My SS 3 students are very fond of me. As their government teacher, they very much prefer my teaching style, a conscientious balance of work, play and interactive sessions, to the very stoic and ultra-formal style of the other teachers. In return for my making of learning to be fun, I earned their respect and confidence.



For a born and breed Lagosian, whose first ever visit to northern Nigeria came courtesy of the Clarion call to the service of the fatherland, I was itching to learn more about my new environment. My students were more than willing to help out in all of my curiosity-driven quests. Here is my encounter with a Dan Daudu (Singular for Yan Daudu).



It all started off with my interest to get for myself my first ever “babariga”. I have never own one before. Growing up in the cosmopolitan city sort of tuned me up into a straight shirt and jeans kind of guy. We had this impression about those wearing “babariga” as being primitive, untutored and unsophisticated. We’ve always craved jeans for Christmas and this disposition towards “babariga” sort of stayed on until now.



I had one of my student Hamza (Not real name) work me through the process of picking a material. We scout through the market; moving from stall to stall in search for a good bargain. Apart from the predetermined color which I perfer, I really had no knowledge of the various grade and quality of materials on offer. Infact the style was to be determined by Hamza himself, since I had none in mind. All that I cared about was having a “babariga” to my name.



After all the haggling between Hamza and the trader (done in Hausa language), a price was agreed and payment made. The material (a “Cheddar” as I was latter informed) was packaged and handed over.



It was at this point that I enquired for where we could have lunch. It wasn’t that I was too hungry not to be able to wait until I get home first. It was more of my concealed way of showing appreciations to Hamza without him getting to decline it. Anything else would have been politely turned down.



Perhaps fearing for the strength of my pocket, Hamza took me to the motor pack adjacent the market. We got to what i can most descriptively refer to as a roll of shanks right behind the motor pack. We picked one of the many food canteens and went in. We both took our seats opposite each other.



We were deliberating on what to eat with regards to what they have. I don’t understand the local language sufficiently enough to order my own food. I was still telling Hamza what I wanted to eat, since he is the one who is to place the orders when the woman whom I presumed was the owner of the food canteen came forward. At this point, I became dumbstruck.



The woman was by every inch a male. His masculine frame betrayed the layers of foundations and concealers he had on his face. One could still pick out the little strands of growing beards underneath his jaw if one looks hard enough. His make-up wasn’t just heavy, I find them to be somewhat repulsive judging by southern standard. Outside his masculine frame, he was every bit of a woman. His clothes, his jewelries, his hair extensions, his mannerism, even the sound of his voice.



Hamza, sensing my apprehension, asked “her” to get us a plate of rice and beans each. I watched “her” labouring to swing her stiff waist from side to side as “she” went about this task. It took me a while for my head to fully process where i really was. Almost all around me were people. Dinners eating their food, Wristwatch merchants hawking their wears, Almajiris begging and eating from the remnants of the dinner’s plates. And ultimately, many of whom I had mistook for salesgirls, on closer inspection were actually men.



My initial apprehension soon gave way to indifference because I am very much myself a liberalist. In as much as I do not subscribe to homosexuality, I still believe in the credo of “live and let’s live”. An Igbo adage loosely translates that “let the kite perch, let the eagle perch. Which that says the other should not perch, let it’s wing break”.



While I feast on my meal, I decided to engage the “madam” in a conversation with the help of Hamza as our interpreter.



Teacher: Madam this your food e sweet o!



Food seller: na gode (Hausa for “thank you”)



Teacher: What is your name?



Food seller: Amina



Teacher: Amina you are very beautiful and a very good cook.



Food seller: na gode. (“She” even blushed girlishly)



From where we sat, I could observe how the cross-dressers were relating with the other proper males of the community. I watched as some of the motor park touts seized the tray of one of the “salesgirls” and were playfully passing it around among themselves, leaving the hapless but somewhat cheerful “girl” to chase after them in a quest to retrieve back her tray. I watched as some of them spanked “her” ass, and I equally observed how “she” don’t seems to care or perhaps she was enjoying it all. From the much I saw, the relationship between this two segments of the community within the motor park was cordial.



