Kano Writers Vow To Fight Censorship

* Begin a 3-week ‘warning strike’


From Mansur Sani Malam, Kano

Due to apprehension about the intentions of the Kano State Censorship Board in its decision to censor individual authors and literary works, creative writers in the state have embarked on a three-week warning strike with effect from yesterday, in which they have suspended all production of literary works and decided to use their pens to protect their liberty and freedom of expression.

This was disclosed in a communique signed by the leaders of the Coalition of Authors' Associations in the state shortly after an emergency meeting held yesterday in Kano.

This followed an extensive discussion and review of the state of arts and literature in Kano in the context of the crisis between the authors and the censorship board.

The board recently unveiled plans to begin the registration of all authors and the vetting of literary works.

Those who signed the statement yesterday were the chairman of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Kano chapter, Malam Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino; chairman of Hausa Authors Forum (HAF), Malam Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (a.k.a. Ala), and chairman of Brigade Authors Forum (BAF), Malam Abdullahi Muktar Yaron Malam.

Others are chairperson of the main women writers' group, Kallabi Writers Association, Hajiya Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, and chairman of Hausa Writers Association of Nigeria (HAWAN), Malam Ibrahim Ahmed Daurawa.

As a way of confronting the challenges that seem to lie ahead of them, the various writers groups have also resolved to work under the umbrella of the state chapter of ANA. All engagements, commitments and correspondence of the associations, which had hitherto promoted divergent views, are now to be handled by ANA, said the communique.

This was done apparently because ANA has a national spread and an international network.

A source within ANA Kano told LEADRSHIP yesterday that the authors are considering legal action against the censorship board.

The writers enjoined the Kano State Government to call the Director-General of the censorship board to order, saying his actions would have damaging consequences on the good image of the state and its leadership, as well as undermine the literary prowess enjoyed by the state.

The censorship board had early this month ordered the authors to register with it from August 1 or expect sanctions.

The warning was issued to the writers by the Director-General of the board, Malam Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, during and after a meeting he had with the writers at his office.

At the time, he explained that his board could have begun the registration exercise immediately, but relented by giving a month's deadline.

"We see it as very merciful, we see it very lenient of us to at least relent any enforcement effort until the next one month given to them, in addition to the first six months that have already lapsed that they did not formalize, which now we are expecting them to do so in the next one month", he had declared.

The director-general also revealed that the essence of the registration was to check the influx of obscene materials into the state.

"We have designed this in near future and we see it very viable. We see it very good of us if we establish what we call pro-activeness, so that the stakeholders in the literary works can be enlightened and be guided in order for them to be perfect and to make necessary corrections in form of preventive measures," he added.

Rabo revealed that the board had received complaints from the general public, and that some people were using the mass media against some aspects of the creative works, especially the Hausa romance books or novellas in circulation, adding the board intends to help guide the authors through their potentialities of using their creativity for the benefit of society.

Contrary to what he told the authors at the stakeholders' meeting, he explained that the registration exercise would not be on an individual basis, but through writers' associations, emphasising that there is no any process of registration that can be undertaken individually unless if an individual author is operating outside any professional association.

He requested the respective associations to forward members of their associations for the board's processing and registration.

He pointed out that the registration processes would be carried out because the law mandated the board to do so, adding that registration of authors is normal everywhere in the world.

"The National Film and Video Censors does register its stakeholders, so also guilds," he said.

Malam Rabo said whoever does not accept what the board is doing should challenge it in court.

He said: "We are determined to enforce the law because we are law agents. We are established by the law and we must abide by the law because it is the primary yardstick, the primary tool binding the board and the stakeholders together. Anything contrary to the law is not condonable and it is very unbecoming of a law or agency like us to outrage or to operate or to breach the law."

The censors board had waged a long-drawn battle against filmmakers in the state after the sudden appearance of the Hiyana sex clip last year, banning the movie industry for six months and sending leading artistes and producers to jail.

Its current decision to register authors has opened a new theatre of war against the creative arts in the state, a decision the authors seem to be committed to fight in any way they can.

--

Published in LEADERSHIP on Monday, July 28, 2008

Saadou “Bori” Abdullahi – Pioneering Innovator of Hausa Disco Music

By Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu
Chairman, Center for Hausa Cultural Studies,
Kano, Nigeria



It was with absolute shock and sadness that I learnt of the death of Saadou, the Nigeriene modern Hausa musician along Maiduguri road on Thursday 26th June 2008. He was returning from a concert which he gave in Maiduguri.

Saadou, born in 1966 in Niger Republic was best known as Saadou Bori, after his best selling solo album, Bori, released on tape in Nigeria in 1990. I learnt of the tape, and subsequently the musician, after I returned from US where I rediscovered African music. On returning to Kano, I made a direct beeline for the Bata roundabout where a series of Nigerienes keep shops selling music and video items from Francophone Africa. Amidst the tapes of Ami Koita, Nodibo Kone, Zoni Diabate, Salif Keita, Ali Farka Toure, Oumou Sangare, Djenba Seck, Kandia Kouyate, and Inna Baba Coulibaly, there sits Saadou’s Bori – standing as the one out of the mélange of Malian wassolou singers and African blues guitarists.

Bori turned out to be the biggest selling tape-album of 1990 in Kano and other parts of Hausa northern Nigeria. It came at a time when there was simply no Hausa modern music. And the traditional music was relegated to the background of aristocratic palaces and the elegant edifices of the fabulously wealthy merchant class.

Modern music in northern Nigeria was introduced by non-Hausa artistes such as I.K. Dairo and His Blue Spots (Tuwo Da Miya, Mu Tafi Damaturu) in the 1960s. In The Sudan, the Hausa diva, Aisha Fallatiya, demonstrated the power of women in modern Hausa music with Muna Maraba da Sardauna Sakkwato, a welcome song composed for the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, Alhaji (Sir) Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto on a State Visit to the country. Backed by the “sound of Sudan”—predominantly string quartet of sorts with an accordion, and as popularized by Sudanese male singers such as Hamza Kalas—Fallatiya’s lyrics—sung in Hausa, found a ready niche in the radio plays and urban clubs of northern Nigeria. Some musicians merely use Islamic iconography to appeal to Muslim Hausa club punters. For instance, Ofo & The Black Company’s Allah Wakbarr (sic) as well as I.K. Dairo’s Hungry for Love endeared themselves to Hausa Muslim listeners due to their use of religious expressions. Ofo’s composition consists of repeated chanting of “Allah Akbar” accompanied by a scintillating funk guitar rhythm, while Dairo’s more sober high-life approach was captured in the initial start of Hungry for Love with the lyrics, “Wayyo Allah (Hau. Oh my God), I feel hungry, not for food, but for love” repeated over and over.

The 1970s brought more Hausa modern music principally from Ghana and Niger Republic. In Ghana Sidiku Buari—trained as a professional musician in the U.S.—pioneered the Hausa disco sound as in his debut album Buari—a composition straight out of Kool and the Gang, Ohio Players, The Fatback Band, Earth Wind and Fire, Chic and Brass Construction disco sound of the 1970s. This was sustained much later by Maurice Maiga with Kudan Gida (Hau. housefly) employing disco and highlife sound of Ghana and Togo.

In northern Nigeria modern Hausa music was pioneered by Hausa Christian entertainers such as Bala Miller & The Great Pirameeds of Africa and Sony Lionheart – both from Zaria. With extensive Church training in the use of guitars and the organ, their preferred musical language was Hausa, if only to indicate that not all Hausa are Muslim and not all Hausa musical entertainment is based on Hausa indigenous instruments. Bala Miller’s compositions such as Sardauna Macecinmu (Sardauna our Savior), Karya Ba ta Ta Shi (The lie does not last), Ikon Allah (The will of God) and Sony Lionheart’s Zaman Duniya (This life) became club anthems particularly in Kano, Kaduna and Jos. These modern Hausa musical traditions were sustained in clubs by small bands around Jos and Kaduna such as The Elcados and Super Ants who although predominantly singing in English, nevertheless forayed into Hausa lyrics—all using what can be called domesticated Hausa soul music, with not a single indigenous instrument – kalangu, sarewa, kukuma, kakaki, kwarya, shantu, etc – in sight. The mainstream Hausa youth soon became consumers to these globalizing currents, preferring them, in most part over “the real” music from African American stars. I remember our attempts to copy the Elcados sounds at the Kano State College of Advanced Studies Auditorium in the early 1970s with Yusuf AbdulLateef, trying to create a “Kano modern” sound – which did not work out at all!

