Hausas Have Traditionally Been Hunters For Centuries
I lived in Sokoto and Kebbi. The claim circulating on social media that Hausas and other Northerners do not hunt is false. It is borne out of ignorance. Fulbe people, also known as Fula or Fulani, generally do not hunt. However, Hausas and many other Northern ethnicities hunt, and they hunt more than Southerners.
Because of their skill at hunting, they were employed in large numbers as houseguards in Southern Nigeria. When you see a mai guard with a bow and arrow, that is what he and his ancestors employed to hunt game in the past and till today.
In Kebbi, they used to hunt and bring game for my late father, Justice Jean Omokri.
Pius Utomi, a photographer from Okpanam, Delta State, took this photo almost a decade ago. These fellows are local Hausa hunters. Look at their guns. Is it not similar to that of the Uromi sixteen?
Before Independence, the British found Hausas helpful for their colonial police force due to their hunting and warrior skills. That is why the first police force in Nigeria was the Hausa Constabulary, formed in 1879 with 1200 Hausas.
The Hausa Constabulary evolved into the Royal West African Frontier Force and then the Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment, which eventually became the Nigerian Army.
There is nothing like Hausa-Fulani. That is a coinage of the Lagos-Ibadan media. You are either Hausa or Fulani.
Now, many of the bandits who abduct, kidnap, kill and maim are not even Nigerians. They are rarely ever of Hausa origin. Some may be foreign Fulani. However, many are former members of Muammar Gaddafi's mercenary army, with a lot of them being of Malian origin.
The reason that insecurity spiked in Nigeria in 2011 is because after Gaddafi was killed on Jumu'ah, October 20, 2011, his Black mercenary army fled Libya Southward. Today, they are disturbing the peace of West African countries, not just Nigeria.
Sadly, the same President Obama who caused this did not lift a finger to help us in West Africa. We are still suffering the consequences of his disastrous foreign policy in Libya.
In conclusion, there are over 250 ethnic nationalities in Northern Nigeria. Not every Northerner is a Hausa or Fulani.
Please stop lynching and mobbing people out of ignorance.