₦airaland Forum

The Sudan diaspora of the Hausa-Fulani

The Sudan diaspora of the Hausa-Fulani people was formed, definitively, around the first decade of this century. The first settlement, Mai Wurno on the right bank of the Blue Nile, soon became prosperous enough for a few daughter communities to be established in the Gezira area, the land between the two Niles. Presently, almost all the population centers in Gezira and along the Blue Nile have a foreign quarter mainly inhabited by people of West African origin, the majority of these being Hausa-Fulanis. They are mostly sedentary.

Besides, along the pilgrimage route between West Africa and Jidda-Makka, the so-called Alhaji Highway, every town has a sizeable West African quarter, from Geneina and Nyala on the Chad border to Suakin and Bor Sudan on the Red Sea. There, some percentages of the inhabitants are constantly on the move, on the way to or back from Makka.

People in the Sudan Hausa-Fulani community call themselves tàkaarii . Singular forms are either tàkaarà or tàkùruurù , obviously derived from an Arabic denomination (sg. takruur, pl. takaarii) of the well-known Senegalese ethnic group, Tukulors. The hosts, Arab people, generally call these diaspora settlements Fellata quarters. The dominant language in the diaspora is takaaranci , /-anci/ being a Hausa suffix denoting language.

From Mai Wurno town down south to the Ethiopian border, there are quite a few populous Hausa-Fulani settlements scattered along both banks of the Blue Nile. Here in this riverine strip, the lingua franca of the diaspora is Filatanci, the Fula language. Members of the diaspora are mostly trilingual: Fula, Hausa/Takaaranci and Arabic. On the other hand, along the Alhaji Highway, the diaspora language is Hausa/Takaaranci. Transient members are usually monolingual Hausa speakers with various degrees of fluency in Arabic.

The Revival of the Fula Language along the Blue Nile

At the time of Jihad in Hausaland around the beginning of the 19th century, Fulani Jihadists had been thoroughly Hausanized already and their mother tongue was Hausa, though Usman dan Hodiyo and his children could express their thoughts in Fula. But the Fula language soon became obsolete in the Sokkoto Empire, and by the time of the last independent Sardauna, Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru II, the Fulani ruling class completely abandoned the Fula language.

Therefore, when Bello Mai Wurno, a son of Sultan Attahiru, and his followers founded the Mai Wurno town and started the Sudan diaspora, the language of the diaspora must have been Hausa. But in the present, the dominant language in the Hausa-Fulani diaspora on the Blue Nile upstream from Mai Wurno town is Fula, along with Hausa/Takaaranci.

The revival of the Fula language is very enigmatic, because the diaspora people obviously did not need to introduce a new language other than Arabic, the language of their host people. Also, there existed no Fula group in the Sudan to influence the newly established Hausa-Fulani community and to act as a model. This question was partly answered by Ibrahim Mukoshi, a grandson of Bello Mai Wurno. On the way to Gezira, the survivors spent some time in Adamawa, where the Hausanization of the Fulani rulers was not complete yet. There in Adamawa, Bello and his party were given wives and female slaves as sadaka. They continued the hijra together with these newly acquired womenfolk. These women were mostly monolingual, and spoke only in Fula. Therefore, when the second generation grew up in the Sudan diaspora, they received both their mother's language, Fula, and their father's language, Hausa. That was the way in which Fula revived in the community.

In the genre of popular history, many legends of communal foundation contain accounts of male members and female members who hail from two different ethnic groups but come to live together, due to war, slavery or natural disaster. Certainly, if the Adamawa women had not brought the language into the community, it would have been impossible to find source material for the revival of the Fula language. ,

Fulaman198:
First and Foremost, you guys have to realize that Hausa and Fulani are not the same thing. A lot of the Fulani that live in Sudan are Mbororo which are Nomadic Fulani, that you find here in Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Sudan.

Hausa people are plentiful in Sudan too, though I am not sure why. But Hausas don't forget can also be found in the farther West like in Burkina Faso, Ghana, parts of Mali, and even in present day Senegal as recent immigrants. Hausa surprisingly is widely spoken even in the far west of Africa.

stayreal:
I am aware of those maps. If they have so much in common, why don't they create Arewa?

anonymous6:
so basically they would be more closer to a hausa from Niger then a Igbo or yoruba from their own country of Nigeria; one thing I also notice about them is their religion is their culture, their religion overides their culture in a way. Up til this day I'm yet to know their culture completely just their muslim religion

It is no news how the shutting down of our oil can lead to a global hike in fuel prices. Everything we do and say should be important. As a foreigner following the recent goings-on in our polity, it is important to understand that words used in Nigeria may not be limited to their normal English meanings. I have therefore undertaken the thankless job of explaining the usage of certain terms in today’s Nigerian; only because I want the best for you.