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Funmi Adams caused a massive sensation in uniquely adapting a Hausa folktale – Labarin Gizo da Koki (Story of the Gizo the Spider and his wife) – to modern music. What made it more enchanting was a video clip that accompanied the audio tape, giving a rich background to the simple tale of morality for young children.

This fusion music, interestingly enough, was not wholly embraced as an entertainment form by mainstream Hausa youth. This was caused by two factors. The first was the religious and cultural divide. The modernized “Hausa” music of non-ethnic Hausa was seen predominantly as “Christian” and “southern” Nigerian (kade-kaden ‘yan kudu). Secondly, such musical adaptation appealed basically to club circuit patrons—an exclusive class of civil servants far removed from the street level reality of urban youth.

Hausa traditional musicians had always occupied a lowbrow status as maroka (praise-singers) and this had the effect of discouraging the musicians from either training their own children into the craft—for it is considered an occupational craft—or even encouraging “students” to learn the craft and sustain it (rarely do Hausa occupational and craft guilds accept outsiders, are referred to as “shigege”_. A typical example is this response by Alhaji Sani Dan Indo, a kuntigi musician who responded to a question on whether he wanted his children to succeed him:

Unless it is absolutely necessary. I definitely don’t want my son to become a musician. I have seen enough as a musician to determine that my son will really suffer if he becomes a praise-singer. You only do praise-singing music to a level-headed client, and it is only those who know the value of praise-sing that will patronize you. Those times have passed. I certainly would not want my own son to inherit this business. I would prefer he goes to school and get good education, so that even after I die, he can sustain himself, but I don’t want him to follow my footsteps, because I really suffered in this business. Therefore I am praying to Allah to enable all my children to get education, because I don’t want them to become musicians like me. (Interview with Sani Dan Indo, a Hausa popular culture kuntigi musician, Annur, Vol 1, August 2001, p. 48).

However, Saadou changed this perception with the release of the tape-album, Bori (Hau. Spirit possession ceremony of the traditional Hausa) in around 1991, earning him a nickname, as he subsequently became known as Saadou Bori.

The tape-album was a mega hit in northern Nigeria. Filled with heavy disco funk and Jazz rhythms, and with tracks sung almost entirely in Hausa language, it proved for Hausa musicians on both sides of the postcolonial divide that Hausa music can be “modernized”, indeed evidenced by the fact that in 1994 Saadou teamed up with Moussa Poussy and released an extended version of Bori as Niamey Twice.

Saadou’s Bori – The New Age Hausa Disco Sound

Bori redefined Hausa dance music and provided a paradigm shift in the evolution of modern Hausa music. Not only does it provide a dance floor series of numbers, it also neatly meshed modern with traditional in its lyrical forms. Maintaining a heavy disco beat in all the compositions, it uses elements of Hausa call-and-response mechanism in many of the lyrical renditions, where a choir of female (‘yan amshi) echo a specific refrain.

The tape-album version of Bori had eight tracks: Side 1 – Dango, Yelleru, Badossa, and Boudje; Side 2 – Hadiza, Bori, Soyeyya, Maidawa.
Of these eight tracks, two became Saadou Bori’s “bakandamiya” (defining masterpiece) and ultimately signature tune. These were Yelleru (from Side 1), and Hadiza (Side 2). Both were well composed with tight horns and musical arrangement. Yelleru offered a new perspective to Hausa fusion music because it contained lyrics in pulaa (Fulfulde language of the Fulbe). Simple and catchy, it tells the story of a how the economic hardships befell the Fulbe who may have to give up their cattle and nomadic lifestyles for a settled farm life. A pure dance floor composition, it contain at least three midsections that provided the backing musicians opportunities to display their skills with drums and horns.

Hadiza hit the spot more directly with Hausa women. It tells the story of a new bride (amarya) in a two-wife household. The song extols the virtues of the amarya thus:

Kai mata, Oh, women
A rike darajar aure da kyau Hold fast to the values of marriage
A bar hushi da ikon Allah Stop being annoyed with Allah’s will
Dan ikon Allah ya wuce hushi For all that Allah wills is beyond your anger

Zama da kishiya tilas ne Living with a co-wife is inevitable
Ba don Uwargida na so ba And not because the Senior wife wants it

Gyara gida, Hadiza Look after the house
Duk na ki ne It is all with your purview
Gyara wuri, Hadiza Fix the places in the house
Duk na ki ne It is all with your purview
Gyara wurin ki, Hadiza Fix your own apartment
Duk na ki ne It is all with your purview
To ladabi biyayya With respect and obedience
Duk na ki ne It is all with your purview

Ki ba ni ruwa, Hadiza, Fetch water for me, Hadiza
Sai ta durkusa She brings it and courtesies
Ki ba ni hwura, Hadiza, My porridge, Hadiza
Sai ta durkusa She brings it and courtesies
Ki ba ni tuwo, Hadiza Bring my dinner, Hadiza
Sai ta durkusa She brings it and courtesies
Ruwan wanka, Hadiza, Fix my bath, Hadiza
Sai ta durkusa She brings it and courtesies

This song created three mixed reactions. The feminists hated it because it was a reaffirmation of what some of the more militant amongst them perceived as the servitude of women in a male dominated society. Similarly, Senior wives were not too keen on it because it is like rubbing salt in the wound – first being told they have to live with a co-wife, and second the beautiful virtues of the co-wife are being extolled; as if they were the opposites of their own behavioral patterns. A third reaction was from young male husbands who took to playing the song with glee (and I am speaking from an ethnographic experience!) whenever the Senior wife and their amarya are together.

The title track from the tape-album, Bori, is a celebration of the Hausa bori cult medicine. However, it was very clear from the lyrics that Saadou perceived bori not as a form of worship, but as pure entertainment – a process more related to its actual function.

Mace kucaka ba ta bori, A woman of easy virtue does not do the bori
Mace kazama ba ta bori A slovenly woman does not do the bori

Iya bori abin (wa) tsoro Bori is truly frightening
Aljani abin (wa) tsoro Sprits are frightening

Kai bori manyan sarakai Bori really is for important people
Yara kanana ba su yi nai Children cannot do it
Ali aboki na na da bori Ali my friend does it
Kai Bello aboki na na da bori Bello, my friend does it
Ee, Madu aboki na na da bori Yes, Madu my friend does it
Ee, ni na sa kai na bori Yes, I have the bori

In these lyrics – which appeared in a different sequence in the song from here – the stereotypes of bori amongst the Hausa are being reversed. Suddenly, it is glamorous to be a “bori” – evidenced by singer himself. Even album cover photo of the singer – wearing a headband made from cowry shells, one of the many unknown hallmarks of bori practitioners – speaks volumes about bori as an entertainment, rather than a serious religious advocacy of the traditional Hausa cultural anthropology.

Saadou subsequently released other tape-albums, but none had the stunning success of Bori, which even won an award in Niger republic during a festival of Hausa modern music (although I can’t recall the year). In place of the tape-albums — which were easy targets for pirates anyway – he spent the last few years working on what I call the “ceremony circuit”, putting shows for “big” people (politicians and other rich people) during the wedding ceremonies of their children.

Saadou was an innovative songwriter, arranger and vocalist. His creative works appeared in the slack transition period between the when Christian and mainly southern Nigerian musicians used the Hausa language to appeal to the Muslim Hausa (from the 1960s to end of 1980s), and when the video film soundtrack genre (called Nanaye – term for female children’s playground songs – because of its predominant gender base and call-and-response structure must use female voices) emerged from mid 1990s.

With the death of Bala Miller in February 2003, Saadou indeed represented the last breed of truly innovative Hausa musicians and composers with a focus on using real instruments to present their craft. In the mid 1990s, the Yamaha synthesizer became available to the young Hausa filmmakers interested in reproducing the multi-instrument sound similar to that of Hindi films which Hausa filmmakers avidly and religiously appropriate into Hausa language versions. With neither skills to compose music, nor understanding of the relationship between the different musical instruments and sounds, the new breed of musicians rely heavily on sound samples stored in the synthesizers, and the sequencing facility provided to arrange tunes to produce a melody.

