Owo: Home to Hausas for 220 years

Forty-three-year-old Jibrin Musa is the Sarki or leader of the Hausa community in Owo. He says that the community is well over 220 years old, and started growing ever since their forebears travelled there from  different parts of the north, bringing Onions, Horses as well as the message of  Islam. They then returned to the […]

Forty-three-year-old Jibrin Musa is the Sarki or leader of the Hausa community in Owo. He says that the community is well over 220 years old, and started growing ever since their forebears travelled there from  different parts of the north, bringing Onions, Horses as well as the message of  Islam. They then returned to the north with Kolanuts, cocoa etc. On horses Mahdi Adamu writing in The Hausa Factor In West African History says “since the large horses from the North were not normally suited for forest conditions, they required  extra care and this made it necessary for the Yoruba to procure people from the north, both free men and slaves,who knew best how to take care of the horses’. Many of those who travelled down to Owo long ago hailed from Kano, Zaria, Sokoto and Maiduguri. Sarki adds that he was not born in Owo, and that the Hausas in Owo are many in terms of number. He says , by way of explaining the great number  ‘In the whole federation there is no place where people appreciate strangers or visitors, like the people of Owo’. So Owo is a magnet that  attracts. He explains that this kindness has a history to it. His words “the people of Owo say that the late Sardauna Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,  were very kind to the people of Owo. So they have chosen to repay us with kindness, and so they welcome us with open arms. They treat us as they would treat their own brothers.” Aishat Ahmed who hails from Owo and works at Akure  also explains by saying “Owo people are very accommodating and love visitors. We make the Hausa among us to feel at home”.  The leader of the Hausas says he can speak Yoruba  fairly  well, as do  his children. He adds that most of the Hausas in Owo are migrant traders, who come once a year to trade, and later return to the north to farm when the season comes. These are the Yan Cirani. Sarki speaks of the many favours his people enjoy: The Hausa community has been given a burial ground by the people of Owo. Also they do not pay rent at Shagari village where many of them reside. They were asked to  stay there until they have enough monies to build their own  houses. In addition to this, they have been given free  land where they cultivate numerous crops. Very soon a micro -credit loan scheme will be extended to the Hausa community by the Ondo state government, he adds. But Sarki indicates that the group of Hausas in Owo are not very united and this is a big problem, he laments. As a result of this division there are many Sabos in Owo. Infact, there are five Sabos in Owo at present. Most of the Hausas do not go to him for help or advice except when they have problems, he says. This, to him, is more evidence of the factionalisation in the community. In the meantime, the people of Owo and  the Ondo State government have been very helpful. When his people need fertiliser, it is given to them, and when a piece of land needs to be cleared for farming,this is done.
 Some 11 years ago Agboola John Ojomo, the Ojomo Oluda of Ijebu-Owo took the unprecedented step of giving  ten hectares of land to the Hausa community of Owo. He asked that the community should use the land to build  a mosque, shops, schools, and the land was to become  a new Sabo for the people. So far only the mosque has been completed. But problems have emerged to hinder the development of the site. One of these problems  is the attitude of Sarki’s fellow Hausa. His words “I asked my fellow Hausa to have a law regarding this new Sabo. They argued against this,  saying this is not their town, and that I cannot create a law for them. I appealed to them saying that we cannot continue tio live without laws. The Hausa community is now very factionalised. So I am appealing to the Arewa Consultative Forum to look into this matter. He says the attention of Sarkin Sasa has been drawn to the problems in the community. A sign of the strong ties which link the Yoruba hosts and the Hausa is the appointment of Alhaji Umaru Binji as Special Adviser (Special Interests)  to the Governor of Ondo State. He is the first Hausa  to be appointed as Special Adviser in the entire history of Hausa presence  in Ondo State or the Ondo area. Sarkin Hausawa says he first arrived Owo in 1987 when he brought beans and groundnut oil to sell. Later on he entered the cow trade.He tells Weekly Trust that he wants to plant three million yam seedlings  this year. In Owo, which happens to be the largest local government in the federation,  the locals are friendly and welcoming. Within the group of the many  Hausa  there are open   wounds  which need to be healed.