to Islam. The second was to execute (“Fulanin zaure”) Most of the northern elites who the Jihad. (Zehnle, 2015) When he could not make are parading themselves as Fulani nobility, including any significant head way with the first, he settled those who created the Hausa-Fulani collocation cum for the Jihad. Apart from the terms “Maguzawa” confusion, are grand children or great grand children or “Maguzanci,”several other terms are derogatory of those early minority Fulani nobility. They are part and should be banned. They include the segregative and parcel of the “mixture of mixtures” and they Fulani terms; “Habe” (Ugly Non-Fulani) and “Kado” better be Hausa for a collective meaningful progress (Non-Fulani). The Hausa used the term “Baubawa” and development. (Non-Hausa) the plural of which is “Baibayi.” South- During the 1804 Jihad, only the leadership was ern Hausa also use another term specifically for purely Fulani but the men, the rank and file, were the Fulani, i.e. “Agwoi” In the northeast, the term largely Hausa. The Jihad was usually tagged “Fulani “Kirde” is used for an unbeliever or sometimes even Jihad” by colonialist and neo-colonialist historians for the Non-Kanuri. as well as other opponents in order to trivialize the My colleague thought that our discourse has some- cause. In terms of proportions, numbers and princi- how discredited the Fulani. I had to point out to him ples however, it wasn’t truly a Fulani Jihad. Majority that it is not so, that I love the Fulani just like I love of the Hausa commoners “talakawa” joined in order the others in my genealogy. After all, I have in my

JASSH 6 (12), 1355−1365 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 1362 HAMZA K. YUSUF MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL “mixture of mixtures” profile two Fulani bloodlines; 7 CONCLUSION one from a paternal great grandmother, the other from a maternal great grandmother. It is pertinent to note that there is a conspiracy However, in good conscience the true history of all behind the recently created Hausa-Fulani enigma. must be told. Both the discourse and the write up are The informally proposed Hausa-Fulani identity was as much as possible fair to all and in good conscience. meant to stand in place of the Hausa Race. That must According to Sheikh Usman dan Fodio, conscience is not be allowed to happen for the sake of fairness and an open wound, only truth can heal it (The Guardian, justice. The future of composite groupings other than 2019) the Hausa-Fulani would be jeopardized. Worst of all, the Hausa Race would be deceived and cajoled to commit Cultural suicide! There are already sinister moves to drive the Hausa ethnicity and civiliza- 6 RECOMMENDATIONS tion into extinction. The immediate suspects may In view of the current critical challenges facing the involve those behind the Fulanisation Movement as Hausa ethnicity, challenges that amount to crisis well as the immediate past Government of President in its identity; challenges that could bring about Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for its calculated attempt, its demise, or drive it to extinction, the following according to Unongo (2014) to divide the North and recommendations are made: dismember Nigeria.

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