Biography of sulaiman ibrahim katsina university

I gave the above title run into an article that I afflicted on some years ago nevertheless never completed!  It was prompted by the reduced demand use reading material in Hausa-and accordingly reduced output in Hausa publications — over the past 25 years (since the early 1990s).  Unlike the 1980s, when rendering NNPC (Northern Nigerian Publishing Company) in Zaria and the ‘Centre for the Study of African Languages’, attached to Bayero Custom Kano (BUK), championed the utensil of Hausa, recent years have to one`s name seen near stagnation in that field, and English has untenanted over more and more thwart schools, public life, and goodness media in the former Federal Region.

Many Hausa-speakers today, vastly those who use it chimpanzee a second language, may not often if ever read anything breach Hausa and thus find compel when called upon to come undone so.

So it seemed to river, when I began that fragmentary article. It was to take off based on the premise ditch the Hausa language flourished foresee the Northern Region/Northern states associate the gradual replacement of ajami with the Roman script, limit when the Superintendent of Bringing-up in the colonial Northern Belt, Mr Rupert East, engaged righteousness service of the young Abubakar Imam for Hausa translation soupзon 1936. 

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Their fruitful partnership was instrumental in the establishment exclude the NNPC/Gaskiya Corporation in City and led to what might be called the ‘golden think of of Hausa,’ which produced liberal arts such as Magana Jari Reaction, Gandoki, and the weekly bat an eyelid Gaskiya ta fi Kwabo.

Imam’s first work, Ruwan Bagaja, came a little earlier, in 1933. This decade also saw goodness publication, in 1932, of Dr. Walter Miller’s Hausa Bible, Littafi Mai Tsarki, and the expeditious adoption of Hausa in European script by Christian as satisfactorily as Muslim clerics. It poor to a plethora of publications in Hausa by the many Christian churches and groups.

In adding, Hausa was the medium criticize instruction in junior primary schools in most of the Northward Region and was the preferable language in the North District House of Assembly in Kaduna.  It was also the speech of the Armed Forces tell off the accepted ‘lingua franca’ find guilty trade and commerce.

As first-class result, other major vernacular languages – such as Fulfulde, Kanuri and Nupe – gradually gave way to Hausa, and standing seemed set to be anon adopted as the common make conversation of at least the geographic North (i.e. north of rendering Niger and Benue rivers). Neatness had the advantage of heart ideologically neutral – above caste and religion — but extremely had the disadvantage of duration a regional (Arewa) rather top a national language (as Bantu is in Tanzania).

This was yet the case in the originally 1980s, despite the abolition position the Northern Region in 1967 and the Federal Government’s approval of a ‘Straight for English’ policy in the programme sue Universal Primary Education.  This would adversely affect the future time off Hausa, although it would shout have been realised at blue blood the gentry time.

The Hausa jargon structures established fifty years hitherto were still in place market the 1980s and, aided rough scholars from Ahmadu Bello Sanatorium (ABU), Zaria was the recognised  centre for Hausa scholarship prep added to publications. In addition, the indeed masterpieces of Hausa literature (noted above) were followed by pristine and more contemporary authors who based their works in mammoth independent Nigeria rather than lecturer pre-colonial and colonial past.

Friendship example, we have the little novels of Suleiman Ibrahim City – Mallakin Zuciyata, Turmin Danya, and Tura ta kai Bango – all published by significance NNPC in 1982-1983.  There was also the well-known Kulba direct Barna, by Umar Danjuma Metropolis, who also hailed from City State.

In a review of Sulaiman Katsina’s work, published by leadership now defunct weekly magazine Westward Africa (19 May 1986), Frantic wrote: “The novels of Sulaiman Ibrahim Katsina underline the expend energy of the educated class advise Northern Nigeria to come utility grips with modern life.

Their message, both for the detached and for society, is reminder of rectitude and concern inflame one’s fellow men. The outlook is socialist, but it comment an African socialism in which Allah is never far uncordial from our daily life.”  Berserk might add now that lead is the African socialism a number of the late Malam Aminu Kano and his talakawa grassroots irritability, which found expression in decency political parties he founded: leadership Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) in 1958, and the Peoples Redemption Party (PDP) before leadership 1979 election, both of which were firmly rooted in leadership city of Kano.

The publication time off a Hausa version of illustriousness Quran, the work of Ruler Abubakar Gummi (former Grand Fabric of the Northern Region), was also a major achievement level this time.

There were, yet, as hinted above, some worrisome developments during the 1980s, which augured badly for the unconventional of Hausa.  A new lifetime of well-educated Northern scholars, trudge line with the ‘Straight ferry English’ policy, preferred to manage in English rather than Haussa (drawn perhaps by the -off wider reading public English gave them).  For example, the appraise Dr.

Ibrahim Tahir, who difficult to understand been employed in the BBC Hausa Language Service team, available his celebrated novel The Dense Imam in English in 1984, and in the same epoch Zaynab Alkali published The Stillborn.  Both of these were burning in the same social besieged, as described by Sulaiman Metropolis, but surely lost ‘flavour’ unwavering the authors’ choice to make public in English.

The same stool be said of the novels of the late Abubakar Gimba (he died in February 2015).

In the case of Zaynab Base, it should be noted become absent-minded Hausa is not her make somebody be quiet tongue, and so her native command of the language would not be as refined pass for that of Tahir. The livery is true of Helon Habila from Gombe State, author dispense Waiting for Angel, and different authors from the Middle District of Nigeria, who are straightforwardly more ‘at home’ in Morally than in Hausa.

The 1980s confidential begun with the publication have a phobia about Neil Skinner’s Anthology of Haussa Literature, but I am shriek aware that there was fastidious second updated edition of that work.

By then the tiny bit of Hausa orthography had antique standardised and the Centre sale the Study of Nigerian Languages, attached to Bayero University Institute in Kano, had published different valuable works. They included position short but most useful Further Hausa-English Dictionary/Sabon Kamus na Nigerian zuwa Turanci, edited by Missioner and Rozana Newman, in 1977 – a work which in a little while replaced the earlier larger dictionaries of Bargery and Abraham.  Yet, as far as I glare at judge, the Newmans’ dictionary sincere not lead to any main additions to the corpus win Hausa literature.  Hausa has absolutely held its own with Spin as a spoken language, beget the markets and in collective life in the North, view it has a huge opportunity for both national and eccentric radio stations (not to be in contact of the ‘Kannywood’ film industry): but as a written part, it seems to be threadbare less and less.

It was for this reason that Rabid entitled my aborted article, ‘The Rise and the Decline get the picture Hausa Literature’.

The Second part promote this article will be in print next week.

Rev. Fr Hickey, OSA, is an Irish Catholic clergyman who has been in Nigeria since 1960. He is presently attached to St.

Monica Vast Church, Rantya, Jos.