DIGGING THEIR GRAVES; BURYING THEIR DEAD; AND WRITINGTHEIR EPITAPHS?

FEMINISM, WOMANISM AND NORTHERN NIGERIA’S WOMEN WRITERS

BY

IBRAHIM A.M. MALUMFASHIDepartment of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics

Kaduna State University, Kaduna

Text of a paper presented at the 24th Annual Conference of theLinguistic Association of Nigeria, Bayero University, Kano

5th- 9th December 2011

ABSTRACT

Since the publication in 1796 of A Vindication of the Rights ofWomen by Mary Wollstonecraft, the war of the genders hasbeen on the increase in most parts of the world. NorthernNigeria is of course not an exception to this manifoldphenomenon. When and who began to have an interest in itsagenda setting probably is the excruciating question. Itdid not begin with Nana Asma’u, the daughter of the greatreligious transformer Usman Bn Fodio and of course not inthe 19th century West Africa. Her older sister, Hadiza(born 1782) on the other hand, more matured being ateenager was not introduced to the material; sinceliterary materials of that nature were not the in-thingfor the daughters of an Islamic scholar, a reformer forthat matter.Where the precocious gender debate began in NorthernNigeria, what brought it, and why, are still matters ofconjecture. Obviously, the gender related issues of theWestern type and A Vindication of the Rights of Women, followedcolonialism, and western civilization into Western Sudan,and parts of Hausa land. The long period of colonialadministration, education, cultural management, andsocial re-orientation gave such kind of ideas place tomaneuver. Such that by the time nationalistic tendenciessprout up, discrimination in whatever context or color,become a contestation among the larger populace, up tothe time colonial domination ended. Since that time,enhancing gender equality and equity among people has nowbecome an agenda or the “only” agenda in most populationpolicies. Debates on women issues, gender inequality,marginalization, discrimination, subjugation, and suchother things the people hold dear or against are nowtabled or discussed under any guise; traditional, Islamicor modern setting. In the olden days there was not muchrejection to the autocratic and/or dictatorialpatriarchal tendencies, as such one can say the capacityto reject, subject, and situate the kind of setting weare talking about was more vehement and disruptive with

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the coming of colonialism and its attendant aftereffects.This research is of the opinion that Northern Nigerianwomen writers are writing within the context of ‘multipleallegiances’ or ‘multiple jeopardy;’ religious andenvironmental, in such a way that they dig their owngraves, bury their own dead and ended up writing bitter,angry, disruptive disengagement about their lives afterdeath.

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DIGGING THEIR GRAVES; BURYING THEIR DEAD; AND WRITINGTHEIR EPITAPHS?

FEMINISM, WOMANISM AND NORTHERN NIGERIA’S WOMEN WRITERS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The most portent weapon in the course of war is

propaganda in whatever form; subtle, wicked,

subterranean, under-hand and ultimately full blown lies

in the form of labeling and name-dropping. In such a

situation, brand names, anecdotes, name-calling, tagging

is employed to get the better off of opponents. From time

immemorial, especially with the outbreak of the war of

the genders in politics and governance, economy, commerce

and industry and such others we see the same or similar

scenario. Casting aspersion on each other is not a new

thing amongst the various warrior formations and

battalions of men and women. That the man has been the

dominant and forceful General is not in doubt. Dubbing

the woman specie as a weakling, as opposed to his

masculine tendons is not a sin. Soothing her with such

charming, sweet, endearing, gorgeous and adorable words

for the beautification of his soul and mind is akin to a

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religion to the man. How ever hard the other warring

partner tries; in this case the woman, she still finds

the man full of amour, tanks, bombs, rockets and grenades

to deride and ensnare all her efforts.

Weighing this with the advent of the literary war

and/or show prowess the extant convention one often

notice or see in reading, researching and/or criticizing

works of fiction by women, not only from Northern Nigeria

is doing that with the sole aim of finding evidence(s) of

feministic predispositions or gauging how women are

telling the story from woman’s angle. In most critical

analyses of plays or other dramatic texts scripted by

women, the manner they handle women and women related

issues are uppermost in the minds of researchers and/or

critics, mostly men.

To most people, especially men, since the war has

now shifted on to the literary scene, reading women’s

literary works is indistinguishable to considering or

resulting out how the woman relates with her folks; her

handling of matrimonial and patriarchal related matters.

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Her treatment of girl-child education, health issues,

work environment and other gender related matters. When

the poem or the story or dramatic script is pungent in

criticizing men and/or patriarchy, you make out a deluge

in either praising a very good work of art or as a

treatise of feministic value. Why? One always asks

oneself, must men and sometime women label a woman’s

literary work in such manner. Must woman write with

feministic and/or womanistic tendencies for the work to

be of great value? What differentiates a woman’s literary

work from that of man? Is the subject of economy,

politics, governance, and industry, as treated by men in

their literary works presuming it to be a muscular

ability that is often associated with the men folk? I

don’t think so.

But then even the markers are not sacrosanct and the

stickers also are sometimes just acting without recourse

to the mindset of the brand name. ‘I myself,’ seething

with anger Rebecca West remarked in 1913 ‘have never been

able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know

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that people call me feminist when ever I express

sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a

prostitute” (Walters, 2005). The issue is not just in

sentiments as Rebecca would want us to believe, it lies

more in the reasoning faculty. If that same doormat or

prostitute woman express the same sentiments as she did,

the labelers will be at it again, a feminist without

doubt. Consequently the crux of the matter here is not

just because the word feminism was new then; (it was not

known in English until late 19th century, with all its

attendant negativity) but because those that labeled

Rebecca did that as a way of denigration, abuse and

sloppiness. Resentments towards the label and the word

itself dragged us to a more subtle one, womanism. If you

ask of the where about of manism, masculinism or, malisim and

what not, the answer is always muted. How come then we

are where we are today; the differences in faculty of

reasoning shaped all that came later, one can infer.

Let’s grasp the routes of the journey and see why the

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journey was tortuous and why there were so many forks in

the road.

2.0 WOMEN’S RIGHTAND FEMININSM: A JOURNEY

A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1796) by Mary

Wollstonecraft is a classic in its own way. Not just

because it is a pioneer, but for the fact that it traces

the genesis of what now is the vogue amongst most people

and nations, labels and markers, especially between men

and women. It is not a discourse that encapsulates the

essence of the woman, but a grinding stone that

effortless bring to fore the meandering question of

domination and subjugation amongst mankind. Mary couldn’t

have had the chance to regurgitate her sometimes

opinionated understanding of issues if not for the simple

chance meeting of ideas. The public denunciation of

marginalization of one being by another by Talleyrand-

Perigord, the Late Bishop of Autun, in France led to so

many questions asked and answered, others still

unanswered, but the essentials lie in these few words by

Talleyrand-Perigord:

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‘That to see one half of the human raceexcluded by the other from allparticipation of government was aspolitical phenomenon that, according toabstract principles, it was impossible toexplain.’

To Mary then, what is perplexing is why the abstract

rights of man bear discussion and explanation while those

of woman, by parity of reasoning will not shrivel from

the same test! That was why Mary often asks who made man

the exclusive judge, if woman partakes with him the gift

of reason? This then is the bottom–line of the matter.

The whole scenario is contingent upon the notion

conceived by every tyrant, every dictator, and every man

who reason beyond comprehension, be him a weak father,

weak husband or a weak king. Men’s mental capacity when

it comes to woman’s parity is to crush reason, in doing

that they feel the maleness of their creation and of

course action.

The nearly 500 page treatise compiled by Mary and

dedicated to the late Bishop is intended as a gospel, a

truth to reconcile the aggrieved twin creation

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subordinating the earth. The next question then is who is

the culprit? ‘It is either nature has made a great

difference between man and woman or civilization, which

has hitherto taken place in the world, has been very

partial’. Cueing it from the angle of education, conduct

of parents and management of schools the perpetrator is

of course not nature, but man made and orchestrated to

serve a particular purpose with or with out the support

of the creator of the human race. The woman then is a

like a flower planted in a too rich a soil, strength and

usefulness are sacrificed to beauty, which in the long

run, according to Mary quoting unknown writer ‘what

benefits women turned of forty have to do in the world’.