In this respect, and without any formal music curricula in the schools for the teeming Hausa Nanaye composers, Saadou Bori remained the last of the great composers of Hausa modern music on World Music level. He practiced music with the true attention to detail of a professional composer and arranger – aware of the relationships between tune and harmony; and inter-twining Hausa mindsets and world views in his lyrics.

Saadou “Bori” Abdullahi was born in Maradi, Niger Republic in 1966. He died in June 2008 in Maiduguri, Nigeria. He is survived by one wife and five children. He will be surely missed as an innovator in modern Hausa disco music.

Brief report on the state of film industry in Kano State, Nigeria

Monday 18 February 2008

By
DR. AHMAD M. SARARI
National Vice President
Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN),
Kano, Nigeria


Preamble

Motion picture industry in Northern Nigeria popularly known as Kannywood was founded in 1990 when the first Hausa home video titled "Turmin Danya" was produced. The industry was brought into being and nurtured to the present level by the practitioners themselves. Today, the industry employs the services of more than fifty thousand people and supplies 35% of Nollywood movies. It generates over N20 million to the Federal Government annually through National Film and Video Censorship Board (NFVCB). In Nigeria it’s been argued that our film industry alone generates over N30 billion worth of economic activities. This implies that Hausa Film industry generates about N9 billion (about 35% of 30 billion) worth of economic activities.

The following are the existing guilds and associations recognized by Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) in every state:

1. MOPPAN State chapter

2. Film makers Association

3. Film Producers Association

4. Guild of Directors

5. Guild of Artistes

6. Guild of Cinematographers

7. Guild of Script writers

8. Guild of Editors

9. Guild of Production designers

10. Distributors/Marketers Association

11. Association of Film Exhibitors

12. Association of Musicians and Lyricists


Aims and objectives

a) To promote and encourage the interest and advancement of its members in all manners affecting them, as professional Motion Picture Practitioners’.

b) To promote and encourage any activity whereby members will be held qualified in their particular field within the Motion Picture industry in Nigeria.

c) To regulate the relationship between its members and the public based on professional ethics and the Associations code of conduct as may be regulated and modified from time to time.

d) To facilitate professional growth in the art, practice and techniques of the Motion Picture industry by holding seminars, conferences, workshops and film festivals, at national and international levels.

e) To collate and tabulate statistics and publish information useful to its members, and to issue suitable literature and publications, including an official journal to assist in attaining the objectives of the Association.

f) To advance by any legal means deemed fit the standard of technical work in the Motion Picture industry, thereby improving the knowledge, skills and experience of the Associations members generally or individually.

g) To, on behalf of it’s members, liaise with the Nigerian film cooperation for the purpose of patronizing and putting in to effect, usage the technical infrastructure already available in Nigeria i.e. colour film processing laboratory, sound dubbing studio, production and editing facilities and also negotiate rates and credits for the usage of those technical infrastructure in favour of its members in order to boost Motion Picture production In Nigeria.

h) To acknowledge and also reward professional merits and achievements made by Motion Picture Practitioners in Nigeria who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields, and related creative arts.

i) To work towards the promotion of, distribution, exhibition and utilization of Motion Picture throughout Nigeria, African continent and the world at large.

j) To offer its services in resolving any differences that may arise between its members and to defend their various interest as part of the promotion of Motion Picture production.

k) To promote the welfare of the members of the Association in such a manner, as shall be deemed conductive and expedient, but subject to the overall interest of the general public.

l) To cooperate and associate with, or be a member of or to affiliate the Association to any organization nationally or internationally having similar objectives, or whose interest in anyway connected with the aims and objectives of the Association.

m) To undertake all other things as may be considered incidental to or conductive to the attainment of all or any of the objectives of the Association.


Report on cell-phone pornographic clip involving a popular Hausa film actress

Background

Six months ago, there had been several media reports both locally and internationally regarding the above subject matter. Therefore, it had become extremely necessary for MOTION PICTURE PRACTIONERS ASSOCIASTION OF NIGERIA (MOPPAN) to provide a clarification on the subject matter. Following the massive dissemination of this immoral content which was started by some disgruntled elements within the Hausa film industry, MOPPAN instituted investigation to find out the truth of the matter. The Association was interested in the followings:

1 Whether the said incident really occurred.

2 Who are the people involved and their level of involvement?

3 To establish the extent of the spread of the issue within and outside the industry.

Some of the executive members of the Association were assigned to investigate these issues and report to the Association.

Findings

After careful investigation the Association was able to establish the following facts;

1 The said incident really occurred some time in early 2006 in Lagos involving a (Yet to be) Hausa film star.

2 The artist involved, Maryam Usman was actually in Lagos on a private trip to Lagos, to meet a male friend, who turned out to be the one who used his cell-phone to record their private sexual activity.

3 That though this incident occurred some 21 months earlier, it did not become a public content until late July 2007 when Maryam Usman acted and become a notable star in a film titled ‘Hiyana’ a year ago, through one of the artist’s female friends within the industry, substantially out of envy.

The Issues

The Association established that this content was massively distributed on cell-phones, CDS, Video cassette, Internet, and Computer flash disk throughout Kano state and possibly beyond. The extent of the spread of this content generated serious controversy within the Kano community especially taken cognizance of the state’s Shari`a policy and the apparent popularity of the film star involved. Prior to this, a Lagos based magazine early this year had published this information. This resulted in the misconception that;

A A pornographic film was made.

B Filmmaking is immoral

C All artistes engage in immoral acts and as such are negative role models on the society.

D Appeals for Government to ban filmmaking.

E Calls for the head of Maryam and others suspected of engaging in acts of immorality.

F Active media discourse on the issues above especially in Kano.

Decision / Resolution

As a result of these developments, especially the way and manner some members of the general public started expressing their concern and disapproval over the clip, stake holders from the film industry convened an emergency meeting of all the Guilds and Associations under MOPPAN. The meeting took stock on activities within the industry and the following decisions were taken in the interest of filmmaking as a reputable profession.

1 The Actress involved, Maryam Usman, was suspended for a period of five years for causing disrepute to the profession.

2 17 other members identified by an investigative panel with different unethical conducts (Not related with Sex) capable of bringing the film profession to disrepute were also suspended for different periods of time.

3 The Kano State Government, through the Kano Censorship Board endorsed the ban on the affected practitioners and call on all production companies/studios to register or revalidate their registration status with the Board immediately.

4 The National office of MOPPAN here endorsed the resolutions of the Kano Censorship Board in tandem with other Guilds and Associations in the state.

5 The National office also resolved that film production practice be suspended for a period of three months during which codes of practice for different guilds shall be distributed and explained to members.

6 MOPPAN will also update its membership register during this period.

Above is for your information, support and assistance please. Be assured of our total commitment to the development of filmmaking in Nigeria and beyond while we remain truly yours.

Banning of all location activities and imposing of new guidelines

The state censorship board broadcasted and distributed a press release in which film activities were further banned for the period of six months and new guidelines for the film practitioners were as circulated without our consent. The Board also urged all the film makers in the state to go and register with them which is the sole responsibility of the guilds and associations. We as well challenged the banning and thought for clarification of the new guidelines which the Board depended in line with the Shari’a system. We lay our complains to the bodies concerned but all in vain. Below is the translated version of the guidelines under which we must practice when the ban is lifted

Guidelines for film censorship in Kano State films must comply with the following guidelines to conform to Islamic Shari’a

1 Singing and Dancing is prohibited.

2 Actresses are prohibited from appearing in trousers, skirts or short tops.

3 Dressing in see-through or tight costumes that expose body features is prohibited.

4 Male Actors are prohibited from appearing in tight fitted clothes that expose their features or haircuts that do not fit with our culture.

5 Actresses are prohibited from combing or exposing their hair.

6 Indecent utterances and seductive actions or immoral dialogue are prohibited.

7 Ridiculing of any religion, tribe or a section of the community is prohibited.

8 It is prohibited to use children in films that are prohibited.

9 Re-inserting expunged scenes from an already censored film, and taking such film into the market is a major crime.

10 Fetish activities and the wrong use of weapons are prohibited.

11 Producers are prohibited from releasing posters and trailers without the permission of the board.

12 Films must have a clear meaning (message) with appropriate names.

13 No films can be produced in Kano, or brought in for sales or exhibition without the permission of the board.

14 All Actors or Actresses and other filmmakers are prohibited from doing film business without obtaining license from the board.

