The Hausa Paradox: A Majority Without Power

BY GBOGBOWA GBOWA

The Hausa, the aborigines, the original custodians of Northern Nigeria, numbering over 66 million, can be said to have today become victims of their own naivety, indulgence and indifference. Once rulers of vast kingdoms, they now find themselves politically invisible, economically weakened, and socially vulnerable. Despite being more than half of Northern Nigeria’s population, it is believed that not a single Hausa governs any of the 19 Northern states.

Instead, the Fulani, barely 13 million in number, currently hold 10 governorship positions. While the rest are shared among other minorities, the Hausa is zero.

How Did We Get Here?

The Fulani came from Futa Jallon in Senegal, not as neighbours but as conquerors. Through the Sokoto Jihad, Hausa rulers were dethroned, Fulani emirs installed, and a Fulani oligarchy was subsequently entrenched. Religion was the weapon. The Hausa embraced Islam, and in doing so, surrendered their political destiny.

It must be stated without any equivocation that overtime, following recurring flares of attempts to correct the political imbalance, there arose, the philosophical campaign of their oneness, chiseled in the Hausa-Fulani political contrivance.

Hausa-Fulani: Myth or Reality?

Although the “Hausa-Fulani” ideology rings an attractive bell and sounds ameliorating to the heart, developments over the years has proven that it does not exist in fair and equitable scale. Every right thinking Hausa and Fulani man knows that is more of a myth than reality. It merely titillates the emotions but is far from making the two, one people.

It is not. It is propaganda. It is a mask to hide Fulani domination and Hausa subjugation. Clear thinking indicates that the Hausa identity has been blurred, erased, and replaced with servitude.

The Reality Today

Hausa rulers are gone, replaced by Fulani elites. Hausa voices are silenced, used only during elections as voting machines. It is no longer secret that Hausa children are denied education, while Fulani elites consolidate power. As of today, Hausa communities suffer banditry, killings, and displacement, often at the hands of Fulani militias. The Hausa have become beggars and gatekeepers in their own homeland.

And here lies the deepest tragedy: the Hausa, original owners of Northern Nigeria, are now helpless victims of their own careless indulgence, any less they were humbled by their past conquest. Having resigned themselves to fate, their peaceful acceptance of Fulani integration has turned into a nightmare. By numbers, they fall daily to Fulani-dominated banditry and insurgency, stripped of dignity, security, and hope.

Compare and Learn

The Kanuri of Borno and Yobe resisted Fulani conquest. They still hold their heads high, governing their land. The Hausa, despite their numbers, accepted Fulani integration peacefully—and lost everything.

The Fulani Agenda

For over 200 years, the Fulani have pursued one mission: settle, infiltrate, dominate. From Sokoto to Kwara, Nasarawa, and beyond, they spread their tentacles, eyeing the Middle Belt and even the South. This is not coincidence. It is strategy. It is conquest.

What Must Be Done

Hausa people must recognize the reality of their dispossession and awake. The good Fulani with genuine intentions to co-exist peacefully and equitably in brotherhood are far few apart and in minority. They cannot help by reason of their limited number. Their views like that of Senator Shehu  Sani is often drowned and trampled upon by the voices of the vast majority  of right wing Fulani.

It is time to ponder and reflect on the unequal yokes that has assailed them as a people. It is time to demand equity and to say ‘enough is enough.’ The Hausa must stop being tools in the hands of the conservative Fulani politicians. It is time that the Hausa demands leadership of their own. Hausa voices must rise together, across states, across communities. It is time they rise up to protect their land, their culture, and their identity. The time of awakening is here; do not negotiate away your future.

This is the time to mobilize, numbers matter. With 66 million people, the Hausa can reclaim their destiny if they act, decisively.

Final Call

The Hausas are not powerless—they are simply asleep. The Fulani agenda thrives because the Hausa allow it. But history has shown that no people remain conquered forever. The question is simple: Should the Hausa continue as helpless victims in their own land, or should they rise to reclaim their rightful place?

Current Northern Nigeria Power Statistics : Governorship By Tribe

1. Adamawa State – Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (MARGHI)
2. Bauchi State – Bala Mohammed (JARAWA)
3. Benue State – Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia (TIV)
4. Borno State – Engr. Prof. Babagana Zulum (KANURI)
5. Gombe State – Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya (FULANI)
6. Jigawa State – Umar Namadi (FULANI)
7. Kaduna State – Uba Sani (FULANI)
8. Kano State – Abba Kabir Yusuf (FULANI)
9. Katsina State – Dikko Umaru Radda (FULANI)
10. Kebbi State – Nasir Idris (FULANI)
11. Kogi State – Usman Ododo (EBIRA)
12. Kwara State – AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq (FULANI)
13. Nasarawa State – Abdullahi Sule (FULANI)
14. Niger State – Mohammed Umar Bago (NUPE)
15. Plateau State – Caleb Mutfwang (MWANGHAVUL)
16. Sokoto State – Ahmed Aliyu (FULANI)
17. Taraba State – Arch. Agbu Kefas (JUKUN)
18. Yobe State – Mai Mala Buni (KANURI)
19. Zamfara State – Dauda Lawal (FULANI)

Nigeria is composed of three major ethnic groups: Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo with Hausas having the largest population. Yoruba have 6 governors, Igbo have 5 governors, but Hausa does not even have one—because they are politically and strategically enclaved.

With this arrangement, they remain easy prey and get killed, maimed and raped, peacefully and wantonly with utmost impunity, alongside other contiguous tribes.