Meaning the only affectionate part of the woman is of

course her looks, which fades away after forty. For the

man life begins at forty, while for the woman, it ends at

that crucial period of her life! In this wise, nature how

ever cruel it is cannot dabble into this excruciating

debacle. It is then understandable according to Mary,

where a false system of education gathered from the books

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written on women by men who considers females as women

rather than human creatures’ gains upper hand, man not

nature nurtured that rigmarole. To buttress the argument

well Mary then went on to assert her infinitesimal

indulgent of the discernible fact: ‘in the government of

the physical world it is observable that the female in

point of strength is, in general, inferior to the male’

this is as dictated by nature, note that reasoning is not

part of the physical world, as such cannot stand in the

way of woman, however superficial. Talents, virtues,

creativity and what not, are not the prerogative of man

or woman, they are hatched in the domain of astuteness,

and way of thinking as amply testified by science is

domiciled in every human specie! What then can the woman

do to cut off this shackle of chains?

Women should endeavor to acquire strength,both of mind and body, and to convincethem that the soft phrases, susceptibilityof heart, delicacy of sentiments, andrefinement of taste, are almost synonymouswith epithets of weakness, and that thosebeings who are only the objects of pityand that kind of love, which has been

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termed its filter, will soon becomeobjects of contempt’ by man.

Essentially then, the only craft that the man uses

in distinguishing himself in every facet of life is

making the woman half of the whole. The man is not a man

just because he has powerful shoulders or muscular body.

The woman is not weak just because she does not have the

strength to fight wars or drag heavy objects around. The

only difference according to Mary is the degree of

reason, virtue, knowledge, this distinguishes the

individual, and that can be gleaned from man and woman.

The only advantage men have over women is that men often

employ their reason to justify prejudices, most

especially against women; amongst which are tethering

them to the domestic cauldron; an to the man., According

to Mary then, in that same spirit, man feels the only way

women can rise in life and be something in the world is

by marriage, By so doing the man is making still a

mockery of women, making them mere animals. In marriage,

the man fathoms the woman as children; they are supposed

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to act like children, be submissive and obedient, this

time to him, the man and his created prejudices. In so

doing the cult–like image of a weakling has been created,

the man has instigated a feeling, lowly of course; he

says musingly; how can these weak beings be expected to

govern a family with good judgment or take care of the

poor children whom they bring forth into the world! But

then is this true? Are these prejudices not just created

to reassert the dominance of men over women? Why not give

the women the chance and even playing field and let’s see

‘if women do not grow wiser in the same ration, it will

be clear then that they have weaker understandings.’

Clearly then Mary’s treatise lies in grappling with

total understanding of the woman’s world, dissecting how

the man dominated world has rendered half of the

population into nothingness. It has nothing to do with

literary prowess, although it is part of the game plan.

What the work under review is meant to achieve in a nut

shell are:

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Portraying the ideal rights and involved duties ofall mankind

A fuller discussion on the sexual character as aprelude to our understanding of the differentials innature’s construct.

To understand the state of degradation to whichwoman is reduced by various causes and instances.

And to bring the matter close home, there iscriticism of how other writers (often men) haverendered women objects of pity, bordering oncontempt.

Differentiating between ideas, reason and prejudicesand how early association of ideas has a profoundeffect upon the character of both men and women.

The place of modesty, morality, parental affectionand duty of parents upon intellectual adoration notby sexual notions.

What then is the connection between agitations for

woman’s right and the feminists’ thrust and/or

indulgence? Wikipedia gives us an insight:

The history of feminism involves the story offeminist movements and of feminist thinkers.Depending on time, culture and country,feminists around the world have sometimes haddifferent causes and goals. Most westernfeminist historians assert that all movementsthat work to obtain women's rights should beconsidered feminist movements, even when theydid not (or do not) apply the term tothemselves. Other historians assert that theterm should be limited to the modern feministmovement and its descendants. Those historiansuse the label "protofeminist" to describeearlier movements.

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The danger in this categorization is in the mendacity of

pigeon-holing truthful agitations by groups that feel

marginalized and lack of fruitful understanding of why

the domineering of a prejudicial attitude continues to

subsist. Probably even the history of feminism is coined

with a tinge of war of the genders, as most of the

historians that collected/wrote/ discuss the histories

are men, and their indulgent of the term and those who

they feel engages it are geared towards negative

perception. Mary and her ilk by the turn of the 19

century of course ‘did not apply the term to themselves.’

Its coinage bedeviled by negative connotations made its

application by many, minimal. That is why according to

Walters, (2005) ‘we hear women anxiously asserting I am

not a feminist but…’ Very few politically inclined women

agree to tagged themselves or allow others brand them

that way. Most women prefer other terms, rights

campaigners/agitators, women liberators, etc.

It is in this context one can view the attack on feminism

by Virginia Woolf, whose work A Room of One’s Own according

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to Walters, (2005) is an effective and an engaging plea

for women and is considered a master piece in that

regard. Virginia advanced in her work Three Guineas (1938),

in Walters(2005) why the word feminism must be destroyed.

To her feminism as a word and action is a vicious and

corrupt word that has done much harm in its days, Her

understanding of it being ‘one who champions the rights

of women’ and since the only right, the right to earn a

living has been won, the word has no longer a meaning,

then it must go, brings to fore the present skit as far

as women’s rights and feministic tendencies are

concerned. After this long journey into history, let’s

try and relate this to Northern Nigeria, its women and

the muse fraternity.

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3.0 NORTHERN NIGERIA’S WOMEN WRITERS AND THE FEMINIST TENDENCIES

In most developing countries, most especially

Nigeria the gender and/or feminist agitations are mostly

found in issues related mostly in social and political

spheres: in respect of women’s empowerment, population

processes, poverty alleviation, and access to education.

Later the gender and/or feminist thrust moved into other

areas employing multi-disciplinary approaches to

highlight the issue and lay problematic areas bare.

Economists provide glaring statistics of how rural women

contribute immensely to the development of Nigeria in

their reproductive and nurturing functions, in farms,

fields, food, and catering services, local manufacture of

household items, organizing home pasture, hair dressing,

plaiting, pottery, spinning, leather-work, grain selling

and arbitrage, which for a long time were not included in

national income accounting, (Malami, 1996).

As the debate rages on, the focus has shifted to

other areas; women in urban setting: - working mothers,

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commercial sex workers, divorcees, widows and so on.

Within that period, the growth in the treatment of the

exploitation of women by men and men-related policies, in

the form of feminist ideology, gender discussions,

studies, and through the art of literary explanations by

both men and women is pronounced.

This is not surprising, as studies have indicated

that the field of literary setting in most societies is

male dominated. The necessary exposure not given to the

few women that write and contribute to the development of

literature in many parts of the world, including the

developed countries, is quite extant. In this respect if

nothing is heard about women writers in most developing

countries or not much is found on the subject of women

and literature it shouldn’t be an incredulity, the gender

war that Mary Wollstonecraft was alluding to began not on

what the women write, or produce, but in denying the

women’s right to be heard at all in every sphere of

knowledge.

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The non recognition and/or representation of women

in literary works in Virginia Woolf’s time and/or period

was tied to “economic and social circumstances”, as she

pondered in her work, A Room of One’s Own (1929). She says;

‘all I could do was to offer you an opinion upon one

minor point—a woman must have money and a room of her own

if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see,

leaves the great problem of the true nature of woman and

the true nature of fiction unsolved.’