15 Sleeping overnight at film locations with males and females are prohibited.

16 No films shall be made without censorship of its script.

There is a mobile court attached to the board to arrest, harass, detain and prosecute members of the motion picture practitioners’ association of Nigeria including all its 12 affiliate guilds and associations in kano. The Board is also making a serious media campaign misleading the public by making inflammatory utterances portraying filmmakers as anti-Islamic dissident and declaring that hausa filmmakers are pornographic filmmakers. The association organized end of year stakeholders’ forum the communiqué of which is below:

Communique

The Kano Film Industry Stakeholders Forum was held on Sunday 30th December 2007 at Mambayya House. Major stakeholders were invited to the meeting. They include all the professional guilds and associations operating in the industry, MOPPAN, national head quarters, the State Censorship Board, The Nigerian Film Corporation, National Film and Video Censors board, the Nigerian police, Office of the Advisor on NGOs, State Ministry of Justice, the State Ministry of Information, Nigerian Copyright Commission, National and international media organizations and some Local and international Human rights organizations. The objective of the meeting is to review the issues and events which affected the industry over the last twelve months with a view to moving the industry forward.

Four papers were presented at the forum covering several areas of great significance to the operations of the industry. Based on the presentations, and after careful deliberations on the issues rose, the meeting took the following resolutions:

1 the Forum agrees to continue respecting and abiding by all the laws and regulations (both state and national) relating to the operations of the industry and encourage practitioners to demonstrate their commitment to this pledge.

2 that there is the need to Islamize film making such that its content conforms with the Islamic heritage and need to our good cultural values

3 that film can be an effective medium for shari’ah advocacy programs,

4 that there is a need to hold an interactive forum between shari’ah bodies and the Industry stakeholders with a view to allowing the practitioners benefit from the abundant resources available in such organizations

5 that relevant governmental organizations should be more concern with educating the public concerning the type of film content they should watch.

6 that the industry was not accorded it’s right status due to the Government failure to hold audience with them as was the case with other organizations of lesser importance to the state economy and social development,

7 that never was a pornographic film produced in this Film Industry,

8 that the forum demand the state government to explain to the stakeholders reason behind the suspension of film activities for a period of six months in the state,

9 that the forum decried the state censorship board’s deceptive attitude, prior to this day the Executive Secretary pledged to stop his insinuating media campaigns against the industry but only to dishonor his pledge. This is quite embarrassing to the government he represents.

10 That the suspension order resulted to about 8.5bn Naira loss in the industry. If Government could pay compensation to the bird flue victim which is a natural disaster, we equally demand compensation from the state government to the industry as to alleviate the suffering caused by Government’s suspension order.

11 The forum also calls for government’s consideration to include stakeholders in any policy formulation in all issues of concern. The previous action where Government constitutes a task force committee on the film industry without our representation was bitterly decried.

12 The forum also notes the need for the state government to come up with means of empowering the industry in conformity with SEEDS policy.

13 That the forum demands that Government should stop the draconian tribunal; instead a disciplinary committee by the professional bodies should be formed, lest we forget that this is a democratic dispensation.

14 The forum calls the state censorship Board to reconsider their position of censoring films already produced prior to the new regulation.

Conclusion

We would like the world to know that our fundamental human right is seriously tempered with as our members (especially marketers and producers) are being arrested, harassed, detained and prosecuted. Most of the practicing artistes, producers, directors etc have fled Kano to other states to exercise their right of earning a living. The local media is restricted from broadcasting or writing our own version of the case. In fact, our lives are in danger as any attempt by us to challenge the Government is termed un-Islamic which exposes us to stigma and even attack from the public.

Thank you very much.

Saadou Bori, Popular Hausa Musician, Dies In Accident

Popular Hausa musician Saadou Bori is dead. He died in a tragic road accident on Thursday on his way from Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, sources told me.

He was said to be about 50 years of age.

Bori, who hailed from Niger Republic, was a practitioner of Dango (Hausa spirit music) and trance-dancing. His best known songs, recorded together with another notable Nigerien artiste, Moussa Poussy, include "Toro," "Nabo Nabo", "Weino," "Gossi," "Gaweizo," "Gazera," "Dango," "Yallerou," "Bori," "Boudje," "Hadiza," and "Soyeya."

Many of these songs are played on radio stations in all Hausa-speaking areas in Nigeria.

Saadou Bori and Moussa Poussy are two singer-songwriters who worked together in Niger's national music school's house band, Takeda, and went on to bigger things in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Both have spiritual backgrounds, Djerma performer Poussy as the grandson of a traditional healer and Hausa-speaker Bori as a performer of Dango.

Their album, "Niamey Twice," is an international sensation. It combines the talents of the two popular musicians, both renowned performers of trance music and dance. With no domestic music industry to turn to, they joined forces and with a backing band featuring members of Saadou's band, Carnaval, travelled to Abidjan to record Niger's first international album.

In recent years, the late Saadou Bori had made Nigeria virtually his second home, performing at weddings and other engagements.

Information on his death is scanty, but a well-known Hausa movie singer, Mudassiru Kasim, who was Bori's associate, confirmed to me that Bori died on the road to Maiduguri, adding that he was buried in his home town of Maradi, Niger Republic, on Friday.

Kasim said he and some of his friends would travel to Niger yesterday in order to condole the family of the late musician.

(The above photograph shows Bori on the right, together with his boon-companion Moussa Poussy)

Bayan Shekara 27: Me Ya Sa Aka Manta Da Abubakar Imam?

A bana, littafin Magana Jari Ce, wanda Alhaji Abubakar Imam ya rubuta, ya cika shekara 80 cif da wallafawa. Sannan a jiya Alhamis, 19 ga Yuni, 2008 Imam, wanda shi ne kakan marubutan Hausa, ya cika shekara 27 da rasuwa. Wannan sharhin ya na yi mana hannun-ka-mai-sanda kan yadda mutane su ka yi watsi da juyayin Imam da ayyukan sa, ciki kuwa har da wad'anda nauyin yin ayyukan tunawa da Imam da karrama shi ya fi rataya a wuyan su.

Daga Ibrahim Sheme

A wata ranar Asabar a cikin shekara ta 2004, na yi wani sharhi kan marigayi Alhaji Abubakar Imam, ya fito a filn adabi na jaridar Weekly Trust, wanda na ke gabatarwa a lokacin. Sharhin, kwaskwarima ne na wani sharhin da na tab'a yi a Majalisar Marubuta ta Intanet, inda na nuna cewa ba a yi wa Alhaji Imam adalci ba wajen ayyukan tunawa da shi, musamman a hanyoyin sadarwa na zamani. Na yi nuni da cewa idan mutum ya yi amfani da na’urar Google ta intanet, zai gano cewa babu wurare da dama da aka ambaci wannan hazik'i, fasihi, kakan marubutan Hausa a intanet. Har na ce idan a misali ka kwatanta Imam da ni d'in nan Ibrahim Sheme, za ka taras da cewa an ambace ni a intanet sau ninkin baninkin fiye da Imam - ga shi kuwa ni ba kowan kowa ba ne a fagen adabin Hausa, idan ana maganar gagarau irin su Imam!
Na d'ora laifin a kan mutanen da ya kamata a ce sun karrama Imam, sun tabbatar da cewa ya na da cikakken wakilci a yanar gizo da duk wani dandali da ya kamata a ji amon sunan sa. Wad'annan mutane sun had'a da marubutan Hausa, da malaman makarantu tun daga firamare har zuwa jami’a, da su kan su iyalan marigayin.

Shi dai Imam, haifaffen Kagara ne a Jihar Neja. An haife shi a 1911. Asalin asalin sa Babarbare ne, amma kakan kakan sa ya yi hijira zuwa k'asar Kwantagora, daga nan ya tafi Sakkwato a zamanin Shehu Usmanu D'anfodiyo, ya zauna a k'ark'ashin Shehu. A can aka haifi mahaifin Imam, wato Malam Shehu Usman, wanda daga baya ya dawo Kagara bayan ya yi yawon malanta a k'asar Katsina da ta Kano.

