Hausa man: Yesterday and today

Yesterday, Hausawa hardly knew courtship before their most marriages. In the couple of marriages where courtship was done, the chat between the lady and the guy at all times took place at night. The young man in the company of his bosom friend would send a boy to the house of the young girl to […]

Yesterday, Hausawa hardly knew courtship before their most marriages. In the couple of marriages where courtship was done, the chat between the lady and the guy at all times took place at night. The young man in the company of his bosom friend would send a boy to the house of the young girl to call her for the chat. This is a tradition which used to take place at night. In Hausa this is call ‘zance’. ‘Tana zuwa’ meaning she was coming was usually the reply by the errand boy. He would then give the boy some few ‘kobo’ as a gift to show some appreciation. Happily the boy will run back to their house while laughing mouth to ear. The chat was characterized by ultimate modesty between the trio. They sat not at whispering distance, with the girl, uttering no word except nodding or shaking her coyly bowed head.
Bahausshiya hardly collected ‘Kudin Zance’, meaning chat gift, from her boyfriend when he offered her. He would insist she collect but she could not succumb. This was a form of modesty enshrined in Hausa Culture and norms. At the end he would place the money beside her. The coy lady would take the money after her lover and his friend disappeared. Arranged and kinship marriages are the major kinds of Hausawa’s marriages. Peace reined in such marriages. It took quite many years before you hear of any squabble.
That was Hausawa by then. Today, the story is becoming something else, to some extent. Hausawa’s appearance is now transformed to a different looks, beautiful, should I say, even though beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. This is because of inter-marriages with Fulani, Nupe, Barebari etcetera. Their intermarriages with Fulani had greatly impacted them linguistically, and thus the journalists brought about the claim of Hausa-Fulani. Today, female unmarried Hausawa have begun to change. Some of them are lured by money or other worldly things and allow themselves to be deflowered out of wed lock.
Today, some Hausawa have begun to develop the habit of divorcing their wives on preventable or solvable marital crises. Leaving behind the divorcee’s children with him in the hand of step mother, some of whom do not treat the step children ‘agola’ with fairness. Some young men and women spend some years in courtship but cannot spend such years spent in courtship in the marriage.
Today, partying, cutting cake, and reception to celebrate a wedding is becoming more acceptable to some Hausawa. Not long ago, a groom divorced his bride on the day their marriage was contracted just few minutes before her conveyance to him because he confirmed that the wedding party he opposed was sponsored by the ex-boyfriend of the bride and therefore was taking place.
Today, some Hausawa have formed the habit of looking down at their fellow Hausa’s who study Hausa as a course in tertiary institution or university. If you ask them to write one paragraph in Hausa, some of them can’t do so correctly. British, Arabs and French men study their respective languages with pride.
Finally, decline in cultural values is not limited to some Hausawa only; some other ethnic groups in the country also face the same or even worse problem. In fact, this is a universal phenomenon due to globalization and the effect of modernity. Hausawa ought to inculcate their culture most of which are good. In fact Hausa culture is one of the best in the country and in Africa by extension. Looking at the modern Hausawa, you find the Hausa proverb that ‘Bahaushe mai ban haushi…’ Credible, meaning, Hausa man an angree maker. Bahaushe says, ‘Kowa yabar gida gida ya barshi’!
Bello Sagir Imam, Kano Branch, [email protected]