This is found apt in the African context. It is

happening not because women lack the where-withal to

create or imagine literary pieces. The African continent

is filled with a ‘multitude of official and unofficial

gender commentators, subsumed within abundant women

writers… Who offer perspectives, which interrogate, re-

formulate, analyze inherited popular codes, and are not

insensitive to gender. In this wise, (Newell, 1997),

asserts, concepts such as “womanism”, “motherism” and

“femalism” etc have been adopted or coined during this

dynamic process in which women try to write themselves a-

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new or produce studies excavating the interlocking

relationships between the different cultural formations

found in women’s writings.

Concisely we can say without fear of contradiction,

women have constantly and actively participated in

Northern Nigerian literary activity this is without

doubt. For ages, women have come to be associated with

the presentation of “natural literary narratives”. The

major problem why their full potentialities not fully

explained or harnessed has to do with the fact that, when

the scribal form of “natural narratives” first appeared

in the region, the men wrote them down from the words of

women, consequently the credit goes to the scripter not

the narrator.

Perhaps also, socio-cultural factors,

westernization, and modernity play an important role in

down grading the contribution of women in literary

outpouring in the region. In this context therefore, it

is not surprising that however hard women shout to be

heard in the literary arena, ‘their voices got entangled

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and dominated by the more vocal and husky voices of male

writers’ and critics, as Sheme, (1998) succinctly

asserts.

Consequently then, one can surmise by saying, the

region regarded as backward in terms of literary output

by women, as well as women’s writings centered criticism

and study has ample and adequate representation. With as

many as more than 200 published works by Northern

Nigerian women, discussing different topics and issues,

we can say that the female literary tradition in Northern

Nigeria is not “dormant” neither is it “silent” by any

means, But does quantitative strength suffice for

excellent literary craftsmanship or feminist attachment?

A further scrutiny and analysis will provide some

answers.

Critically looked at, as earlier indicated, feminism

is not an accepted and/or dominant view point by most

women writers and critics; it is a measure that offers

new ways of viewing human values, decision-making, and

the very nature of human experience—beginning with

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fundamental differences between men and women. Across the

works of many researchers, feminism focuses on

differences within the community of women—examining ‘the

paradox that women are all alike in some ways and

dissimilar in others’ (Reinharz, 1992,). This common-

sense notion reinforces the fact that, within the

feminist paradigm, exist a broad diversity of points of

view, based on individual and group experiences in

society as members of different racial, cultural, and

economic groups.

In this instance, no writer, female or male, is

feminist just by writing about women, ‘unless a

particular writer commits his or her energies actively to

exposing the sexist tragedy of women’s history,

protesting the on-going degradation of women, celebrating

their physical and intellectual capabilities, unfolding a

revolutionary image of the woman, such a writer cannot

qualify as a feminist’, (Natalie; 1985).

This then perhaps makes the feminist study central

to many works on women, discussing how women can

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appropriate language and literature for libratory ends.

Nevertheless, are women writers from Northern Nigeria

aware of these demarcations? Are they inherently

championing this cause? Are their writings inherently

radical, subjective and biased or it is just a matter of

dissecting the society as they see it?

This is not to say women in Northern Nigeria, for

instance, are totally denied the chance to express their

voice or sexuality as Kassam (1997) indicated. No, it is

just that there are inherent cultures or traditions that

forbids the vehement actualization of feminist

tendencies, these of course include, religion, which

denotes the workings of marriage, education, and

patriarchy in life and literature.

Contextualizing this with Zainab Alkali’s works, one

is not surprised to find strong contestation. According

to Garba (2006), Zainab query the ascription of feminism

to her works, she has always questioned feminism as a

viable means, a platform ample enough, to champion

women’s’ cause. She believes that ‘certain women have

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used this feminist issue to shout themselves hoarse about

certain ideas. . . . [They] use the feminist movement to

get back at men…, which is one big cover where people

give their own interpretation to what it is. To Garba

(2006), Alkali might not be fascinated by feminism as she

always claims, but she is afflicted by what is referred

to as “female affiliation” used to identify the problem

which women writers face when they write. In essence, she

has to toy the line even if in her worldview and

understanding feminist thoughts are just by the way.

Garba (2006) tends to give a squinting image of the whole

problem, he says. ‘The contested subscription to feminism

or not will not inhabit a feminist reading of Alkali’s

text,’ even if there is an ascribed relationship, between

the text and reality, that is ‘the social environment

which the writer imitates or writes about and is based

upon.’

Others carry the same or fuller argument forward.

This is what Edwin (2006) when appropriating a place for

the two works of Zainab Alkali The Virtuous Woman (1987)

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and The Cobwebs and other Stories (1997) captures. The works are

not essentially feminist in nature, but admixture of

Islam and tradition and how they corroborate each other

in shaping the lives, decisions, and choices of African

Muslim woman.

The central thesis of some Northern Nigerian women’s

writing then is buried in this sand of culture and

tradition. But then is it true that these writers begin

to write with preconceived ideas about religion and

culture? If that is so, then one may still ask are there

remarkable demarcations between writers from Islamic,

Christian or even animist backgrounds? Victoria Sylvia

Kankara debuts into the world of poetry with her work;

Hymns and Hymens gives us a semblance. Right from the

title there is a touch of Christianity despite the fact

that ‘the poet took her time to explore the theme of love

in such a way that is capable of healing many broken

hearts. She equally did a wonderful job in capturing the

harrowing and exciting experience of womanhood in such a

way that no other writer before has ever attempted to.’

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The writer used powerful expressions to awaken feelings

of love, wonder, pain, excitement hopelessness,

uncertainty etc. Hear her!

Why am I called woman when all that liesaround me is shame and disgrace...

Is it for nothing that I am made a womanso unable to rebuild and fortify thatwhich once stood for dignity, prestige and integrity...

...Anointing is upon me -To raise up that which is utterly cast down

Such powerful aspersions and indignation are rare to

find from Northern Nigerian women writers, especially of

the core north, where a lot of attention is given to

every word or statement that comes out of the pen of

writers, most especially women. Exploring the wickedness

of the system, the domination of a sub part of humanity,

questioning the layers of subjugation, as well as

fraternizing with elements that may likely influence the

thoughts in changing the status quo are considered

abominable. One is not trying to say the North of Nigeria

is a controlled society, or something of that kind, but

submission to culture and religion is instituted in the

26

minds of the writers as well as the society by an

unwritten code or invisible hand of self-censorship.

One thing that is more interesting about Kankara’s

attempt is the Christian background she weaved in her

work despite the fact she did not set out to sermonize.

I did not set out to provoke any reactions tomy poetry, or rather my personal expressions ofmy experiences living in Nigeria as a woman. Onthe notion of linking Christian liturgy tosexual poetic license, I do not feel condemnedin anyway….For me, every poem is a dialoguewith self and an argument with several pointsof view. Hence, identification of elements ofChristian liturgy in my poetry is only anaffirmation of my faith in God. I have been aChristian for about 25 years and I have beenstrongly influenced by Christian values fromboth the Bible and people. I also became achorister around 1979/80, and I have beensinging in large and small choirs ever since.(Sentinel Poetry (Online) N44.)

Just like Alkali, the protestation on the label of being

a feminist writer scramble out of her heart without

hesitation ‘I am not a feminist. But you will not be

wrong to describe me as a womanist.’ She shares the view

of the school of thought that projects the ideals of

womanhood, without necessarily being anti-men. Even then,

27

she is always suspicious of placing nametags on

intellectuals, because human beings are far more complex

than simple tags often describe them. Only God

understands the complexity of human nature, because He

made man, she always asserts.

The same message is constructed in Angela Miri

Running waters and other poems (2006), an excerpt from ‘I am

an Individual’:

I am an individual, aware of my membership of,And responsibility to my society. An awareness, which does not automaticallyMake me a slave to its institutions. I am not a mere pawn within a rigid And ruthlessly authoritarian society,Nor a blind, unquestioning slave to the nativeinstitutions, With neither individual will nor freedom Of action and expression, and personal responsibility.