Imam ya yi makaranta a Katsina, inda daga bisani ya zama malamin makaranta. A nan ne ya had'u da Dakta R.M. East, Baturen nan jami’in ilmi wanda ya jagorance shi wajen rubuta wasu daga cikin littattafan sa, ciki har da Magana Jari Ce da kuma K'aramin Sani K'uk'umi. Har ila yau Imam shi ne editan Hausa na farko na jaridar Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo. Ya rasu a ranar Juma’a, 19 ga Yuni, 1981 a Zariya, ya na da shekara 70 a duniya. Ya bar matar sa d'aya, da ’ya’ya 14, da kuma jikoki 42.

Imam ya kasance jagaba a harkar rubuce-rubucen hikaya na Hausa, ta yadda a yau da wuya a ce ga wanda ya fi shi. To amma ban da rubutu, ya na daga cikin ’yan kishin k'asa na farko da su ka nemi mulkin kan Nijeriya daga hannun Turawa ’yan mulkin mallaka. Haka kuma ya taka rawa k'warai a harkokin addinin Musulunci.

Rasuwar Imam ta gigita jama’a, musamman saboda gagarumar gudunmawar da ya bayar a fagage da dama na rayuwar jama’ar Arewa. Tun daga lokacin da ya mutu ake ta tunanin hanyoyin da za a bi a karrama shi, a rik'a tunawa da shi a kai a kai. Abin mamaki, har yanzu ba a gama tunanin ba, don haka ba a yi wani abin kirki a kan haka d'in ba - shekaru 27 bayan rasuwar sa!

Sakamakon rubutun da na yi a Weekly Trust, wanda babban k'alubale ne a gare mu duka mu masu hank'oron son Imam, an samu yunk'uri mai alfanu daga wasu sassa. A Jami’ar Bayero ta Kano, Farfesa Abdalla Uba Adamu ya yi wuf ya k'irk'iri dandalin tattaunawa (chat group) kan Imam a intanet, wanda ya sa wa suna www.abubakarimam@yahoogroups.com. An samu membobi a wannan dandali, to amma yawan su bai taka kara ya karya ba.

Yunk'uri mafi girma da aka samu na karrama Imam ya fito ne daga iyalan sa. Sun kira mutanen da abin ya shafa, ciki har da Farfesa Abdalla da Dakta Ibrahim Malumfashi na Jami’ar Usmanu D'anfodiyo da kuma ni. Shi Malumfashi, ya yi digirin sa na dakta ne a kan rubuce-rubucen Imam kuma tun tuni ya nad'a kan sa Sarkin Yak'in Imam a fagage da dama. To amma a yayin da mu ka amsa gayyatar iyalan Imam mu ka je Zariya wurin taro na farko don tattauna hanyoyin da za a bi a karrama Imam, a ranar 29 ga Agusta, 2004, Malumfashi k'in zuwa ya yi. Bai kuma aika da sak'on uzuri ba. Zargin da mu ke da shi shi ne, adawar da ya ke yi da wasu daga cikin mu ce ta hana shi zuwa. A gani na, ya na ganin cewa tun da ba shawarar sa ba ce tun farko, ba zai shiga ciki ba. Ka ji halin Bahaushe – mai ban haushi, na Tanko mai kan bashi!

Duk da haka, taron ya yi albarka. Akwai dattawa da dama a taron, kuma yawancin ’ya’yan Imam maza, da wasu jikokin sa, duk sun halarta. An tattauna kan hanyoyin da za a bi a karrama marubucin, musamman ma yadda za a sa a rik'a jin amon sunan sa a k'asar nan kwatankwacin yadda ake jin na gwaraza irin su Janar Murtala da Janar Yar’Adua.

Bayan wannan taron, an sake yin wasu tarurrukan a wasu ranakun. A k'arshe, an yi abubuwa biyu. Na d'aya, an gina gidan yana a intanet mai suna www.abubakarimam.com, wanda Dakta Haroun Adamu, mamallakin makarantar nan Zaria Academy, ya d'auki nauyin gina shi. Wani masanin intanet da bai dad'e da dawowa daga Amerika ba inda ya yi tsawon shekaru, wato Malam Salisu U. D'anyaro, shi ya yi gidan yanar kuma ya ke gudanar da ita. Na biyu, an kafa cibiyar tunawa da Imam, wadda a Turance za a iya kiran ta Abubakar Imam Documentation Centre. Ta na cikin wani gidan sama da ke kallon randabawul na Babban Dodo a Zariya.

A yayin da gidan yanar ya ke d'auke da tarihin Imam da rubuce-rubucen sa, a ita cibiyar kuma an adana wasu kayan tarihi da su ka jib'inci marubucin, ciki har da samfurin rubutun sa na hannu, da takardun sa, da littattafan sa, da lambon girma da ya samu, da hotunan sa, kai har ma da rigunan sa!

Wad'annan abubuwa uku, babu shakka, manyan hanyoyi ne na karrama Imam. To amma a yau, idan na waiwaya baya, sai in ga ai ba su isa ba. Kuma ma tuni an yi watsi da su. Na farko, dandalin tattaunawar da Malam Abdalla ya bud'e a intanet, bai hab'aka ba. Mutane k'alilan ne a ciki. Kuma babu sak'wanni a kai a kai a ciki. Don haka dandalin bai cimma nasarar bud'e shi. Mai yiwuwa dalilin shi ne saboda Malam Abdalla ya gina wani dandalin tun da fari mai suna www.marubuta@yahoogroups.com wanda ya shafe na Imam d'in. Yawancin marubuta ma ba su san da dandalin Imam d'in ba.
Ta b'angaren gidan yanar da Malam Salisu D'anyaro ke gudanarwa kuwa, ya yi kyau k'warai, domin hatta littattafan Imam za ka iya sauko da su kyauta. Sai ai ya kamata a ce ana saka sababbin abubuwa a cikin sa, kamar labaran marubuta da mak'aloli kan harkar rubutun Hausa. Kafin a yi hakan tilas sai an samu ’yan rahoto ko marubuta da za su rik'a aikawa da sak'wannin da za a rubuta.

Haka kuma ya dace a ga hotuna da bayanai daban-daban a ciki wad'anda su ka danganci Imam da iyalan sa har da mu ’yan amshi.

Ban da haka, shin har an k'ure tunani kan Imam daga yin ’yan wad'annan abubuwan kenan? To ai ba a ma fara yak'in ba! Dalili shi ne har yanzu ba a yi wa Imam karramawar da ta dace da mutum irin sa ba, wanda ya bauta wa k'asa ta hanyoyin da Allah ya hore masa - kama daga kaifin alk'amin sa har zuwa fagen siyasa inda ya taimaka wajen k'wato wa Nijeriya ’yanci daga hannun ’yan mallaka. Domin fa Imam ba marubuci kad'ai ba ne, a’a d'an siyasa ne na sahun gaba, kuma malamin addini ne wanda ya taimaka gaya wajen fito da al’umma daga duhun jahilci. Kuma d'an jarida ne wanda ya gina dandamalin da mu jikokin sa mu ke cin abinci a kai a yau.

Akwai hanyoyi da dama da za a bi don inganta tunanin mu kan wannan bawan Allah. Na d'aya, a fitar da rana d'aya a kowace shekara don yin laccoci kan rayuwar Imam da ayyukan sa. Wato dai kamar yadda ake yi kan su Murtala da Yar’adua da ire-iren su. A taron, za a dubi ayyukan da ya yi, a d'ora su bisa jigo ko sikelin da aka zab'a a shekarar da ake laccar; misali: rubutun hikaya, aikin hajji, siyasa, karatun boko da na addini, aikin jarida, wallafa, ds. Wannan hak'k'i ne na iyalan sa da sauran masoyan sa; idan sun yi jagora, sai abin ya yiwu.