Cabal

This is a word that is bandied about by the federal government. It means a group of people, some known, some unknown, some renowned. A member of the cabal is a person who performs political and economic magic, like amending the dates of landing of a fuel tanker in Nigeria to get paid more for fuel. A member of a cabal may or may not be a minister in the federal government. A member of a cabal will likely have a private jet. Their jets are a menace to more legitimate owners of jets like governors and pastors with huge followings. To have a friend in the cabal is to be in Nigerian heaven.

Palliatives

This is the current favourite word of the federal government. Palliatives are very important things, like buses, roads, schools, electricity, security, jobs. Usually the government would not think it necessary to provide these things, notwithstanding that certain items that seem like palliatives are budgeted every year. Make no mistake. They are not the same. Palliatives are a favour, given only because the government has recently, out of the kindness of their heart and to save our beloved nation from imminent bankruptcy, removed a criminal subsidy on petrol. This word is closely related to the phrase - ‘Cushioning the effect.’

Cushioning the effect

When you hear this phrase, you must let out a deep long sigh, for it is an important thing. It is graciousness, magnanimity. Being that government has the fear of god, when they do something adverse, like hike the prices of fuel, they cushion the effect of the blow by giving treats. Examples may or may not include things mentioned in ‘palliatives’. It may also include innovative things like special programs to re-invest money snatched out of poor people’s hands, so that poor people may enjoy. Because poor people are stingy, they do not like to let go of their little perks, like cheap fuel. So when you do necessary things like take it by force, you do something to give back. You cushion the effect.

Dastardly

Dastardly is a sacred word. It is a word made by Nigerian gods to describe particularly heinous crimes of the evil detractors of government. So every disaster that happens is dastardly. No presidential speech after a terrorist attack is complete without it. The act is dastardly. The perpetrator of the act is a detractor. When commiserating with government about an attack, you must call that attack dastardly.

Treason

This refers to the very heinous and dastardly act of insulting the president or by extension, the president’s wife. It is punishable by death and threats to perpetrators of this horrible crime are handled by State Security. They monitor sites like Twitter and Facebook, favourite hideouts for those who like to commit treason. Calling for the president to resign is tantamount to calling for regime change. This is treason. Punishable by death. And the suspension of your Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Boko Haram

Ah, a staple. This is the broadest group of people in Nigeria; the most reliable, the most trustworthy. They also claim responsibility for every attack, bombing and shooting. It is also legal to blame everything on them. So if you have a drinking problem, blame it on Boko Haram. You miss your period? It has to be Boko Haram. The name used to refer to a religious group who “saw through the evil that was Western Education” and rightly condemned it. More recently however, the group has claimed responsibility for many bombings and shootings of civilians. When Boko Haram says they will carry out an attack, it usually happens. It is impossible to keep them arrested for more than twenty four hours; they usually find a way to break out.  They have representatives in the police, the army, the executive, the legislature, the church, the mosque; they are omnipresent. You need them to travel safely around Nigeria.

As long as you understand these words, you are fine. We wish you all the best trying to understand them. The meanings of words in Nigeria, however, are subject to change without notice; like the price of fuel.

emöfine:
I'm tutoring myself but if you wan teach me I no mind

tayo_tee:
have made few (prolly lyk 3 ) hausa friends in birmingham buh they are def not much compared to other guys

emöfine:
I'm a beginner ban gane ba so I'm stuck

If you're asking if I'm in England then a(yes).

Lol @ your last sentence. I guess I have a reason to visit Birmingham Uni now.

alj harem:
If Al-mustapha was Igbo and the Judge was hausa

1. This aboki blood sucking people hate southerners

2. Ndu_chuks and even alj_harem would come and try to explain things here but we would be insulted

3. Some people would start calling for North and South to divide. we can no long live with aboki people

4. Others would be calling for southern solidarity


If Al-mustapha was Ijaw and the Judge was hausa

1. We give them oil, they cannot do this to us

2. Born to rule, they are oppressors

3. Asari dokubo would say, Never, we would blow up oil pipes and shut down the country. and all other bigoted statement


I can keep going on and on