Going through this lines one finds considerable

messages of liberation, freedom, and individualism. This

goes to show that ‘Miri’s persona operates from this high

level of awareness and consciousness…. In taking such a

stand in a bifurcate oppressive reality – oppression from

establishment and from patriarchy – the poet-persona

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deflects the social order and at once rivets her vision

on socio-economic, cultural, and political liberty for

all kinds of human beings in the society,’ Egya (2007).

Let us keep it in mind, that the writer is not imagining

things, she deliberately conceived of her wordings and

themes. Because her ‘presentation of this assertion is

predicated on the pre-knowledge of a social disorder

where somebody can be a member of a society without her

individuality so that she is looked upon as “a mere pawn”

and as “a blind” receptacle of the inherent imbalance in

the society’. Many women writers glean those inherent

imbalances differently; Razinat Mohammed is one of them.

With the appearance of her work, No Love like a Woman’s in

2006, the screaming headline from an interview she

granted one of the Southern papers; ‘Shari’a can’t stop me from

writing love stories,’ things started to crop up, most

especially as regards to women writings from the core

North. Even though she touches on the fabric of tradition

and religion, purdah, women education and subjugation,

her worry is not what the system feels, or what the

29

authorities can do, but the sensibility of the writer in

a watched society, this where the issue of self

censorship comes to fore. She said in the interview,

"simple decency entails that obscene words should not

come out raw like that. But, as a writer, creativity

gives us the liberty to flower our words to mean the same

thing without necessarily being offensive to the public.

Whether we like it or not, Nigeria is a traditional

society. But nothing stops me from writing about love. We

can’t pretend it doesn’t exist."

On the other hand most of the women Hausa writers

concentrate their energy in reliving their lives, their

tradition and a tinge of the imaginary. Beginning with

the Hausa society of the 1980’s we find a community in

decade one can describe as knowledgeable and

educationally endowed. Just about 6 years into the U.P.E,

a programmed designed to cater for early transformation

of the first tier of education in Nigeria. Attention

focused in the enrollment, retention, as well as

production of literary material for the school system

30

then bourgeoning. Hafsat Abdulwaheed’s So Aljannar Duniya

came out of a competition geared towards producing

materials for the new in-takes in the primary and

secondary schools. No wonder then her thematic concern

was not the romance per say, but the way, manner the

society was structured, and its inherent weaknesses,

especially matters of inter ethnic marriages.

The Arabs or put more appropriately Kwara, (Lebanese

and Syrians) have taken foothold in Northern Nigeria as

business men, such that by the late 1970’s they have

turned into local people, many have inter marry and

become northenised. Despite that close inter mingling;

some tribes in Northern Nigeria abhorred that kind of

relationship, most notably the Fulani, being a closed

community for a long time.

Hafsat treated this delicate subject in So Aljannar

Duniya (Love the Paradise of the earth), where we see

romantic escapade between a Fulani girl and a Syrian. One

might ask why the rejection of a Syrian by a Fulani

ethnic community, if one takes into consideration how

31

Muslims want to be in close affinity with Arabs or their

ilk.

If we take into consideration the fact that the

events in the book did happen, though not to the author,

but her sister who was forced by the exigencies of the

time to marry a Syrian, then we can say as usual, the

work was not a commentary, but trying to re-write an

occurrence based on lived life as witnessed. One is

arguing along that line because the exploration in the

work is the objection by both parents to the

relationship, not because the couples are young or

inexperience to get married or the Syrian is far older

than the Fulani girl is.

Not only that the writer carried us through the

dynamic forces that vibrated and changed the societal

make up of the Fulani. Badado, the young Fulani girl does

not feel ashamed to tell her parents how she feels about

her boy friend discarding the pulaaku culture. Pulaaku a

central element of the Fulani culture is not only

achieved by speaking a Fulani dialect, parents teach it

32

to the children and by the clan elders. Hear Badado

talking to her aunt.

Aure! Inna ni fan a gaya muku ba zan auri kowa ba sai wanda

nake so, kun san zamani ya canza.

Marriage! No aunty, I am not going to marry anybody but my

heart desire, are you not aware that time has changed.

Changes that went through the system because of

modernity, education, and influx of foreign cultures are

what prompted this kind of rebellion from a Fulani girl.

Balaraba Ramat on the other hand is always aware of

her role as a writer and what she expect a work of art to

achieve, or change. Right from her first work Budurwar

zuciya,(The young at heart), which delves into the

contentious issue of men marrying many wives, especially

young delectable girls after sending away the older ones

in the house, through her other works like Wa Zai auri Jahila?

(Who will marry an ignoramus?), and Ina son sa haka (I like

him all the same), we see a continues pattern. In as much

as I would like to agree with Whittsit (1996) who

analyzed her works as a work of a ‘Hausa feminist’ and

Adamu (2003) who tilts towards ‘womanist expression,’

33

through her narrative handling of forced marriage,

‘modeled on her own life experiences,’ I would want to

argue other wise.

Yes, we find Balaraba talking about Auren dole,

(forced or coerced married), seeking for education

‘elaborately explored’ through the eyes of a twelve-year-

old. Zainab in Wa zai auri Jahila. Zainab is married against

her wish to a man older than her father is, she runs away

and escape to an aunt in the city and continues her

education, qualifying as a nurse.

While in Ina son sa haka the heroine, Fatima born to a

mother who hailed from Niger Republic and business man in

Kano, Alhaji Haruna, Safiyya before the marriage, was

living with an aunt, a commercial sex worker. Before

bringing in Safiyya Alhaji Haruna has three other wives,

with as many as 24 children. Fatima at the age of 18 is

without a steady boy friend; her younger ones are already

in their husbands houses, some with children of their

own. By the time is 21, she is regarded as

‘unmarriageable’. This is abominable to her father and of

34

course the co-wives and the society in general. With an

aunt in the vicinity who is a well-known prostitute the

situation becomes compounded. With the death of her

mother, who happens to exert total control in the family,

her father ‘forced’ her to marry Shehu Bala a graduate of

Bayero University Kano, who was then pursuing his post

graduate studies at Oxford University, in the UK.

Duk da Fatima ba ta son Shehu, kiri-kiri ta daure ta zauna dashi. Ga shi a iyakacin birnin ranta, ba ta son ta kalle shi, ballema ta yarda da shi cewa mijinta ne, amma dole Fatima ta saki,ta yarda, ta hakura ta zama matar Shehu.

Truly, Fatima is not in love with Shehu, but she manages to staywith him. Right at the bottom of her heart, she abhors to seehim around her, talk less of imagining that he is her husband,but there is nothing she can do, but to accept her fate asShehu’s wife.

For many months they continue to live like that, for

him to have sex, he has to beg, cajoled or forced his

way, which proved fruitless. Whenever he demand sex, it

is always ‘kai dai mijina ne, amma ba masoyina ba’, meaning ‘you are

only my husband, but not my heart desire.’ I cannot have sexual

relationship with you! When Shehu finally drugged and

‘raped’ her, she left him and move into the world of

35

prostitution in Lagos. What is the message? Where is the

feminism or womanism? At the age of 21, she is old enough

to marry, why then the refusal, the writer could not

provide answers. Her suitor a well educated individual,

highly placed, being a son of a district head, with an

elder brother a Director in a ministry, what does she

want?

One is asking these questions because the character

in the book, just like in her various woks cited is

‘modeled on her own life experiences.’ However, she is

never a prostitute, a profession she chooses for her

heroine. What is she after when she accepted the worst

fate for her siblings? Rakiya her immediate younger

sister got married to an older man, her father’s age. The

same ‘feminist’ or ‘womanist’ just manage to say in

passing the danger her mother went through in life.