Na biyu, ya kamata a rik'a shirya laccoci kan rubuce-rubucen Imam, wanda su kan su marubutan Hausa ya dace su yi. Misali, a yau d'in nan a K'ungiyar Marubuta ta Nijeriya (ANA) ta Turanci, babu b'ab'atun da ake yi sai na karrama marubucin nan d'an k'abilar Ibo, Farfesa Chinua Achebe, wanda a bana gwarzon littafin sa Things Fall Apart ya cika shekara 50 cur da bugawa. To, mu mu na ina Magana Jari Ce littafi na 1 ya cika shekara 69 da bugawa a cikin 2007? Ko ‘ihn’ ban ce su Malumfashi sun furta ba, ballantana Allah-maimaita-mana! To, ba a makara ba, domin littafi na 2 da na 3 na Magana Jari Ce an buga su ne a cikin 1938 - wato shekara 70 cur a yau. A cewar Dakta R.M. East, wanda ya jagoranci wallafa littafin, an buga littafin ne a wajajen watan Satumba 1938. Kun ga kenan akwai damar a yi wani abu, ko da na rana d'aya ne, don tunawa da wallafar littafin da aka yi.

Na uku, ya kamata a gina gida na musamman wanda zai d'auki Cibiyar Tunawa da Abubakar Imam kamar yadda ake da Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre a Abuja ko Murtala Muhammed Foundation a Legas da Abuja. Idan iyalan Imam sun ga cewa ba su da halin yin hakan, to su rungumi gwamnati, ko da ta Kaduna ce, domin a taru a san yadda za a fitar da jaki daga duma. A tunani na, wannan ba abu ba ne da zai gagare su.
Na hud'u, a fito da babbar gasa ta rubutun littattafan hikaya masu ma’ana na Hausa ta shekara-shekara da sunan Imam. A rik'a kafa kwamiti da zai duba littattafan da su ka shiga gasar don fidda zakarun da su ka cika k'a’idojin da gasar ta tanada. Yin haka zai k'ara saka juyayin Imam a zukatan marubuta da manazarta. Idan an tuna, babbar gasar rubutun littattafan Hausa a yau ita ce ta tunawa da Injiniya Bashir K'araye wadda maid'akin sa Hajiya Bilkisu ta sa. Gasar ta samu nasara. An yi ta farko a bara, kuma har an fara ta bana a yanzu. Wannan gasa ta Imam za a iya bai wa k'ungiyar ANA ta k'asa ita domin ta rik'a gudanarwa.

Na biyar, a inganta gidan yanar www.abubakarimam.com, ta yadda zai k'unshi abubuwan da bai da su a yanzu.

Na shida, ina labarin littafin tarihin rayuwar Imam na Hausa da Malumfashi ya ce ya na yi ya kwana? Shekaru kamar biyar da su ka wuce, Malumfashi ya fad'a mani cewa har ya k'are aikin, wai “zai fito kwanan nan.” To, amma shiru ka ke ji, wai malam ya cinye shirwa! Ya zuwa yanzu, tarihin Imam a littafi guda d'aya ne, wato Abubakar Imam Memoirs wanda surukin sa marigayi Dakta Abdurrahman Mora ya fito da shi a cikin 1989. Wannan littafi shi kad'ai ne madgora wajen samun ingantaccen tarihin Imam, amma da Turanci aka yi shi! Kuma ba “kammalalle” ba ne, domin babu bayanai kan iyalan Imam a ciki, da ya ke shi Imam d'in ne ya rubuta shi, kuma ya fi maida hankali kan ayyukan sa na harkokin addini da na siyasa fiye da na adabi. In dai ba Malumfashi ya lak'ume shirwa ba ne, to don Allah ya fito mana da wancan littafin da ya ke magana. Mun gaji da gafara sa, ba mu ga k'aho ba. Idan kuma shi ba zai iya ba, to ya ba yara wuri, su su yi!

Na bakwai, malamai masu sha’awar Imam tare da nazarin ayyukan sa su cire gasa/kishi//hassada/gaba da ke cikin ran su, su had'a kai, su taru su fito da hanyoyin karrama Imam da su ka dace. Al’ummomi daban-daban a duk duniya su kan yi wasu ayyuka na musamman don tunawa da gwarazan su, to amma mu “ninanci” (kamar yadda Malam Abdalla ke cewa) ya yi mana tarnak'i. “In ba ni na yi abu ba, babu wanda ya isa ya yi shi,” ko kuma “Wane ai ba fagen nazarin sa ba ne wannan, da har zai zo ya na yi mana shiga-sharo-ba-shanu.”

Mu sani cewa idan fa ba mu karrama gwarzayen mu da kan mu ba, babu wanda zai karrama ma mana su. Su dai sun taka rawar su sun tafi, sun bar mu a fagen. Don haka, hak'k'in tunawa da su ya rataya a wuyan mu, ba a wuyan kowa ba. Kamar yadda marigayi Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardaunan Sakkwato ya tab'a fad'a, idan har ba mu buga tambarin kirakin kan mu ba, babu wani bare da zai zo ya buga mana shi. Kukan kurciya jawabi ne, mai hankali ke ganewa!

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An buga wannan sharhin a jaridar LEADERSHIP HAUSA ta ranar Juma'a, 20 ga Yuni 2008 makon jiya

HIRA DA HAFSATU ABDULWAHEED

Gwagwarmayar jikanyar Mujaddadi a fagen rubutu

HIRA DA HAFSATU ABDULWAHEED

Macen da ta fara rubuta littafin hikaya a Arewa, wato HAJIYA HAFSATU AHMAD ABDULWAHEED, ta samu karramawa ta musamman daga {ungiyar Marubuta ta Nijeriya. Shin yaya ta ji a ran ta? Kuma ina ta sa gaba yanzu?


Daga IBRAHIM SHEME

HAJIYA Hafsatu Ahmad Abdulwaheed ita ce mace ta farko da ta rubuta littafi aka wallafa shi a Arewacin Nijeriya kwata. Littafin ta na farko, So Aljannar Duniya, ya fito cikin a 1972 lokacin da aka yi gasar marubutan Hausa, har ta zo ta biyu. Marubuciyar ta rubuta littattafai da dama wad'anda ba su fito ba, kuma ta dad'e ta na fad'i-tashin ganin yadda littattafan ta za su fito, amma rashin kud'i ya hana.

Kwanan nan, abubuwa biyu sun faru ga Hajiyar. Na farko, ana nan ana shirin fito da wasu daga cikin littattafan ta, ciki har da wani na gajerun k'irk'irarrun labarai. Na biyu, lokacin da aka yi wani gagarumin bikin karrama marubutan Arewa a Minna, Jihar neja, Hajiya Hafsatu ta na daga cikin marubutan Hausa da aka karrama da kyautar lambar girma.

Ba wannan ba ne karo na farko da na yi hira da Hajiyar, domin idan kun tuna a ‘yan shekarun baya mun tab'a kawo muku wata hira da ita. A wannan karon, mun tattauna ne kan wad'annan abubuwa biyu da su ka faru gare ta, wad'anda duk na alheri ne.

Wani abu da ya kamata ku sani shi ne, Hajiya Hafsatu ta na daga cikin manyan mutanen k'asar nan. Na farko, ita jinin Mujaddadi Shehu Usmanu D'anfodiyo ce. A Jihar Zamfara kuma, fitacciyar ‘yar siyasa ce, domin a zab'en 2003 da aka yi, ta yi takarar zama Gwamnar jihar. Ta na da ‘ya’ya maza da mata; d'aya daga cikin ‘ya’yan ta, Hajiya K'adiria Ahmad, ta tab'a aiki a gidan rediyon BBC a London, yanzu kuma babbar ma’aikaciya ce a wani kamfanin kula da filayen jiragen sama a Legas. Haka kuma wata d'iyar ta Hajiya Hafsatu, wato Hajiya Asiya, ta na auren tsohon Ministan Abuja, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i. Hasali ma dai, mun yi wannan tattaunawar ne da ita a gidan shi Malam Nasir da ke unguwar Jabi, a Abuja, kwana d'aya bayan an karrama ta. To bugu da k'ari kuma Hajiya Hafsatu ta kafa tarihin kasancewa mace ta farko da ta wallafa littafin hikaya a Arewa.

Ran ki ya dad'e, ki na daga cikin marubuta na Arewa wad'anda aka karrama su da lambar girma a Minna. Yaya ki ka ji a kan wannan karramawa da aka yi maki?
Alhamdu lillahi, na ji dad'i sosai. Sai dai bak'in ciki na kawai shi ne, uba na da uwa ta da miji na ba su da rai, balle su san abin da na samu. Amma murna kam na yi murna k'warai da gaske. Alhamdu lillahi.

