The Hausas of Idi-Araba
Alhaji Idris Haruna is the leader of the Hausa community of Idi-Araba. Pictures of earlier kings of the community adorn the main hall of the palace, where he was sitting when Sunday Trust visited him. He is appropriately referred to in Hausa as Sarkin Hausawa, and was born in Idi-Araba in the year 1965. He […]
Alhaji Idris Haruna is the leader of the Hausa community of Idi-Araba. Pictures of earlier kings of the community adorn the main hall of the palace, where he was sitting when Sunday Trust visited him. He is appropriately referred to in Hausa as Sarkin Hausawa, and was born in Idi-Araba in the year 1965.
He told Sunday Trust that the Hausas of Idi-Araba arrived from Mushin 70 years ago, in consequence of a disagreement with their Yoruba hosts. His words: “There was a crisis between the Yoruba and the Hausas. So Hausas moved down here from Mushin, so that there wouldn’t be a conflict”.
He says when they came from Mushin, they settled under a tree locally known in Yoruba as Araba. Thus the name Idi-Araba liberally means under the Araba tree.” The Hausa community has had a total of five Sarkis or leaders since it evolved. These are: Sarki Danazumi, Sarki Manzo, Garba Ba’are, Lawan Haruna, and the incumbent Sarki Idris Lawan Haruna. Sarki Idris says there has been a very cordial relationship between the Hausas and their hosts in Idi-Araba. “If not for the crisis of February 2002, the relationship has been very cordial,” he notes. “After the crisis we sat down and discussed issues. What caused the crisis was a communication gap between the two communities. But today there is harmony between both groups”.
He reveals that there have been frequent intermarriages between the two communities. He says in his own family alone, there are three Yoruba women married to his younger brothers. The inter-communal relationship in Idi-Araba, he stresses, has really been very cordial. “If we have events, we call our Yoruba hosts,” he says. “We were born together and do our things jointly. Olori Ebi of Idi-Araba, Alhaji Fatai Oyewiwo, is the overall leader here, and we all put ourselves under him, that is Igbos, Yorubas and Hausas. He is our head.”
Sarki Idris also speaks of some achievements recorded in the Hausa community. These include the appointment of the Special Assistant (SA) to the Chairman of Mushin Local Government, who is from the Hausa community. He says the choice was presented from the palace to the local government as a political appointment. The Hausa community of Idi-Araba has two central mosques, and many Hausas have houses in the community. There are also titled men who help to maintain order among the Hausas. These include the Waziri (who is the palace secretary), Sarkin Fada, Zanna, Sardauna, Marafa, Amar and the Makama.
Sarkin Hausawa equally talks of the challenges facing the community. According to him, “after the crisis of 2002 the community was polluted. children began to smoke and to drink alcohol, and we have also been trying to tackle issues relating to education. We have been making contributions from within ourselves to sponsor a few of our people to school. But there is not much progress yet. This is because each person has his own problems to tackle. Here we have at least ten Koranic schools.”
Notwithstanding his ancestral background, the Sarki considers himself as a citizen of Lagos State. “I am a Lagosian by birth,” he says. “I got married here and had children here too. I am originally from Zamfara and I can speak Yoruba as well as my children.”
One interesting feature of the environment in Idi-Araba is the fact that many houses, especially those of a multicultural heritage, reveal aspects of Hausa architecture in their construction. But the community is not free from internal dispute. Sarkin Hausawa points to the challenges of governance which the community has faced over the years. He says that after the death of Garba Ba’are there was a contest for the throne between his (Idris’s) father and another contestant. However, he says, after a long tussle, his father emerged victorious and was turbanned by the Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos State.
“My father was turbaned by the late Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos, but since that time the community has been factionalised,” he says. “After my father died the son of the late Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos turbanned me as Sarkin Hausawa Idi-Araba”. He remains on the throne ever since.
Regardless of the earlier leadership tussle, the vibrancy of the community has never waned. The “Hausa quarters”, as it is popularly called, has many interesting sections. There are two large parts where suya (roasted beef) is prepared; and these are quite popular among the Hausa and their Yoruba neighbours. Next to this are those who work with iron and forge many objects. In other parts of the community are the ever-present water vendors, and those who wash clothes for the members of the community.
There are also several large mosques on the other side of the quarters. Next to one of them sat a man who sells a variety of herbs and many other remedies, all stacked up in his wooden shop. In the Hausa quarters, the streets are quite narrow in some parts, and you may need to walk in single file. There is also a woman sitting outside a house applying henna (lalle in Hausa) to her fingers. It is in keeping with the season, for Sallah held just about four days earlier and there is something quite festive still hanging in the air, like a happy cloud. Her fellow women gaze at her in admiration as the sun sets.