Married to her father at a very tender age, she bears him

seven children:

A haka aka ci gaba da zama da Safiyya da Alhaji Haruna harAllah ya kara bata ciki na takwas. Amma ba ta haife shi da

36

lafiya ba, ta rasu kwana biyu da haihuwar jaririn….Shi mayaron ya bi ta bayan ya karbi suna.

They continue their life like that until Safiyya got pregnantagain, her eighth child. Unfortunately, two days later she died,the child followed seven days later.

The 1990’s in Northern Nigeria came with new

outlooks, new beginnings. If at the beginning the writers

were on their own, independently producing their works of

art, by the 1990, literary groups, involving men, and

women sprang up. A plat form for cross-fertilization of

ideas came into being. Writers can now share notes,

brainstorm on thematic considerations, explored avenues

to make their works more acceptable and of course

sophisticated. By that period, the men have already

created a niche for themselves in exploring topics that

are more Herculean or discourse that go out of the

boundary, like fantasizing sexual behaviors, like the

book Tsalle Daya, which appeared in that trying times. The

new media technologies, Home video and Internet, have had

a tremendous effect on what and how of women writers go

about their tasks in the early 1990s. ‘From 1990 to 1997

37

about 53 video dramas were produced,’ (Adamu, 2007), this

though very little, but it had its impact on new sources

of story angles by the writers. Coupled with more

printing outlets and larger society’s awareness of the

creative efforts, changes are noticed in the women

writings of that decade. One thing is conspicuous; they

leaned towards more romance, as any book treating it

became instant success.

The most prolific writer during this period who

chooses the same path with Balaraba, but with some degree

of fatalism (not rebellion) and sophisticated exploration

of sexism is Bilkisu Ahmed Funtua. In most of her works,

Bilkisu Ahmed Funtuwa tries to personify the African

feminist principle of multiple allegiances as she

delicately balances her commitment to Hausa sisterhood

with her Muslim identity. She is of the view that that

auren dole (forced or coerced marriage) and the religious

practice of polygamy constitute the Hausa female's living

reality, (Whittsit 2003).

38

With that at the back of her mind, she employs a

tactful way to address this phenomenon. Her best option

is to condemn the woman into perpetual submission to the

whim and caprice of her husband. The man is in charge of

the household, yes. He has the right to marry many wives,

no problem. He can keep them in one house if he so

chooses. Etc. What to do? Bilkisu ‘offers suggestions to

women on how to cope with such circumstances. In her

estimation, women are responsible for their own emotional

misery when they give into feelings of self-absorption

and jealousy.’ Most of her characters, mostly women she

introduce them into the understanding of the proper

attributes of Islam in the working of their faith,

‘maturity, and tender affection toward their husbands,’

through that ‘women can find happiness in the midst of a

polygamous reality.’

Going through such works one tend to find men

glorification and submissiveness. In Wa ya san gobe? (Who

knows tomorrow?) The heroine is also Fatima the eldest of

39

her family, followed by Ibrahim, 7 years, Abdullahi, 3

years and the much awaited 8 months unborn child.

In the eyes of Fatima, she sees the catastrophe her

mother is in. Her mother complaint to her father about

pains and suffocation, then:

Malam Bukar ya tsaida idonsa a kan cikinta yana kallocike da tausayi, ya goge wa Abdullah baki. Sannan ya ce,‘Allah ya sauwake Rakiya ina ganin juyin wata ne dominkina cikin watan takwas yanzu. Bari in hanzarta wajenmalam Audu ya yi miki rubutu, in sha Allahu zai fada.’

Malam Bukar look at her protruding stomach inempathy, he clears some dirt from Abdullahi’s mouth,then said, ‘May Allah make you well Rakiya, I think it hasto be the period change from the eighth to the ninthmonth. Let me hurry to get some potion from malamAudu so that you drink; now, now it will go.

The author’s concern is telling a story, in this

context, the harrowing experience by Fatima is not in

focus, she never bothered to find out why she lost her

mother and become an orphan at an early age and had to be

brought up by a total stranger. Her major concern is the

relationship that develops between Fatima and Ahmad the

son of their neighbor, while in actual sense Fatima is in

love with the younger brother of Ahmad, Suleiman since

40

her secondary school days. Her feelings do not matter,

but what the man feels is the most important factor. A

friend to Ahmad wants her; Ahmad wants her, while

Suleiman is the one in her heart. On one side Alhaji

Ismaila, a wealthy merchant is on the queue, but because

Ahmad took good care of her since she was a child, she

has to forgo her heart to satisfy his whetted appetite

for her body. Finally, her uncle married her off to

Alhaji Ismaila, the wealthy person, her real father

married her off to Ahmad at another ceremony, Alhaji

Ismaila went to court, and the judge, dubiously returned

her to Alhaji Ismaila. The union was vehemently rejected,

until later all accepted the fact that she belonged to

Ahmad, who later died and finally she married Sulaiman

her heartthrob, with whom she lived her entire life as a

graduate in Medicine.

What follow as usual with Bilkisu’s writing is her

heroines coping with the hazard of polygamy. Whitsitt

captures the scenery well:

41

Funtuwa's trademark is the theme of passionate love, the mostmemorable component of her works. She composes a literatureof sentiment, in which couples share lives of intimacy andmutually enjoyed pastimes. Married couples burn the flame ofpassion long after their wedding day, yearning for each other'spresence when careers take them away from home. Funtuwaexpends a great deal of effort describing the beautiful clothingin which women dress themselves for the pleasure of men, andshe portrays seductive bedroom scenes complete with props ofincense and music. Female readers are instructed in the arts ofromancing their husbands or future husbands. All of her novelsdeal generously with this exhibition of kissa, the capacity toarouse and excite the interest of the husband. Funtuwa arguesthat the display of extreme kunya (shyness), a respectableHausa female trait, works against the success of marriages ashusbands look outside of the marriage for companionship andconversation. Consequently, she provides instruction in the artsof love and romance with the intention of empowering femalereaders to overcome their reserve. (Whitsitt, 1996)

This is the pattern sewn in the book, Sirrin boye, (The

hidden secret), Allura cikin ruwa, (The needle in the water)

and Ki yarda da ni, (Have trust in me). In Ki yarda da ni for

instance A’isha is the first wife, who grew with her

husband through thick and thin. After Isma’il finished

his University education and got a job and blossom in

wealth and politics the idea of a second wife comes in.

He saw Biba and insisted on marrying her, A’isha refused

to accept Biba, but to no avail. Biba on her part came in

with her hidden agenda; she wanted to change the status

42

quo. Through cunningness and play of mutual intimacy,

Ai’sha saved her marriage, Biba had to curve in and

continue to be the second- fiddle.

The situation in the late 1990s is similar if not a

continuation of the last five years. During that period,

more books were churned out, due to several factors. The

Kano Market Literature, the parent platform from where they

derived most of their creative potential has come of age.

The creative phenomenon has passed through many

obstacles, official censorship, media and religious

criticisms, as well as the advance of the home video

culture. As such, many of the writers hasten to release

either a new book or a sequel to the last one, such that

by 1999 about 58 new writers have emerged.

The preponderance of romance among the writers of

this era is of course not a surprise. It was the in-thing

then, both in books and in the home video industry that

has just taken off with full speed. There is on the other

hand treatment of polygamy, the co-wife dilemma, hawking

by girls, girl child education and the ever recurrence

43

problem of widows, divorcees and orphans. Take a look at

for instance Jinina ba zai boko ba, (I have no time for

Education) by Jummai Isa, Da Rashin Uwa, (My other mother)

by Hafsat Kontagora and Ciki da Goyo, (Pregnant while

breast feeding) by Amina Sulaiman, Muguwar Kishiya

(Dangerous co-wife) by Halima Aliyu, and Kannen Miji, (My

husband’s siblings) by Fatima Abbas.