Wannan shi ne karo na farko da aka tab'a karrama ki a kan harkar rubutu?
E, an tab'a yi a Kano, har su ka ba ni kamar lambar girma haka. Amma gaskiya na manta lokacin. Ina jin bara ne ko bara waccan.

Su waye su ka yi waccan karramawar?
Wata k'ungiya ce ta matasa marubuta.

Yaya ki ke ganin batun karrama marubuta, wanda ba a cika yi ba, yanzu ga shi ana yi? A farkon shekerar nan an yi a Abuja, sai kuma ga shi an yi a Minna. Shin wannan ya fara sauya tunanin mutane ne game da marubuta?
Ina ganin ’yan Arewa sun fara gane muhimmancin marubutan su. Ka san a da mutanen mu ba su damu da marubuta ba, musamman ma dai mata, ba a cika gane muhimmancin mu sosai ba, saboda an d'auka rubuce-rubucen mu shirme ne; na soyayya kawai. To, ina ji yanzu lokaci ya zo da aka soma gane muhimmancin mu. Saboda haka aka k'irk'iro wannan. Ya yi daidai kuma ya kamata a ci gaba da yin haka d'in.

A wurin bikin wannan karramawar a Minna, lokacin da ake karanta tak'aitaccen tarihin ki, an nuna cewa ke jikanya ce ko jinin Mujaddadi Shehu Usman D'anfodiyo ce. Mutane za su so ki yi k'arin bayani a kan wannan salsala taki.
To, ni dai sunan uba na Alhaji Abubakar Garba, sunan baban sa Sa’idu. Sa’idu kuma Hayatu ne ya haife shi. Hayatu kuma Sa’idu ne ya haife shi. To, shi kuma Sa’idu Muhamman Bello ne ya haife shi. Muhamman Bello kuma d'an Shehu Usmanu D'anfodiyo ne. Saboda haka ya zamana ni jikanyar jikanyar Shehu ce.

To, ko daga nan za ki ba mu tak'aitaccen tarihin ki?
An haife ni a 1952 a Kano, cikin unguwar K'ofar Mata, kuma na yi karatu a Shahuci da Provincial Girls School da Shekara Secondry School. Bayan nan na yi aure, inda miji na da shi ne manajan John Holt a Kano, daga baya aka mayar da shi Gusau. Bayan nan na yi ‘enrolling’ a Beneth Correspondence College, Landan, inda na d'an k'ok'arta na sami difloma. To, bayan nan dai na ci gaba da rubuce-rubuce. Na yi d'an aiki tak'aitacce a Kano, kamar part-time haka a gidan Rediyon Kano, amma ban dad'e ba, saboda ban dad'e da somawa ba na koma Gusau d'in. To, bayan nan dai sai rubuce-rubuce kawai da na ci gaba da yi a gida.

A bincike da na yi na fahimci cewa ke ce mace ta farko a Arewa da ta fara wallafa littafin k'irk'ira, wato littafin ki So Aljannar Duniya. Shin ki na da masaniyar cewa mata sun yi rubutu kafin ke ko kuwa a iyakar sanin ki ke ce ki ka fara d'in?
To, gaskiya ni dai ban tab'a ganin littafin wata ba ko da a jarida ko a wani guri da aka ce ta yi rubutu, sai da nawa ya fito tukunna. To, kuma bayan nawa ya fito - ina ji da kusan shekara 12 ma - na Zaynab Alk'ali ya fito. Koda ya ke akwai bambanci tsakanin nawa da ita, don ita na Turanci ta yi, ni kuwa da Hausa na yi.

Ko za ki gaya mana tarihin rubuta So Aljannar Duniya? Na farko ma dai menene ya fara ba ki tunanin rubuta littafi a lokacin da mata ba sa yi?
To, gaskiya a makarantar da na yi an d'an ba mu k'arfin gwiwar rubuta ’yan labarai a aji, har mu kan karb'i ’yan kyautuka a kai. A lokacin da na rubuta wannan ma da Turanci na soma rubuta shi duk da cewa Turancin nawa bai nuna ba, saboda yaya ta da ta auri Balaraben Libya ta sami ’yan tangard'od'i wajen dangi, haka da iyaye, wad'anda ba su so ta auri wani bak'o ba. To, daga baya kuma bayan na rubuta wannan sai na zo na auri wani Balaraben Yemen. To, sai labarin ya zamo kusan iri d'aya ne. To, da na rubuta shi da Turanci ban sami bugawa ba har lokacin da kamfanin NNPC Zaria ta yi gasa d'in nan, sai na fassara shi da Hausa na shiga gasar. A 1970 kenan. Na sami zuwa ta biyu a matsayi na na mace kad'ai da ta shiga wannan takara. To, bayan nan ne aka buga shi a 1972.

Tunda da Turanci ki ka fara rubuta shi, da yaya sunan sa?
Wallahi a lokacin ban sanya ma sa suna ba, don d'aya daga cikin abin da su ka hana ita yayar tawa a buga littafin shi ne mu na ta k'ok'arin mu ga wanne irin suna ya kamata a sanya masa. Saboda haka a lokacin ban sanya masa suna ba. (Murmushi) Amma dai Malam Sheme ya sanya masa suna a jarida (Weekly Trust); na gani. To, ina jin idan za mu yi shi da Turanci abin da za mu kira shi kenan.

Akwai yiwuwar za a fassara shi ne nan gaba?
E. An ma fassara shi da Turanci da Filatanci, kuma Jami’ar Usmanu D'anfodiyo, Sokoto, sun yi shi da Arabiyya. To, amma dai duk da haka har yanzu babu wanda aka rubuta a ciki.

Me ya tsayar da aikin bugun?
Gaskiya rashin kud'i ne a lokacin. Amma shi na Arabiyyar na sami wani mutumin Saudiyya da ya ce zai buga. To, amma abin bak'in ciki na yi gobara a 1995, saboda haka wannan kwafin na Arabiyya d'in ya k'one, kuma na yi k'ok'arin samun kwafi a hannun jami’ar ta Sokoto, don in kwafa, ban samu ba. Amma yanzu wani yaro ya sake buga shi da Larabci d'in. Saboda haka yanzu ina da rubutun hannu na Larabci d'in.

Labarin So Aljannar Duniya labari ne na Fulani, ku kuma ga shi a gari ku ke zaune. Me ya ba ki tunanin ki rubuta labarin Fulani maimakon labarin Hausawa wanda ki ka fi sabawa da shi?
To, ai ni Bafillatana ce, kuma duk da yake mu na cikin Hausawa, gidan mu ba mu zubar da yawancin al’adun mu na Fulani ba, domin ba a ma Hausa a gidan mu. Idan yaro ya tashi ba ya yin Hausa sai ya kai irin shekara bakwai d'in nan; sannan ya soma fita waje, ya koyi Hausa. Saboda haka ba wai wani abin a zo a gani ba ne don na rubuta al’adun mu.

Bayan wannan littafi sai aka d'auki tsawon lokaci ba ki yi wani littafin ba har zuwa lokacin da ki ka yi ’Yar Dubu Mai Tambotsai. Me ya sa aka sami wannan tsawon lokaci, kuma shekara nawa aka yi a wannan tsakanin?
Gaskiya ban san yawan shekarun ba, amma ina da littattafan da ma a rubuce; bugawa ne kawai ba a yi ba, saboda yanayin yadda babu kud'in da mutum zai buga d'in.

Wani abu da mu ka yi la’akari da shi shi ne, a matsayin ki na wacce ta soma rubuta littafin k'irk'ira a Arewa, sai ya kasance k'waya biyu kad'ai ki ka rubuta, ban da littattafan addini da mu ka san kin rubuta daga baya. Me ya sa ba ki rubuta littattafai da yawa ba kamar yadda sauran marubuta su kan yi?
(Murmushi) A’a! don littattafai ina da littattafai da dama; matsalar dai yadda na gaya maka ita ce bugawa. Domin ni ina ganin in buga su da k'ark'o sosai, wato abin da Bature ya ke cewa da quality, ya fi in buga su irin yadda sauran mutanen mu su ke yi da araha d'in nan su shiga kasuwa. To, shi ne kawai matsalar da ta hana ni bugawa da yawa, su fito. Amma akwai su nan a ajiye.