Hamza made me understand that associating with a crossdresser publicly or, more appropriately, outside of the motor park is something that most people will never ever attempt. Amina speaking through Hamza made us understand the respectable men of the society, including politicians, successful business men and Islamic clergymen alike, do visit them and seek their services, but mostly using the cover of the nights.



I asked Hamza how came such a thriving community of cross-dressers in a conversative and almost ultra-religious Northern Nigeria?



Hamza made me understand that there various angles by which one can seek to answer this question. It could be historical/cultural, contemporary pop culture, nature and finally, nurture.



Historically or culturally speaking, there are no obvious Hausa cultural practice that somewhat encourages Homosexuality. Atleast, not any that I could make reference to in the course of my research. Considering that very little form of record keeping happened within most traditional African societies (mostly sub-saharan Africa), one can not sufficiently argue whether or not these practices were present with the African cultural practices.



Dan Daudu, loosely translates to mean “son of Daudu”. Yan Daudu and it’s practices are parts of the baggages that came along with Islam courtesy of the trans-saharan trade routes. The trans-saharan trade routes were the corridor through which Islam was brought to the old Hausa kingdoms of Gobir, so also were the practice of Yan Daudu. The practice involves the entertaining of guests at “biki”(weddings) or those returning from a long journey across the desert through erotic dances and other associated acts like “madigo” (intercourse between women), “aras” (intercourse between men), etc. These dances were preformed by “mai harkas”.



It is a practice that is deeply entrenched in the Islamic cultures of the Arabs, Persians, ancient Egyptians and Moroccans. Rich Arabians could offer one of the women of their harem or a male slave to an honored guest for his entertainment. Since women were such a very difficult and scarce commodity to come by on the trans-saharan trade routes, it will not be out of place for such to be a breeding ground for homosexuality.



The term “Yan Daudu” was never considered a derogatory term long before now. Infact practitioners addresses themselves by it. This is because even though it wasn’t such a profession for one to be most proud of, it was still a profession nonetheless; One which was necessarily tolerated for the proper functioning of an Islamic society. This evidently explains why almost all “Yan Daudu” professes the Islamic faith. They go to the mosque without hindrance, perform ablutions (ritual bath) and observe their prayers. They believe in Allah and equally believes he created them into who they are.



Contemporary pop culture: I personally have no intentions of dwelling too much on this, since it is all taking place right before our very eyes. The media is helping to polish, sell, and conscienciatize us into accepting it as a normal part of the human society. Bobrisky is evidently the poster child of this movement within Nigeria.



The part that really struck me most in the course of my interaction with Amina was the “nature or nurture” part. According to her, cross-dressing just come naturally to some people like fish takes to water. For her, certain things defiles explanations because they are just as Allah designed then to be. And discriminating against them is like discriminating against Allah’s creation.



Society (contemporary society) many times misconceives cross-dressers to be social deviants, misfits and in so many cases, deranged. Amina posited that it is outrightly ludicrous to believe that all cross-dressers are homosexual. Just like “herself”, she has a wife and four kids. So also are many of her friends, many of already have four wives as is permitted by islam. “She” stated that she enjoys the company of a man just as she enjoys the company of a woman. Cross-dressers are like normal people with dreams, goals and aspirations.



When I asked if “she” would want any of her sons to become like her. She gave a slight sigh. After a few silent and thoughtful moments, she replied through my interpreter that “Only Allah charts the course of one’s destiny”.



She told us that some parents actually nurture their sons into Yan Daudu. She spoke of the case of a housewife who have had six sons and was seriously praying for a daughter. It only happened that on the seventh birth, it was still a son. Disappointed that he wasn’t a girl, the woman nurtured her seventh son the way she would a girl. For all she cares, he was for her a girl.