As if the writers (male and female), have exhausted

the themes of romance, many started exploring other

smaller subjects within the bigger one. We can factor

this change to many issues. One, the general reader has

had enough, as such many of the writers are loosing grip

of their readers, in terms of buying their works. With

very little capital out lay that can sustain the book

industry, the writers have to devise new methods of

survival, expanding on the romantic caricature. Two, the

booming and thriving home video industry has become an

eye sore to the writers, not in its physical appearance,

but as another competitor, courting the attention of

their readers. Most readers turned their backs to the

44

book culture, buying video cassettes instead, such that

by the beginning of the millennium not few than 20 books

have transformed into home video, for sustainability.

Among the writers few women had to tread into that, they

include Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, with Alhaki Kwikwiyo, Bilkisu

A. Funtua with Ki yarda da ni and Sa’adatu Sa’ar Mata, Halima

B.H Aliyu, Muguwar Kishiya, while Zuwaira Isa attempted

with Kaddara ta riga fata and Kara da kiyashi.

Probably the entrance of the women writers into the

home video industry is a disaster, as it could not lift

most of them up. It seems as if they were in between the

devil and deep blue sea. The booming movie industry is

already dominated by men, the very few that ventured in

got out slightly bruised, they had to go back to their

old trade, writing, although some combined the two

together. Since the market for books is getting bad,

exigencies of the time made them to start looking for

salvation elsewhere for inspiration; sexism, lesbianism,

rape, fornication and such others became subject of study

to court readership. The thematic conflagration began in

45

earnest; the local chapter of the writers’ umbrella

organization ANA, Kano, banned books such as Dufana by

Ashabu Mu’azu Gamji, Matsayin Lover by Al-Khamees Bature,

Sirrin loba by Kamalu Namowa Bichi. The women writers also

courted the wrath of the authorities concerned, when

books by Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, Wane kare ne,(Who is not

to blame), Bilkisu A. Funtua, Kyan dan Maciji,(Deceptive

beauty), Zuwaira Isa, Za ta iya, (She can do it), Lubabah

Ya’u, Malika, Maryam Kabir Abdullahi, Gajen hakuri,(Much in

a hurry) and Rabi Ado Bayero, with Auren Zahra, (Zahra’s

marriage). All these novels, according to Adamu (2004)

‘have descriptions of explicit sexuality or at least

suggestive scenes.’ Some explored the theme of

lesbianism, others fornicative tendencies among young

men, others sill detailed suggestive scenes of rape,

naked and or nudity romance. Wane kare ne by Balaraba and

Kyan dan maciji by Bilkisu, ‘had the offending parts removed

by the authors’, new editions printed, others just

fizzled out of the market.

46

Despite the setback, Hausa women continue to write,

in hush, soft tunes and tones’ appearing now and then,

wait for another gestation period and then resurfaces

again. Sa’adatu Baba Ahmad is one of such writers. She

discuss the recurring problem of polygamy amongst the

Hausas, from the opening sequence in the book one notices

the plan of the writer to discuss an issue that is

volatile, but in a subdued manner.

Hajiya Marwa ita ce uwargidan Alhaji Jamil, ‘ya’yansu Bakwaitare, amma sai dai zaman bai faye dadi ba. Alhaji Jamilushahararren dan kasuwa ne…. Yana da yawan iyali, yanzu daauresu shekara goma, ‘ya’yansu bakwai cif….shekararsa dukatalatin da biyu.

Hajiya Marwa is the first wife to Alhaji Jamil, she already hasseven children, but the marriage is sour. Alhaji Jamilu is arenowned businessperson….He has such a big family; they arejust married under ten years, with seven kids…. Moreover, he isjust 32 years old.

With this background Sa’adatu, weaves through a

story of harassment, fighting, and pity. Since Alhaji

could not get respite from the first wife, a new one has

to come in, probably through her he will have some peace.

By chance, he met Hajiya Biba, a graduate, with Masters

degree and a working person, daughter of multi-

47

millionaire. Alhaji wants a simple woman who can give him

peace, and tranquility. Biba is such a person, they got

married, but then problems continue to agitate him,

through the plans of the first wife. The contestations

went on between a traditionalist (the first wife) and the

modern, (the second wife). In the end, the new wife died

through the tricks of Hajiya Marwa.

The last entry by Rahmah Majid Mace Mutum (The woman

is human) is a rare, completely different work of art,

and out of tune with all the others, we have seen so far.

It has, to my understanding try to capture all that

critics are talking about concerning women writers.

First, she is a feminist in her thoughts if not by action.

Educated both in Islamic and modern ways, brought up

within the intermingling of cultures, Arab, Hausa and

Yoruba. Very much traveled and has had the opportunity to

observe and analyzed various scenic undertones in her

work before writing her works, lastly and most

importantly, very young at the age of 26.

Through out this 526-page book the central point is

48

the woman; weave through the eyes of Fatima and her

daughter Amina. In her characteristic manner as a

powerful women writer, Rahma discusses anything under the

sun as far as the women issue is concerned in Northern

Nigeria, some times even to the extreme. Polygamy,

maternal mortality, or morbidity, diseases that bedeviled

women, subjugation through tradition, culture, religion

etc are what she tries to employ in dramatic manner to

highlight on the notion as if the woman is not human but a thing.

A falalon yanki muke zaune inda za ka iya kallon sararinsamaniya ba tare da shamaki ba…. Idan kuwa kana tunanincewa ai manyan itatuwa za su kare maka ganinka, kwantar dahankalinka, tuni an sare yawancin su, an yi girki da mafi yawadaga cikinsu. Duk da haka ga wasu tsirarun dogon yaro da akabari don yi wa masu hutawa ko zaman gida fifitar Allahta’ala….Batun gine-ginen zamani kuwa ba sai mun yi dogonturanci ba, ba ka ganin komi sai bukkokin kara da ginin laka,sai fa gidan liman wanda ya bambanta, don shi na ginin jarkasa ne.

We live in a very pathetic environment, where you see the skywithout any hindrance…. If you think that trees will preventyour gaze, forget it, most of them have been cut down forcooking at home. Still you see few of the Neem trees that helpin providing fresh air for us. We do not have much in terms ofmodern houses or buildings, all you see around us are huts,except the house of the Imam that is made of mud!

You can feel the atmosphere from the very opening of

49

her work and the tone of rejection of the status quo and

how the societal arrangement is structured to dominate,

especially by the Imam and his co travelers. Rahma went

on to show us other characteristics of their habitat.

Safiya na yi mazauna kauyenmu za su fito tamkar kiyashi nabin mataccen kyankyaso, za ka ga jerin gwanon mutane da dabbobin hawa, wanda jakuna ne, ga kuma na kiwo, wato shanuda awakai da tumakai da kaji. Akwai doki kwaya daya tal,kamar kankarar maye wanda ke a gidan Maigari, ba a ganinsasai rana ta musamman, kamar yadda jaki mai jan amalankenda ke dauke da mata masu nakuda zuwa gidan unguwar zoma, shi ma ba a ganin sa sai haihuwa ta yi gardama.

Early morning in my neighborhood, you see the women andanimals like in parade, young maidens, girls, women, olderwomen, new wives, their donkeys, and livestock in tour. Wehave only one horse in our village (for the village head ;) we donot even see it except on special occasions. We also have aspecial carrier-donkey that usually carries pregnant women tothe local nurse who lives in n anther village away, wheneverpregnant ones are in difficulty.

The comparison of women and animals is apt here,

because that is the concern of the writer, that the woman

is more of an animal than a human being. It also bring to

fore another of the exploiters in the society, apart from

the Imam, the village head as the sole owner of a horse

and the capitalist who owns the only carrier donkey, not

for anything but to carry pregnant women to the local

50

nurse for a fee. Which goes to show that it is a

lucrative business since women are always in labor, due

to lack of proper reproductive health care.

Probably that is why she went to explore the kind of

diseases that are found in the society.

