‘Language, People And Land’: A Little More Light On The Hausa Reawakening Movement
The Oasis Reporters
September 30, 2026
By Aliyu Ammani
My attention was recently drawn to a video clip in which a professor, addressing a gathering, took jabs at the Hausa reawakening movement. His assumption was that the movement is out against non-native speakers. His argument, therefore, was that if non-native speakers were removed from the count, the population of Hausa speakers would shrink significantly.
He even claimed that in the last three years the number has shrunk enough to give Swahili an edge, mischievously suggesting that the shrinking is as a result of the activities of Hausa activists.
In his view, whoever speaks Hausa is Hausa, regardless of original ethnicity. By that logic, all non-native speakers of Hausa become indistinguishable from the Hausa when it comes to Hausa identity, yet they have another ethnic identity to fall back on when it is no longer convenient to identify as Hausa. While they enjoy dual identities and the luxury of switching, the original Hausa are permitted only one: not even a standalone Hausa identity, but the hyphenated, imposed label of “Hausa-Fulani”. What an irony!
Elsewhere, a journalist challenged activists of the movement to a debate on Hausa linguistics and even pledged a cash prize.
At the same time, another journalist opposed to the movement has been combing through Facebook, taking screenshots of posts written in Hausa by Hausa activists and highlighting grammatical and orthographical errors to prove they are not “real” Hausa people, as if proficiency in writing a language were a precondition for being its native speaker.
What these three individuals have displayed, wittingly or unwittingly, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the focus and raison d’être of the Hausa reawakening movement. They narrowly and erroneously reduce the concept of “Hausa” to language alone. This essay seeks to clarify its true focus, in the hope that those who are sincere in the search for truth will better understand it.
The term Hausa connotes three distinct but interrelated realities: the language, the people, and the land. That much is common knowledge.
The Hausa language itself is of little primary concern to the movement. It is the enduring gift of our forebears to humanity, especially to the millions who use it as a first, second, third or fourth language of communication. It is a lingua franca across this region and beyond.
As I noted in an earlier essay, we sincerely hope that its position as a lingua franca will continue to wax stronger, so that someday a visitor to a remote province of China may find people happily conversing in Hausa. We deeply appreciate all who contribute to expanding its frontiers globally.
However, the Hausa people cannot and should not sacrifice their identity, pride and heritage merely to make the language more acceptable to others, or for fear that non-native speakers will abandon it.
Arabic, English, French and other languages are lingua franca in various parts of the world, yet the fact that millions of non-natives speak them does not erase or suppress the identity, pride and heritage of the average Arab, Englishman or Frenchman. Why then should the Hausa be expected to surrender their identity and pride simply because others use their language as a lingua franca, or because they want others to continue using it?
As stated, the central concern of the Hausa reawakening movement is not the language but the people (Hausawa). It is to reawaken identity consciousness and pride among the Hausa people. To remind them who they are, where they came from, what they inherited from their forebears, and what responsibility they bear for their future.
Those who speak Hausa as a first, second, third or fourth language belong to different ethnic groups which they proudly identify with. By the same token, the Hausa should also proudly identify as Hausa. To argue otherwise is to suggest that because others use Hausa as a lingua franca, the Hausa must forfeit their right to self-identification, self-determination and pride, a right enjoyed by every other ethnic group, and remain trapped under the self-serving, exploitative, deceptive and mischievous label of “Hausa-Fulani”.
The second major concern of the movement is Hausaland itself. The Hausa as a people must arise and participate actively in the traditional, political and religious leadership of their own land, contributing meaningfully to its growth and development, instead of remaining mere onlookers, which in essence is what they are today in Nigeria.
.
I hope this clarification will help those who are apprehensive about, or opposed to, the movement to understand that there is no cause for alarm. The movement is peaceful and progressive. It is not against any ethnic group, except those who seek to stand in its way and force it back.
The Hausa reawakening movement is not a movement against another ethnic group. It is not a campaign to deprive anyone of his rights. It is not a call to expel anyone from Hausaland. It is not even a campaign against those who speak Hausa without being Hausa. In fact, those who speak Hausa without being Hausa should be its greatest friends. It is simply a call for the Hausa as a people to wake up.
And a people waking up should frighten no one, except those whose comfort depends on keeping them asleep.
Aliyu Ammani writes from
U/Shanu, Kaduna
