Women tasked on modern literature

Renowned female Hausa authors, Hafsat Abdulwahid and Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, have spoken on the need for women to take Literature seriously. Speaking at the Kaduna Book & Art Festival (KABAFEST), they noted that writing has become much easier due to advocates of women rights and empowerment. Abdulwahid said, “I started writing in Hausa because the […]

Renowned female Hausa authors, Hafsat Abdulwahid and Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, have spoken on the need for women to take Literature seriously. Speaking at the Kaduna Book & Art Festival (KABAFEST), they noted that writing has become much easier due to advocates of women rights and empowerment.

Abdulwahid said, “I started writing in Hausa because the number of those reading in English was limited. Reading is something that one cannot stop and I was turned down by many publishers because I am a woman.”

She also added that she contested for governor of Zamfara State because of the case of a girl who was accused of fornication and handed a sentence that she should be flogged.

 “When we inquired from the governor why he had no women in his cabinet, he said that we were not educated so I decided to contest,” she said.

Balaraba, on her own part, said, “when I started writing I was the only female author. Kano is a religious city and I was attacked for it. My book was blacklisted in 1987 and banned from the market. I was censored, my books were burnt but now I am being honoured around the world without any certificate. I am the younger sister of the late Head of State, Murtala Muhammad, but I was not privileged to be sent to school. That is the reason I speak about women empowerment.”