Cututtukan da ke tare da mu dai sanannu ne, sannan da wuyaka je gidan da babu mai dauke da daya ko ma fiye. Daga ciwon idon amodari, sai na daji, sai kuwa yoyon fitsari da shan inna, balle gardamar nakuda da mutuwar farar faya, tuni suka yigida, suka zaune. Amma maganin cutar bai wuce tsime-tsime da kulle-kullen rataya ba, wanda bokaye da ‘yan magori kan bayarwa da cewa ai maganin maitar kambultu ne.

We are deep in trouble, with so many diseases, which you findin almost all households. Prominent among which are riverblindness, cancer, VVF, Polio, and prolonged labor. Themedicine is always soaked part of the body of a tree or someother local things we got from the local traditional medicineman, saying our problem is witches and witchcraft.

Their drinking water is abysmally bad andunhygienic.

Shi kuwa ruwan ba za ka iya bambanta shi da dagwalo ba,idan ka gan shi a cikin tulun sai ka dauka kamu ne saboda irinkaurin da ke gare shi da launin kunun kanwa. Da damina akantari ruwan sama a boye don baki, shi kuwa wancan dagwalonruwan jingine da shi rayuwarmu take ta fannin wanka da wanki da ci da sha, wuyar dai a kore kainuwa da bakin tulu, in ya soduk wanda aka samu a tulu to ya halasta a sha, a yi dahuwa.

The water we drink is unhygienic and almost contaminated;when you see it inside our container, you may think it is dilutedpap. We only get fresh water during the rainy season, which we

51

keep all year for our guests. We drink from the pap-like water,because that is where our life depends, all you need to do whenat the valley that the water is found, is to push away the dirtinside it, and put the water inside the container. We take ithome to drink and bath, because our life depends on it.

How about the rainy season with which they farm for

sustenance, to the woman it is a curse not a thing of

joy.

Duk da cewa lokacin damina ta wani bangaren abin farin ciki ne saboda samun amfanin gona, amma yana kasancewa lokacin zaman dardar ga dimbin matan aure, saboda yanayi ne namutuwar aure, saboda wasu dalilai. Ko dai saboda bubatar manoma ta soma shirin sabon aure, saboda sun kusa samun rarar kudi, sai kuwa yawan gardamar itace, wanda a sanadiyyardukan ruwan sama yakan sa ya }i kama wutar girki. Juma, kanwar babata ta fada cikin irin wannan matsalar a wata damina, inda itace ya yi mata gardama,ta yi, iya yinta bai kama ba, har tuwon dare ya gagara. Amma bayan koke-koken da ta yi sai ga ta da saki uku! Ta iso gida da kuka. Sai dai wani abin mamaki babu wata wadda ta goyi bayanta, kasancewar bisa al'ada jinkirin tuwon dare ba karamin laifi ba ne, .

Yes, the rainy season is a blessing, that is how we get food toeat, but most times, it is a nightmare for the women. It isregarded as the season for divorcing women and marryingnew ones. The potential bomb is of course the weather; wet andnimbly it does not allow the logs of wood to dry for easycooking. Many women were thrown out of their matrimonialhomes because of that. It happened to Juma, one of my aunts,she desperately wanted to finish dinner on time, but the logsrefused to cooperate, she could not serve dinner that night, sheended up divorced (three times). Nobody sympathized with herat home as it is against the culture to serve late night dinner,talk less of not serving at all, however the circumstance.

52

On matters of education, that is where the writer

tells us more about the pathetic situation of women.

Ta bangaren karatu dai mu mata babu ruwanmu, aure kawaimuke jira. Amma yara maza da ba su tafi hijirar karatu ba kanjeru kofar gidan malam Babba, za su soma karatun Al-kur'animai girma tun daga harafin dam-ba har zuwa alamtarakaifa…. wanda ya sami sauke wa to ya zama malam, mata sai ya zaba! Bayan wannan ba mu da labarin wani ilmi sai wani dalibin hijira ya dawo, yakan zamo malamin dare na gindin bishiya.Shi kuwa ilmin zamani muna samun labarinsa a matsayin dukwanda ya yi zurfi a cikinsa, zurfi ne cikin duhun kafirci.

Education! Is forbidden for girls like me, ours is to wait and getmarried. The boys that are left behind at home sometimesstudy with the only teacher in the village…. The one thatcompleted the reading of the Holy Qur’an, is now a smallteacher, he can pick any girl to be his wife. That is the onlyeducation we know of, of course we do have itinerant teachersonce in while. As for western education, we know it through theadage that it is a sure way to hell for those who indulges in it.

How about transportation; that is easier said that

seen, that is why the villagers that Fatima comes from

regard themselves as living on an Island.

Babban dalili shi ne wuyar da shigowa kauye kan yi wa mutanen birni. Domin kuwa mota ba ta zuwa sai ranar kasuwa, wato sau daya a mako, sa’annan a ranar duk za su fice.... Sa’annan ayayin shigowar ta takan yi tafiyar awa biyar ba bisa kwalta ba.Ga duk wanda ya yi lattin fita daga wannan kauye kuwa, yanada zabin daya daga cikin biyu, ko dai zama zuwa wani makon,ko tafiyar kafa ta awa hudu zuwa wani kauye da ke da jiragenkwale-kwale da zai dauki awa hudu shi ma kafin ya tsallake dakai zuwa wani kauyen mai motoci har da ‘yar tasha. (1-8)

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The major problem is lack of access road to our village to thosein the cities. There is no access road for buses or cars, onlyLorries and pick up vans, that come only once on market day. Ittakes about five hours to reach our village from the outsideworld. If you missed the only vehicle then you have two optionsto take. Either you remain until next week market day or youventure on foot for the next four or five hours, to the nextvillage that has local boats to transport you through the riverto another village where you can board a vehicle.

When an Imam in his sermon suggessted that women

librators are not true Muslims and should be proscuted,

the Women Group headed by Amina, the daughter of Fatima

(Godiya) wrote to him, telling him of his misdemenour

when he was a young man, how he raped and cheated on

young innocent girls, and that they are going to expose

him and his ilk. The coming Friday, he countered his

insinuation and accepts the women librators as “Allah sent”

and so on. The writer gives a running commentary on this.

“So the suggestions and allegations of last week are not from Allah, but

from the Imam. That is how they abuse the privilege given to them, today

they say this is permisible, tomorrow it is not. They all laugh at it.

Where the writer engages our attention the most is

when it comes to the issue of health hazards encountered

by women in a traditinal setting like Fatima’s. To make

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us see through that, phographically she captures the

scene like this:

Ranar wata Alhamis ne gadan-gadan Yaya Indo ta somanakuda mai tsanani. A ranar farko dai an yi ta dafifin sannu dajike-jike. Haka safiyar kwana daya. Amma a wayewar gari nabiyu dai kafa ta soma daukewa a yayin da nakudar ke dadakamari da galabaitar da ita. A rana ta uku sai Malam ya somasanya wa a yi rubutu. Amma shiru haihuwa. Tuni mata sukasoma cewa alhakin miji ne da yawan daga masa murya. Shi yasa kowace haihuwa sai Yaya Indo ta sha wuya saboda alhakinMalam. Ba mu san wannan zance ya kai kunnen mai nakudakuma ya yi mata tasiri ba, sai a daren kwana na ukun ne damuka ga Yaya Indo ta iso gaban Malam yana shigowa ta cafekafarsa ta durkusa cikin kuka da cewa sai ya yafe mata ko tasamu ta haihu ta rabu da wannan azaba da take sha.Sa’annan aka dauko mazagin wandonsa da wata ‘yar shara daya cire ranar da ya dawo daga tafiya da ba a riga an wanke baaka jika su. Da jika su da wasu ‘yan mintuna aka sami ruwanda ake bukata domin kurar tafiya da dattin ajiya ba su daukiwani dogon lokaci ba suka zubo da abin da ake so a ruwan.Launinsa ya sauya katakau, ya zuwa launin jar kasa da kauri.Aka dura wa mai haihuwa.