Amina also spoke of males who grow up in a predominantly female environment like boys with too many big sisters. There is every tendency for such to pick up certain female mannerism for it is what they are most exposed to for the formative part of their life.



I enquired to know if there was anything society can do to help out, perhaps to stop the Yan Daudu practice. Amina replied that there are two answers to that question and that the question she gives is solely dependent on who is asking. I pleaded that she gave me both answers.



1st answer: Government should reduce the poverty level, encourage education, uphold transparency and accountability and reform the almajiri system. Many people take up to the “Yan Daudu” trade as a result of frustrations and the dare need to survive. Young Almajiris are target for sodomization(willing or unwilling) just for the sheer need of the stomach.



2nd answer: Frankly speaking, society can never really put an end to the Yan Daudu trade because just like everything else within the society, it is a necessary part of it. Prostitution (whether heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual) is the oldest trade know to man. We just can devoice it from society. We can only manage it.



Conclusively, whichever prism through which one chooses to look at the issue of Yan Daudu, just understand that your freedom ends at when it starts affecting other people's peace. “Live and let’s live!”







Teacher writing from Kano.

I am.suspecting you, yes you op.

Poorboy:
I am.suspecting you, yes you op.

What difference does it make�

Nice ... we need more of this kind of expose.

Great piece!

Kano State......... *Memories in my brain*

Nice piece, OP. Yan Daudu here are usually subject to mockery and scorn. Unfortunately many of them have taken to prostitution, the kind of people who patronise them is shocking.

[b][/b] One which was necessarily tolerated for the proper functioning of an Islamic society. This evidently explains why almost all “Yan Daudu” professes the Islamic faith. They go to the mosque without hindrance, perform ablutions (ritual bath) and observe their prayers. They believe in Allah and equally believes he created them into who they are.

Your account of the yan daudu practice is mostly true and I must confess I enjoyed every bit of it. However the above statement/assumption that the practice is tolerated for the proper functioning of an islamic society is entirely false and misleading. Islam is infact very critical of this practice and frowns heavily at it.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men.
In another narration, Ibn Abbas said: The Prophet cursed men who copy women and women who copy men.
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6445.
To add, the Amina you chatted with will of course never admit to you that 'She' engages in homosexuality, well definitely according to her, crossdressing is just for the fun of it.. Nothing more.. IF I HEar�.then what's the essence.. but I tell you, you got your answer from your student, ' its mostly done in the veil of the night, or from the horses mouth 'many take up the Yan daudu trade as a result of frustration and a dare need to survive.
In the islamic tradition, if homosexuals are caught, their sentence is death, nothing more, nothing less.

abdul824:
[b][/b] One which was necessarily tolerated for the proper functioning of an Islamic society. This evidently explains why almost all “Yan Daudu” professes the Islamic faith. They go to the mosque without hindrance, perform ablutions (ritual bath) and observe their prayers. They believe in Allah and equally believes he created them into who they are.

Your account of the yan daudu practice is mostly true and I must confess I enjoyed every bit of it. However the above statement/assumption that the practice is tolerated for the proper functioning of an islamic society is entirely false and misleading. Islam is infact very critical of this practice and frowns heavily at it.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men.
In another narration, Ibn Abbas said: The Prophet cursed men who copy women and women who copy men.
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6445.
To add, the Amina you chatted with will of course never admit to you that 'She' engages in homosexuality, well definitely according to her, crossdressing is just for the fun of it.. Nothing more.. IF I HEar�.then what's the essence.. but I tell you, you got your answer from your student, ' its mostly done in the veil of the night, or from the horses mouth 'many take up the Yan daudu trade as a result of frustration and a dare need to survive.
In the islamic tradition, if homosexuals are caught, their sentence is death, nothing more, nothing less.

I love your rebuttal, attacking the point with proofs and superior arguments devoid of hate, sentiments and unnecessary emotions. If religious discussions could toe this path, people will learn more from other faiths instead of believing falsehoods because we are afraid to ask the right questions or get the right kind of knowledge