You might be wondering who and what they are?. But the best way to study any member of nature’s community is to visit its home.

Let me prepare your mind before you read further; you will be reading both the good and bad part of the Northerners (popularly called Hausa) as observed by me, an outsider.

okay, let’s start our funfilled journey into the badlands. These are things I observed during my stay in the north, among the Hausa people;

1. Tolerance

The first thing that amazed me about Hausas during my first day is how slow they are to anger ― with each other especially.

“Mallam, kada kada!!” meaning Mr., Small Small (or easy). That was what I shouted at the bike man conveying me to a destination. He almost hit an oncoming bike. I thought the encounter will result in fists exchange as I have seen in the South and West. To my surprise, the only words they exchanged was a greeting with the smile.

This repeatedly happened in all of the same occurrences I witnessed.

2. Subtle Begging

The first day I saw this well-planned begging style, I was repairing my phone with a Hausa man. A lady with make-over (many of their girls always wear make-up), enters saying greetings to the man. The man gave her N50 and she dipped her hand into a bowl carried by a small boy, bringing out something that looks like beans cake. Oh! I forgot to tell you, there are about seven lads trolling behind her. You still don’t get it?! The children are what they call Almajiris.

She prepares the beans cake (look-like) and distributes the equivalent of the amount of alms she receives to the children. This is a case of using the money to make money.

3. Hardwork

Another way these important tribe in Nigeria caught me off-guard was their business methods and how they try to earn a living. Before my visit to the north, in my thought, I divided the three important tribes in Nigeria based on what I think they are proficient with and in.

Yoruba (Education), Igbo (Business), and Hausa (Farming).

To my utmost surprise, northerners are lovers of business as much as Ibos ― if not more industrious than Ibos. They do any work available with awesome customer service. Their children can be found selling different things ranging from sachet water to chinchin. Seeing the hustle spirit in these kids makes me realize you can survive anywhere, anytime without depending on anybody.

4. Extremely Dominating

I experienced a mixed feeling of surprise and confirmation of my suspicion when I discovered this no. 4 in the Hausas. They are not easily dominated, but they love being dominated. Just like the park of wolves where everyone wants to lead but always bow to the leader chosen.

Whenever there is an argument, they are always in support of the person who appears dominating irrespective of who is right or wrong. This is however different in an instance where a fight ensues between one of them and an outsider; they support their own.

5. Free Feeling Expression

Irrespective of who you are, they always voice their feeling(s) about you, to your face. Maybe that is why they have fewer gossipers ― come on! I wouldn’t know.




Source: PostingDay