Emir of Zazzau is correct that Fulanis are best educated Nigerians, says Dalhatu Imam

By KEMI KASUMU

“It’s very annoying and destructive that even “History, CRK, IRK, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo,….!” have been made optional in our schools. The motive behind it is damaging to our moral, religious and cultural heritage,” the Chief Imam of Zazzau told The DEFENDER in a reaction he communicated from Zaria Monday evening.

The Chief Imam of Zazzau, Sheikh Dalhatu Ibrahim Imam, has reacted to a report by The DEFENDER crediting the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassdor Nuhu Bamali, with a statement that ‘Fulanis are Nigeria’s best educated’ people.

It will be recalled that the Sarkin Zazzau had urged Nigerians to stop generalising and blaming the entire Fulani ethnic group for acts of banditry, killings, and abductions, emphasising that such behaviour is against the core values and culture of the Fulani people.

He cautioned that the misdeeds of a few “bad eggs” should not be used to label the whole tribe.

Emir Nuhu Bamali, who was speaking at a cultural event organised by the Fulani Development and Cultural Organisation (FUDECO) on Saturday October 12, addressed the accusations linking Fulani herdsmen to violent activities.

He highlighted that Fulani tradition encourages peace, stating that a true Fulani man carries only a stick and a cutlass to care for his animals — not weapons like AK-47s.

“Carrying an AK-47 is not part of the core values of a Fulani man. A Fulani man is expected to carry his stick and cutlass to cut grass for his animals, but definitely not an AK-47, nor to kill or maim people,” the Emir said.

Bamali also spoke proudly of the Fulani’s contributions to education, asserting that they are among the best educated in the country.

“Fulanis are very enlightened people, very well educated. The best educated people in this country, I believe, are the Fulanis; I am not being biased,” he stated.

In the detailed reactions to the statement published by The DEFENDER earlier on Monday, Ayoade Ojeniyi, a core Yoruba man with pride of his culture, posted a reaction on his verified Facebook timeline night of Sunday October 13, 2024 where he said, “Just imagine that claim, Yorubas are far far ahead courtesy of the foundation laid by Awo in 1955 Free Primary Education. Today in Ekiti/Ondo area, it no longer how many graduates do you have in your family but how many Profs, Medical Doctors, SANs, Chartered Accountants etc !!!”

Responding, his fellow Yoruba interlocutors, who refused to be clouded by ethnic sentiments, made their thoughts public. One of them was Dele Aworinde, who said, “The Emir may be right. The Hausa and Fulanis are well educated and document their family history in their languages. The Emir is not talking about western education. The Yoruba should copy the North in documenting their family heritage in Yoruba language.

“Education doesn’t mean ability to read and write in English. No. If you can read and write in your language, you are an educated person according to UNESCO. An ordinary Hausa man knows what goes on all over the world through his transistor radio,” he said.

In his own response to the post challenging the Emir’s claim, another interlocutor, Bashir Adefaka, said, “And where is the proof in Yoruba way of life that they possess what you claim? They are angry to see themselves in their own cultural attire. They know who colonised them but want to or they always fashion their life after the same people that bought them for bottles into slavery, pushed the sick among them into the sea and padlocked their mouths in their sugarcane plantation and all that. They hate to be spoken to in their language. What more?”

Reacting in an exclusive statement sent to The DEFENDER Monday afternoon from the Zazzau Emirate capital of Zaria, the Chief Imam of Zazzau, Sheikh Dalhatu Ibrahim Imam, said the truth could not have been better presented than as said by the Emir.

He gave reasons why some Nigerians are erroneously believing that one without English as channel of education illiterate but wondered that same people visit Europe, Asia, Arab World and see that knowledge is taught to school children respectively in their local languages.

Imam said, “This is quite true. As you know, the Nigerian governments only recognise Western Education as a platform for literacy. While, to many, it is another way of colonialism. We all know, if you go to Europe (non-English), Asia, Arabian Peninsula, everything is taught in their own local languages. But, for colonialism to subsist, we are made to believe that foreign language is superior to ours.

“One may wonder why someone could recite the Holy Qur’an at the back of his or her heart or write from beginning to end without looking at anything, and yet he or she is called illiterate, simply because he or she didn’t go for the Western Education. This is unacceptable to commonsense.

“When in our schools, subjects were taught from Primary 1-3 in the local languages – Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Kanuri, etc, the students then understood it very well. You can’t compare the students of those days with today’s, both in quality and all other things.

“We need to rethink about our policies on education entirely and make necessary changes. We better stop thinking that Oyinbo (the White) is superior to us.

“It’s very annoying and destructive that even “History, CRK, IRK, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo,….!” have been made optional in our schools. The motive behind it is damaging to our moral, religious and cultural heritage,” the Chief Imam of Zazzau told The DEFENDER in a reaction he communicated from Zaria Monday evening.

Jelani Aliyu, who designs for General Motors, is Fulani from Sokoto

Corroborating the position of the Emir of Zazzau that other Nigerians could not be fair to think negative of Fulanis or that Fulanis life is no more than cows, records have shown that the Fulani people of Nigeria and beyond are great in the fields of sciences and technology.

According to the records, the only Nigerian who has been successful in the designs of cars and varieties of same recognised globally, Jelani Aliyu from Sokoto Caliphate, is a Fulani man.

Jelani Aliyu, born September 8, 1966, is a Nigerian automotive designer who worked for the American car company General Motors. He was a senior creative designer at GM until his appointment as the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) in 2017 by then Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

This globalised online newspaper once cited a report by the United States Department of State denying the claims in a section of Nigeria that sought to blame Fulani for the violent crimes and insecurity in the country, saying Fulanis in Nigeria are the most peaceful people.

The USSD added by clarifying that the issue of farmers/herders clashes could not be termed insecurity created by Fulani as they are issues of economic concentration recognised globally and are being addressed.