Last week’s column with the above title generated more buzz than I anticipated. Several people wrote to me to add to our understanding of...
Last week’s column with the above title
generated more buzz than I anticipated. Several people wrote to me to add to
our understanding of the ethnic and linguistic identity of the Gere people and
of their most prominent son, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
Unfortunately, I can only feature a few here because of the constraints of
space. But before I reproduce a sample of the letters I received, I want to
point out that, contrary to what has been insinuated in some quarters, Alhaji
Ahmad Yakubu Wanka did not say that the Gere people became Muslims “fairly
recently.” That was my interpretation of what he said.
His
exact words to me were: “Gerawa are not related to Shuwa Arabs in any manner
whatsoever. They were an animist tribe that were Islamised and their culture
has now been subsumed by the dominant prevalent Islamic culture in Bauchi.” I
refused to use the expression “animist tribe,” preferring instead the
expression "adherents of traditional African religions" because
“tribe” and “animism” are unflattering words native English speakers use to
connote primitivism and backwardness when they describe non-Western people and
their modes of belief.
I took the liberty to characterize the
conversion of the Gere people to Islam as “fairly recently" because I
interpreted Wanka as saying that the Gere people became Muslims after the people
of Bauchi. “Fairly recently” is a relative and elastic time limit. It merely
implies that the Gere people went from being what Wanka called an "animist
tribe" to being "subsumed by the dominant prevalent Islamic culture
in Bauchi." That means, as I said, they became Muslims AFTER the people of
Bauchi, thus "fairly recently” considering that Islam is at least 1200
years old in Nigeria and at most 600 years old in Bauchi. Throughout last
week’s article, I took care to put Wanka’s direct words in quotation marks to
differentiate them from my own editorial interventions. I frankly think people
are being a little too sensitive, but I understand.
The
Baghirmi, or Bagarmi, are an ethnic group in Southern Chad. They are not
related to the Shuwa Arab. The Baggara is a corruption of Baqqara, meaning
cattle owning Arabs, as distinct from the camel owners. Both are represented in
the Shuwa Arab group. The Baghirmi had an ancient Kingdom that lasted until
colonial conquest. They, the Mandara, and Borno were the powers of the Eastern
Bilad as Sudan from the 15th to the end of the 19th century. The Gerawa of
Bauchi claim origin from Baghirmi, not from among the Baqqara Arab.
Garba Ibrahim
The
Bagarmi may be a reference to the Baghirmi/Bagirmi of today's Chad. They are
not Shuwa Arabs, though there has been a lot of assimilation with them as there
is between the Hausa and the Fulani. An urban dialect of Shuwa Arabic is their
lingua franca.
Isa Muhammad
I
don't know why we, especially people from Bauchi, like to be linking ourselves
to Fulani or Shuwa Arabs. When Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was offered [the position
of] district head of Tafawa Balewa, he refused and it was given to my father
'Dallatun Bauchi Aliyu Dadi' who replaced Ajiyan Bauchi.
Yusuf Dadi
Our
great grandfather (the Yakubu Dadi) and those who came after him, in truth,
came from a distinctly Gere ancestry, which has roots in the old Ngazargamu
dynasty of the old Borno Empire. It is reasonable to assume that after the
collapse of the dynasty many migrated further afield, among whom are the
Gerawa, Bolawa, Terawa, Jarawa & some [ethnic groups] in the Pankshin area
of present-day Plateau state. We all have certain characteristics and
similarities in our dialects. If in doubt, one can go to those places including
Pankshin to see the relics of our common ancestral link with the old Borno
Empire. Indeed, sometimes when I listen to our Gere language on the radio and
then tune to Bolawa, Jaramci, Teranci or Kanuri, it's very easy to understand a
few phrases!
Abubakar Sadiq Ajiya
I am
very much interested in such kinds of discussions: histories, lineages,
origins, early lives, ethnic heritages, linguistic affiliation, and what not. I
sometimes want to join in the debate but my 'fear' of the outcome or the
repercussions when you are discussing in a world where there are no boundaries
or referees of 'matured' nature keeps me away.
In
my area of study, literary history, we have discussed extensively on Abubakar
Bauchi, (that was his original name, no relation what so ever with Tafawa
Balewa, until later in life). We got most of our information from his novel Shaihu Umar, (which, if given the
required scrutiny, will tell us more on the person and his ancestry.)There are
so many things 'hidden' about ATB and which most biographies, 'deliberately'
fail to mention or skip, to make their 'stories' more 'juicy', acceptable or
adaptable to the 'current status' of the Right Honorable Gentleman. I saw some
'truth' in the remarks made by Wanka....'his father was a domestic
servant.....,' The Gere are part of Bauchi, and they have their identity and
subsumed within the hierarchical worlds of the 'rulers' and 'servants' as found
in many areas of the 'core North.' Thanks once again.
Professor Ibrahim Malumfashi
I
just read your column on Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's real ethnic group with a
special interest. I am Bole. I teach General English, Literature in English,
and Language Teaching at FCE Tech, Potiskum, Yobe State. I did some linguistics
as part of my BA Ed / English training back in UNIMAID. Potiskum and Fika towns
are the two towns in which most Boles or Bolewa live in Yobe. Neighbouring
Gombe State has an even bigger number of Boles, I think. Information from your
column now makes me want to go to Bauchi and find out from those who speak
Gere. Thank you, Prof. Your columns are
always useful.
Naser Jangas Mohammed
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