Balarabe Idris Gusau, Zamfara State.
I usually don’t respond to rants, but when history and numbers are being twisted, silence becomes consent. Everyone is free to criticize government or politicians – that’s democracy. But rewriting the contribution of more than 60 million Nigerians to score cheap points is wrong.
I’ve lived in the South, especially Delta and Rivers States from 1997-1999. I was there when Martins Vincent Otse aka VDM was still very small living in Kaduna. I also lived in a hotel in Okirika, Port Harcourt that was formerly a medical clinic owned by the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa. After he was executed in 1995 by the military regime because of the murder of the Ogoni 5, his wife and children moved to the US, and the family converted the clinic to a hotel to make a living. I know how wrong narratives about Hausa people are the order of the day there.
I’ve seen firsthand how misinformation spreads faster than facts. I vividly recall spending several nights arguing with the late Ken Saro-Wiwa’s nephews, who managed the hotel, just to correct the narratives they had heard about the Hausa people and Islam. Sometimes after returning to the hotel from work around 9pm, I would bathe and try to retire for the night, only for the guys to knock on my door saying, “Alhaji, you’re welcome, we’re waiting for you at the reception.”
So I would get dressed, meet them at the reception, and stay late into the night in discussion just to change their views on the Hausa people and Islam. And I am happy to state here that I was able to change those negative perceptions during my stay with them. That is why this needs to be said about VDM. The data proves it.
Firstly, your own story is Hausa land. You were born in Kaduna, a Hausa-speaking state. Your parents lived there and earned their source of income from there. The schools, markets, roads, and community that raised you exist because of Hausa people. Before you throw stones, remember the roof you grew up under.
Secondly, the Abuja you call home was built by a Hausa man. The FCT you live in today was created in 1976 by General Murtala Muhammed, a Hausa man from Kano State. He moved Nigeria’s capital from Lagos to Abuja and carved the land out of Niger, Kwara, and Kaduna. Every contract, every office, every opportunity Abuja offers traces back to that Hausa-led decision.
Thirdly, I want to also touch on Hausa contributions to Nigeria’s economy & nationhood.
Before the discovery of oil, groundnuts from Kano, Katsina, Zaria and Gusau (my home town) made up 70% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange between 1956-1967. Nigeria was the world’s number one groundnut exporter.
Today, Northern Nigeria significantly contributes to the Agricultural sector. The North produces the rice, tomatoes, onions, maize, and millet that feed the South. Kebbi’s rice revolution cut Nigeria’s rice import bill by billions of naira.
Nigeria’s livestock sector holds ₦30 trillion in assets and contributes about $32B to GDP annually, with the FG targeting $74B. About 20M cows and 40M sheep and goats exchange hands yearly across Nigeria. And Wudil Cattle Market alone in Kano does ₦50B every single week.
On Industry, Dangote Group produces 60% of Nigeria’s cement and exports to over 10 African countries. Aliko Dangote = 2% of Nigeria’s GDP alone!
On Nation building, Tafawa Balewa Nigeria’s first Prime Minister. Ahmadu Bello designed the federal structure. Murtala Muhammed created Abuja and unified the civil service.
On Language & unity, Hausa language is Nigeria’s number 1 lingua franca. Over 60-70 million Nigerians use it daily as a bridge language – more than any other Nigerian language. Soldiers, truck drivers, traders, and artisans use it from Lagos to Maiduguri. It’s the language that actually moves goods and people across Nigeria.
Fourthly, Hausa’s contributions to the world stems from 1000 years of trade. Hausa merchants were the logistics backbone of Trans-Saharan trade.
Alhassan Dantata who was named the “richest African in the British Empire” in the 1950s, globalized business. Today Dangote Cement operates in over 10 African countries.
Then on Culture & media, Kannywood is 2nd largest film industry in Africa, while BBC Hausa reaches over 25million (Hausa speaking) listeners weekly.
The bottom line is, criticize policies, criticize leaders – that’s democracy. But saying “Hausa people contribute nothing and are the problem of Nigeria” is false by history, false by economics and false by your own biography.
Nigeria’s problems are national – corruption, weak institutions, oil dependence. They’re not the property of one ethnic group. And no group’s contribution can be erased with insults.
Nigeria’s problems are national, not ethnic. Erasing one group’s contribution doesn’t fix corruption – facts do. Not hate.
Sources: CBN annual reports, NBS agricultural/livestock data, and Federal Government historical records.
The writer can be reached on:
idrisbalarabe@gmail.com
`#FactsNotPropaganda #NigeriaFacts #DataOverNoise #LivestockEconomy #