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Burning Grass : Literacy, Ruga and Fulan I Herdsmen Migration in Nigeria

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Burning Grass : Literacy, Ruga and Fulan I Herdsmen Migration in Nigeria Merit Research Journal of Education and Review (ISSN: 2350 -2282) Vol. 8(6) pp. 124-132, June, 2020 Available online http://meritresearchjournals.org/er/index.htm Copyright © 2020 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3911315 Review Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass : Literacy, Ruga and Fulan i Herdsmen Migration in Nigeria Diala Edwin Lionel Abstract Department of Languages and This discourse examines the contexts of literary source of Cyprain Ekwensi’s fictional Humanities, Alvan Ikoku Federal College prose – Burning Grass. It explains the lifestyle of the traditional Fulani herdsmen of Education, Owerri culture. This paper highlights some aspects of nomadic Fulani culture, identity and itinerant and migration nature. The paper examines the aridity of the Sahel and E-mail: [email protected] northern regions, advanc ing desertification and excessive weather conditions which Mob.: 08137708411 has influenced the migratory movement of the herdsmen struggle, rivalries, challenges and conflicts, occupation, religion and culture .The migration bid of the herdsmen has implications on varietie s of language spoken in Nigeria and most especially English language. The paper also shows the effects of migration on language expansion and socio -economic life of the people. The paper is focused specifically on Burning Grass as well as application of cu rrent environmental factors for the evaluation of the primary data of the study. Keywords: Burning Grass, Fictional Prose, Herdsmen, Migration INTRODUCTION The paper examines the cultural and social realities of coming apart of a family in the Fulani community of the Nigerian Fulani herdsmen as presented in the literary Dokan Toro in the novel. According to him, several context of Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass . The novel cultural practices exist as unifying factors that brought captures a sensitive and detailed picture of the culture people under a single roof. He further notes that it also representation, identity and en vironment of traditionally highlights how generally love separates people as well as Fulani society in Nigeria predominantly dominated by holds a family, a house or a society together. herdsmen. The fictional work exposes the lifestyle of the The paper explores Fulani herdsmen culture as traditional Fulani people. The title of this paper illuminates describ ed in Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass . Gabriel the ingredients of socialization, value system, cultura l and Blackduke (2018) state that the traditional Fulani beliefs that are attributes of migration in the socio -cultural culture in the later decades of the twentieth century and perspective in Nigeria environment. this twenty-first century has been challenged by Aniago (2012) notes that novels are clear modernity in several ways. The paper therefore explores representation of typical and actual realities of a society these challenges and notes that the traditional Fulani and not just a pigment of an author’s imagination. T he herdsmen play significant role in Nigeria. novel Burning Grass highlights real life scenario, showing Dogon-Daji (2016) states that the Fulani people live in Fulani herdsmen struggles, conflicts, challenges, religion the Northern part of Nigeria. The Fulani’s are alien tribe and culture and occupation. Dogon-Daji (2016) in his whose grazing habits bring serious problem to the earlier work on thematic analysis and significance of the country’s agricultural and forestry practice because of the Cyprian Ekwensis novel, Burning Grass explains the persistence and consistent conflict of the Fulani factors affecting the day to day activities of the Fulani herdsmen with farmers. This often results to migration. herdsmen and also factors causing the downfall or Dogon-Daji (2016) citing Iro (1994) says that Fulani’s are Diala 125 nomadic and pastoralists whose primary occupation is else must succumb to that wish. ’‘There is that immediate livestock raising. They engage in random movement of instinct of the Nomad, developed over a lifetime of cattle and trans-human migration. He reports that the exposure to danger from man, beast and nature.’ ‘A good Fulani herdsmen are largely found in the Sahel and the herdsman must know each one of his cattle by name, semi-arid parts of West Africa. Because of climate colour and habit: the Fulani does.’ They could ‘eat changes, the herdsmen have migrated further south into kneaded flour in sour milk’ and other things but ‘Fulani the Savannah and tropical forest-belt of West Africa. He would not eat the meat from cattle: it was forbidden by lists some of the countries where the herdsmen are found the herdsmen.’ ‘A town must have the smell of a cattle to like Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali, please a Fulani. If there is no smell of a cattle-dung, it’s Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon. The like a hospital.’ ‘Most of the Fulani girls were light skin dominant occupation of the Fulani in Nigeria is cattle with straight noses and thin lips like those of the white rearing. Dogon-Daji notes that the Fulani herdsmen people; they could milk cows, separate butter and cheese engage in both random and planned transhumance from the milk, ferment the milk and cook. She hawks the movements. According to him, the pure nomadic Fulani sour milk. ’‘A Fulani youth who had not taken a flogging herdsmen usually take these random movements while at the sharro would never find a maiden to marry the semi-nomadic pastoralist takes the planned him’ Their ‘Custom says that a woman is no wife until she movements. The major reason for their migration is to is brought under a hut. ’‘To the herdsmen who has spent reach areas with abundant grass and water for the cattle. most of his time on the move, home was a cluster of huts, Other reasons for their migration are to avoid payment of anywhere from which no more movement was tax, harmful insects and hostile weather as well as social contemplated.’ environment. The advantage of the movement for the Dogon-Daji (2012) observes that during the dry herdsmen is make available food resources for their season when tsetse fly population is reduced, the Fulani cattle. pastoralists move their cattle into the middle belt zone Dogon-Daji (2016) citing Caldicott (1996) notes that dominated by non Hausa groups returning to the north at before migration, the Fulani herdsmen send a the onset of the rainy reason. The grazing of cattle on reconnaissance team to study the area for availability of farmlands sometimes lead to destruction of farm crops resources like grass and water for grazing. The Fulani and results to conflict. herdsmen have several species of cattle such as Zebu In Burning Grass , Cyprian Ekwensi highlighted the cattle, dwarf Ndama, Bigimi, Turuka, Mbala and Popo. nature of grass, its importance and the need for the The Zebu is most common in the West African hinterland Fulani herdsmen to move southward with their cattle in because of its drought resistant tracts while the dwarf search of grazing lands. According to Cyprian Ekwensi, Ndama cattle is commonly herd in the wetter areas of when they begin to burn grass in northern Nigeria, it is Fouta Djallon because of their resistant to time the herdsmen to be moving the cattle southwards to trypanosomiasis and other conditions directly associated the bank of the great river. Cattle rearing are the with high humidity. occupation of Fulani people as shown in the character of Tonah (2012) asserts that the Fulani pastoralists Mai Sunsaye in Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass. graze in lands around the arid and Sahel regions of West Lack of literacy by the pastoralists is shown when Mai Africa because of the conditions of the environment, Sunsaye , following the bird’s movement would mean which limit the amount of land for agricultural purposes deserting his sense of reason, his wife, his children and leading to loss intense competition for land between his people. When asked about his wandering, Sunsaye farmers and herders. He further notes that the Fulani will tell anyone that cared to listen that he was in search pastoralists started their migration into Northern Nigeria of Fatimeh, the Kanuri slave girl whom he saved from her from Senegambia region around the 13 th or 14 th century. masters. Fatimeh was caught up in a love triangle Okello and Mejekodunmi (2014) also state that after the with Sunsaye’s love sick son Rikku and Hodio whom she Uthman dan Fodio’s Jihad, the Fulani became integrated eloped with. All Sunsaye wanted was to bring Fatimeh into the Hausa culture of Northern Nigeria. back to his most loved son Rikku. But in his search for CyprainEkwensi, posits that the colorful nuggets of one, he finds another. information the character of Mai Sunsaye gives on the In the course of his journey, Mai Sunsaye opened a Fulani’s helps in understanding their uniqueness. window for readers to view the nomadic life of the Fulani. Through him, we learn about the life and values of the Through lonely hills, rivulets and rocks, the herdsmen will Fulani herdsmen: thrive. Loneliness was their drink, they are nomads; ‘We are Fulani’s , the son of Dan Fodio, master wandering cattlemen and women. As their families are magicians, we who fight like cats , who die a hundred scattered beneath different piece of sky in their moving deaths and live, we who test out manhood by the lives, it is little surprise that Mai Sunsaye walks into the Sharro’ ‘we are men of cattles, our cattles come first and embrace of his first son Jalla who has now grown rich since it is our wish to take them to better pastures, all with a thousand cattle in the town of New Chanka. 126 Merit Res. J. Edu. Rev.
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