Arewa

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Arewa or Arewaland is a Hausa word which means "The North". The term is used to refer to Northern Nigeria general. The terms Arewa (literally "north") and Arewacin Nijeriya (literally "Northern Nigeria") are used in Hausa to refer to the historic region geopolitically located north of the River Niger.

The continued use of the term, Arewa ... has conjured up an image among educated Northerners that resonated far beyond the institutional structures Sir Ahmadu Bello created: the successor to the Bornu and Sokoto Caliphate; the vision of God's Empire in the region; the universality of its claim to suzerainty; and in a more prosaic but no less powerful sense, the concept of a polity with an emphasis on unity and sense of shared purpose in northern West Africa beyond the popular slogan--'one North, one People'. [1]

In the history of Nigeria specifically, it is used to refer to the pre-1967 Northern Region, Nigeria. In Niger, it has a very specific meaning: a small pre-colonial animist dominated state of the Dallol Maouri valley, known for the indigenous "Maouri"/"Mawri" Hausa culture. [2] [3] [4] [5] In Nigeria, some towns have been called simply "Arewa" in the past, before British colonisation.

In recent years, the Northern Region has gained prominence in the digital space, with the rise of news websites and online platforms that focus on the region's affairs. One such platform is AREWA.ng, a news website that primarily covers news from Northern Nigeria. [6]

Usage

In post independence Nigeria, some use the word as a general term for Nigerian Hausaland: a contraction of "Arewacin Nijeriya" (Northern Nigeria). Much of the north was once politically united in the Northern Region, a multi-ethnic entity, and was previously home of the seven Hausa states, later the Sokoto Caliphate in the pre-colonial period, and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate under British colonial rule.

Northern Nigeria regionalist groups, such as the Arewa Consultative Forum, [7] [8] and the related Arewa House are examples of this. These groups do not advocate independence from Nigeria, albeit, focus on unity of the Hausa–Fulani which forms the majority in the north. And as such, the term has become synonymous with machinations in lieu of extending political and cultural hegemony to capture the federal state. [8]

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Hausa–Fulani are people of mixed Hausa and Fulani origin. They are primarily found in the Northern region of Nigeria, most of whom speak a variant of Hausa or Fula or both as their first language.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto Caliphate</span> Islamic state in West Africa (1804–1903)

The Sokoto Caliphate, also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Fulani War. The boundaries of the caliphate are part of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. By 1837, the Sokoto state had a population of around 10-20 plus million people, becoming the most populous empire in West Africa. It was dissolved when the British and Germans conquered the area in 1903 and annexed it into the newly established Northern Nigeria Protectorate and Kamerun respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kebbi State</span> State of Nigeria

Kebbi State is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi State is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while its western border forms part of the national borders with Benin Republic and Niger. Named for the city of Birnin Kebbi—the state's capital and largest city, Kebbi state was formed from Sokoto state on 27 August 1991. Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kebbi is the tenth largest in area and 22nd most populous, with an estimated population of about 4.4 million as of 2016. The state is known as land of equity.

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Northern Nigeria "Arewancin Nijeriya" was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, which voted to become a province within Northern Nigeria.

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Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello, also known as Sardauna of Sokoto KBE, knighted as SirAhmadu Bello, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who masterminded Northern Nigeria through the independence of Nigeria in 1960 and served as its first and only premier from 1954 until his assassination in 1966, in which capacity he dominated national affairs for over a decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Nigeria</span> Languages of the country and its peoples

There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by 30 million people in Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Nigeria</span> British colony and protectorate from 1914 to 1960

Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hausa people</span> Ethnic group in West Africa

The Hausa are a native ethnic group in West Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the second most spoken language after Arabic in the Afro-Asiatic language family. The Hausa are a culturally homogeneous people based primarily in the Sahelian and the sparse savanna areas of southern Niger and northern Nigeria respectively, numbering around 86 million people, with significant populations in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Togo, Ghana,as well as smaller populations in Sudan, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Senegal and the Gambia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fula jihads</span> Series of Jihads across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries

The Fulajihads sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads that occurred across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, led largely by the Muslim Fula people. The jihads and the jihad states came to an end with European colonization.

The Dosso Kingdom is a precolonial state in what is now southwest Niger which has survived in a ceremonial role to the modern day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niger–Nigeria relations</span> Bilateral relations

Niger–Nigeria relations refer to the current and historical relationship between Niger and Nigeria, two neighbouring countries in West Africa. Relations are based on a long shared border and common cultural and historical interactions.

Arewa is a small pre-colonial animist dominated state of the Dallol Maouri valley of Niger, known for the indigenous Maouri/Mawri Hausa culture.

The Kebbi Emirate, also known as the Argungu Emirate is a traditional state based on the town of Argungu in Kebbi State, Nigeria. It is the successor to the ancient Hausa kingdom of Kebbi. The Emirate is one of four in Kebbi State, the others being the Gwandu Emirate, Yauri Emirate and Zuru Emirate.

The Maouri people are an ethnic group in western Africa. They are one of the major ethnic groups of Niger, and are concentrated around the Dallol Maouri of the Niger River, extending from Matankari, near Niamey, to Gaya. They are a subgroup of the Hausa people, and speak both the Hausa language and the Djerma language. When using the Zarma language, they are known as the Arawa people.

The Colonial history of Northern Nigeria extends from the British pacification campaigns to the independence of Northern Nigeria in 1953.

The history of Northern Nigeria covers the history of the region form pre-historic times to the modern period of Northern Nigerian state.

Hausa literature is any work written in the Hausa language. It includes poetry, prose, songwriting, music, and drama. Hausa literature includes folk literature, much of which has been transcribed, and provides a means of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge, especially in regard to social, psychological, spiritual, or political roles.

References

  1. Powergame [ permanent dead link ], Sun News (Nigeria). 7 September 2008.
  2. Arewa-s-region, tarbiyya-tatali.org.
  3. Decalo, Samuel (1997). Historical Dictionary of the Niger (3rd ed.). Boston & Folkestone: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   0-8108-3136-8.
  4. Fuglestad, Finn (1983). A History of Niger 1850-1960. African Studies series (No. 41). New York - London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-25268-3.
  5. Geels, Jolijn (2006). Niger. Chalfont St Peter, Bucks / Guilford, CT: Bradt UK / Globe Pequot Press. ISBN   978-1-84162-152-4.
  6. "Arewa News". AREWA News. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  7. arewaconsultativeforum.org Archived June 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine .
  8. 1 2 A good critical discussion on the genesis of the ACF can be found in
    • Nneoma V. Nwogu. Shaping truth, reshaping justice: sectarian politics and the Nigerian truth commission. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007 ISBN   0-7391-2249-5