It was one Thursday when my older sister began her prolongedlabor. The first day it is as usual, sorry from sympathizers, latersoaked materials from all angles. On the second day, she haslost all energy. It is on the third day that malam gave her somepotion from the holy Qur’an, still to no avail. It was then thatwomen of the compound starts to blame her for her woes,saying she must have courted the wrath of malam, by beingindignant or raising her voice when talking to him, that is whyevery pregnancy comes to her in such a manner. It was thethird day, in the night that we saw my sister went to malam,knelt down begging him to forgive her sins so that she candeliver safely. She begged and begged, with the other womenin the compound and then the other women said they shouldsoak malam’s dirty shirt in water, when all the dirt has come up

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they took the potion and forced the woman in labor to drinkfrom it so that she delivers.

How about the issue of inheritance, that is the

subject that draws the dividing line between sanity and

insanity. When Fatima was pregnant for an Emir in Sokoto,

she became the favored one for many years, as the

marabout told him it was going to be a boy, he was on top

of his world, she took control of the Palace. When she

delivers and it is a girl, it become tensed for her

Ina! Ba za a yi haka ba! Can ga su gada ba mu ba. Ai mai jirangado, mai jiran gado yake haifa! Ciroma ba ya fara haihuwasai da Ciroma, sa’annan mata su biyo. Wannan haihuwa MACECE! MACE KO BA TA SARAUTA, SAI DAI TA SATA TA KAI GIDANWANI”. Yadda maganar ta daki zuciyata haka na jitsiyayin wani jini daga jikina. Na tuno maganarCiroma da ke cewa: .... ina son na ga dana ....Ba na so gadonmu ya fita gidanmu .... kannenaduk mata ne ... ‘ya’yan wasu, su kai Sarautagidan wani.”

No! It is not going to happen. Not in my house. A Prince issupposed to give birth to a Prince, a King in the making, thenwomen can follow. YOU MEAN A GIRL! A GIRL CANNOT BE AKING IN OUR CULTURE, SHE ONLY STEAL AND DELIVER IT INTOANOTHER MAN’S HOUSE! I feel like something strike me insidemy heart, It is just then I remember my Prince saying....I wantto see my son....I dont want the stool to move to anotherhouse.... all my siblings are women.... they will take the stool toanother house.

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That is was thev reason Fatima told her daughter

her own story and urges her to go into the world and live

her dream, act her dream, and show to the world through

her that ‘the woman is HUMAN just like the man. Let her

live a wonderfull life so that the ‘Prince will later

regret what he did to me and you. My daughter Amina. Even

if I am dead. Continue with this movement, find out the

answer to this nagging question, is really the WOMAN A

HUMAN BEING?’

Amina struggled in life, to become something, by

pursuing education and living a life as a thinker,

advocate and reformists, one of her colleagues in the

struggle ended up as a Vice Presidential candidate of

their party, and they won the election. The prince, later

the emir, her father, and all those who despised and

maltreated her mother and others like her, come to pay

homage. The woman has come of age, through the fight

against injustice and ignorance. Rahma ends the book

philosophically, capturing that entire she thinks are the

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remnants of Fatima’s broken dreams and answers the

question if the woman is also human, this way:

They say the religions we follow come about so that theycan subjugate the woman. All cultures are organized insuch a way that women become slaves. Politics is therefor the woman to be dominated. They say the women areweaklings, but we give birth to the strong ones that sit,wine and dine over our fate, while we continue to suffer.They say women are the most populous among the humanspecie, but women do not have the veto power to do thingsthe way they should be done. They say even our ownchildren are more intelligent than we are, but whoseresponsibility is it to bring up these intelligent ones!They say this; they say that against us without end. Allthings bad you find them in the midst of women. They donot want us to know and understand the religions; they donot want us to know how to confront life and live it tothe fullest, because if we are to do that, then they arein trouble.

4.0 CONCLUSSION

What we tried to do in this presentation is to have

a second look at the creative potentials of Northern

Nigerian women. We manage to unearth some salient truth

about their writings, as well as making tentative

listings of their output. We have also tried to gauge

their commitment to their work and society. In doing that

we find that trying to gauge the commitment of the

Northern Nigeria woman writer to her work, society and of

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course, women issues is not at all problematic. Very few

of the women writers, certainly of the older generation

care much about what they write in terms of its impact on

the society. They are more inclined towards how their

works are accepted by the readers, rather than how they

are rebuilding the society, this is of course natural

since the major concern is profiteering and

sustainability of their ‘profession’.

Feminism to the Northern Nigeria woman writer is not

an in thing then, not that they are not aware of it, or

how they can appropriate it. It is just that they never

sit down to weave their stories with that concept in

mind, very few in fact care about it, as we see in this

presentation. One can then understand why the concepts of

masculinity and femininity in relation to popular culture

among the writers, in terms of cultural appropriateness

and the context of production is situated(Kassam;1996).

The cultural practice shows that certain domains

designated as being more ‘culturally appropriate than

others for women to express their subjectivity’.

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Therefore, the boundary between masculinity and

femininity in the production of popular culture appears

to be rigid when it comes to participation of women in

certain artistic forms.

This is not only associated with the women writings,

it is the norm in the larger nomenclature of the Kano

Market Literature, where the majority of the over 2,000

books produced are of the romance type. If the men are

preoccupied with it, then what the women will do, you may

ask! Our argument is it is a configuration of lived life

as well as saleable conjecture. According to Whitsitt

(2003), the romantic novels have become an explorative

forum for the socially and culturally loaded issues of

auren mata biyu (auren mace fiye da daya?) (polygamy), auren

dole (marriage of coercion (forced marriage?), purdah

(the Islamic tradition of female seclusion), and ilimin

mata (ilmantar da mace?) (the education of females). Hausa

women writers as we see treat the complexity of these

dilemmas seriously, as they explore the intricacies of

the Hausa traditions.

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What Whitsitt (2003) fails to add is, that is one of the

things the women writer knows best. Secluded for many

years, some with barely enough education to sustain their

belligerent profession, others living in a household

consisting of nearly 30 people or more, wives, children,

etc, looking for a subject to write is never a problem.

Most of them have in fact experienced the subject of

their discourse. Either they were married at a tender age

without formal education, which they come to relish later

in life, or are married to some one old enough to be

their father without their consent. Others still have the

benefit of being in their ‘homes’ when others came in as

co-wives and sent out of the house at the whim of the

‘head’ of the house for others to replace them. If then

the thematic apparitions in most of their works happens

to be woven around the same experience of their lives and

that of others closely monitored by them is not, should

not be a wonder.

The women are writing within the context of

‘multiple allegiances or multiple jeopardy,’ Yes!

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Religion has overwhelmingly produced a group that treat

all issues in its general context, the religion and its

faith is meandered in virtually every aspect of social

relations. One may argue, are women then writing with

their belief at the background or are they just creating

or imagining? ‘Islamic feminists universally profess that

all of their needs can be fulfilled by proper adherence

to the dictates of Islam.’ True! Why then are some of

their writings courting public out cry and criticism? The

answer is not far fetched, even though there is affinity

with the faith, a tilt of resurgent ‘revolutionarism’

sometimes become endemic, usually because of capital out

lay subsumed in the work of art and sometimes readers

reaction to a dull creation and sometimes still it is an

attempt to exercise freedom, free to explore outside the

boundary of reason. Therefore, the claim by (Whitsitt,

2003) that despite the hostile tide of public criticism,

which considers many of the women writers’ ideas about

forced marriage, female seclusion, and female education

to be un-Islamic. The writers claim they are reformers,

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and the reforms they seek to implement involve no

disloyalty to their faith, is unsubstantiated as we saw

in the works of Balaraba, Bilkisu Zuwaira, and Rahma.

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