Ki na ta kukan rashin kud'i, amma wasu za su kalle ki a matsayin attajira, saboda ’ya’yan ki manya ne; an san su na auren manyan mutane da sauran su, kuma ke d'in ma dai babba ce. Anya za a yarda da maganar rashin kud'in nan, na dai a buga littafi?
A’a, to ai kamar nawa da na ke yi su na da tsada da yawa. Ka ga kamar wanda za a fitar wannan watan - Saba D'an Sababi - na k'irk'irarrun k'ananan labarai, abin da na biya mai bugawar shi ne N200,000 a kan kwafi 1,000 kacal. To, ka ga kuwa kud'in ba kad'an ba ne kenan. Kuma yara su na yin iyakar gwargwadon iyawar su, amma kowa ya na da iyali na kan su; ba za ka d'auki nauyin da ya fi k'arfin mutum ka d'ora masa ba, ballantana tun da baban su ya rasu. Kuma duk ba su dad'e da kawo k'arfi ba ai, saboda ba su dad'e da gama makaranta da kama aiki ba. To, ka ga akwai matsaloli da yawa a irin wannan.

Sannan kuma kallon kud'i da ake yi min, to alhamdu lillahi, sai in ce Allah ya k'ara min! Amma dai suna ne. Sarakuta kuma da masu kud'i, wannan ba hujja ba ce ta mutum ya na da shi. Domin sai surukin ya bayar sannan za ka karb'a. To, saboda haka ana dai k'ok'artawa. Yanzu dai mun yi da su za a tara duk ’yan rubuce-rubucen a tsinci wanda za a tsinta, su had'a kud'i su buga, wanda su ka ga ya dace da wanda za su iya.

Yanzu kin nuna mana cewa a a aiki a kan sabon littafin ki. Shi ma na k'irk'ira ne kenan?
E, na k'irk'ira ne. Wato na rubuta k'ananan labarai guda 46, wad'anda mu ka ce za mu kasa su kamar kashi uku ko hud'u. Ya danganta da dai yadda abin ya ke. To, kashi na farko ne zai fito; ya kamata ma a ce tun bara ya fito. To, harkar masu bugawa d'in ce…, sai dai ya yi min alk'awari, ya ce k'arshen watan nan idan Allah ya yarda zai fito. To, akwai kuma da yawa littattafan ai. Akwai biyu ma da Hukumar A Daidaita Sahu ta Jihar Kano su ka d'auka za su buga, wanda na yi a kan mu’ujizojin Alk'ur’ani mai girma. Sannan akwai d'aya da na yi kan wani labari na gaskiya da na k'irk'iro na rubuta, na sanya masa suna Aibin Doka. To, sun d'auki wad'annan biyun za su buga.

Akwai yiwuwar ki rubuta wak'ok'i ko wasan kwaikwayo?
E to, biyu daga cikin k'ananan labaran nawa na mayar da su wasan kwaikwayo, sannan kuma ina da rubutattun wak'ok'i - amma na Turanci - da yawa, domin gaskiya na gwada rubutawa da Hausar, na kasa!

Ashe ki kan yi rubutu da Turanci? Amma har yanzu ba a ga ko guda d'aya ba!
Wallahi ina yi, amma duk dai harkar idan aka juya ta batun dai bugawa d'in ce. Har yanzu ban sami wanda zai d'auki nauyin bugawar ba. Ni kud'in ba su dame ni ba, amma dai a ce aikin ya fito, shi ne muhimmanci a wuri na, amma har yanzu ban sami wanda zai d'auki nauyin ba. Amma na Turancin dai a kwanan nan mu ka zauna da yara mu ka tsinci wad'anda za a buga d'in. To, ban san dai abin da su ke ciki ba dai yanzu, amma sun yi min alk'awarin za su buga, to amma ban san lokacin ba.

Me ya sa kamfanin Gaskiya Corporation ko NNPC Zaria ba su buga littattafan ki da yawa ba, musamman tunda a wancan lokacin su na cikin aikin buga littattafai da yawa, ba kamar yadda daga baya su ka durk'ushe ba?
Wallahi ni dai abin da su ka gaya min shi ne ba su da kud'i. Duk dai magana guda ce a lokacin da na kai musu nawa guda biyu, wad'anda har da ma na ‘Dare Dubu Da D'aya’ da na rubuta yadda yara za su iya karantawa, saboda na farkon nan bai kamata yara k'ananan su karanta shi ba. To, na rubuta daga na 1 zuwa na 5 kamar yadda aka yi shi na Hausa d'in nan. Har yanzu ma kwafin ya na hannun su, ba su dawo min da shi ba, don sun ce min yanzu su na ‘yan shirye-shiryen soma buge-bugen littattafai.

Yaya ki ke ganin harkar wallafa a Arewa?
To, gaskiya abin ya na da ciwo. Kuma duk a wasu taruka da aka yi na marubuta na kan bayar da shawarar cewa su kan su marubutan su na da laifi, saboda za a iya had'in gwiwa, a saka ‘yan kud'ad'e; kowa ya bayar da gudunmuwar sa, a had'a kud'in nan a ajiye. Idan marubuci ya rubuta littafi a duba, idan ya cancanta a buga shi, sai a d'auki nauyin bugawar. In ya so bayan an buga, an sayar ko an k'addamar, abin da aka sayar, sai a mayar a ajiye. Kuma nan gaba sai a sake samun wani ya yi. Amma duk shawarwarori na da na ke bayarwa, har yanzu babu wacce ta sami shiga.

Ita gwamnati da masu hannu da shuni fa?
To, gwamnati dai ba ta san da zaman marubuta ba, sai dai kwanan nan da ake ta abubuwan nan na ga gwamnatin Neja ta d'auki nauyi. To, kuma gwamnatin mu ma ta Jihar Zamfara ta yi alk'awarin za ta bud'e mana wani asusu wanda idan an yi littafi, a bincika shi a gani; idan ya cancanta, a buga. Sai mu yi fatan sauran gwamnoni za su yi koyi da su.

Wane kira za ki yi ga marubuta wad'anda ke kasa fito da littattafan su, har ma wani sai ya yi fushi ya daina?
Bai kamata mutum ya yi fushi ya daina ba, domin idan Allah ya ba ka basira, ka daina amfani da ita, kamar ka yi masa butulci ne. Shi kuma rubutu ko da mutum ba shi da rai ya na da amfani. Kamar yadda mu ka ga littattafan Shehu da Asma’u d'aruruwan shekaru ga su nan yanzu ana morar su. Saboda haka kada mutum ya bari. Kada rashin bugawar nan ta karya masa gwiwa; ya yi ta rubutun ya na ajiyewa har Allah ya kawo wanda zai zo ya buga masa. Saboda komai ya na da lokaci. Idan lokacin abu bai yi ba, babu yadda za a yi ka tilasta lokacin ya yi.

To, Hajiya mun gode, k'warai.
To, madalla. Ni ma na gode.

(An ciro daga mujallar Fim ta watan Yuni 2008)

Sannu da zuwa, Talatu Danny!

A makon jiya na samu wasikar i-mel daga Malama Talatu Danny, inda ta gaya mani (tare da sauran abokan ta a Nijeriya) cewa ta iso Nijeriya daga Amurka. Talatu ta ce a yanzu ta na hutawa a gidan mahaifin ta a Jos kafin ta fantsama zuwa Kano da sauran garuruwa.

Talatu dai k'awar mu ce 'yar kasar Amurka da ke koyon Hausa da al'adun Hausawa, musamman a bangaren littattafai da finafinai. Ta kan kira kan ta daliba (ko da yake mu a wurin mu malama mu ka dauke ta!) a wata jami'a a Amurka.

Ta na da fitaccen gidan yana a intanet mai sunan ta, inda ta kan bayyana tunanin ta kan al'amura daban-daban da su ka shafi al'adun Afrika kamar yadda ake nuna su a hanyoyin sadarwa na zamani. Ta kan kuma bayyana labarai da tunani a kan rayuwar ita kan ta.

Talatu, ina yi maki barka da zuwa (ko in ce barka da dawowa) Nijeriya. Tare da fatan za ki ji dad'in wannan zaman, kuma ya kasance kin ci moriyar wannan balaguro da ki ka yi.

Lale marhabin!