Rashin Sani Ya Fi Dare Duhu
Making up approximately 25% of the population, The Hausa people are the largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
There is a Hausa proverb that says, Rashin sani ya duhu-The English interpretation of this proverb is: Ignorance is darker than the night.
My First Encounter with a Hausa
*My first time meeting a person of Hausa ethnicity, was in 2021. While out shopping in Houston, Texas I met an African Elder who owns an African Jamaican store called, ‘TATA Afrika Imports’. (Tata also has a great wealth of knowledge in African history!) While conversing with Tata about African ancestry, he looked like he saw a ghost, after I showed him a picture of my great great grandmother! He then pulled out his cell phone and showed me a video of his 100 year old grandmother, whom he would be visiting on his then upcoming trip to Nigeria. We were both taken aback, and almost speechless! OMG! They looked like twins!
(I have also speculated that my Nigerian DNA ethnicity is Fulani or Igbo. I am now learning that there are also Hausa-Fulani! Next year, I will take the African ancestry DNA to find out my ethnicity.)
My maternal great great grandmother
I still could not believe that out of the 10 years that I had been working with, and befriending Nigerians in Houston, Tata was the only person from the Hausa tribe that I had met. I actually felt honored to meet him, for he completed my cultural encounters with the top 3 ethnic groups in Nigeria-Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo.
Rashin Sani Ya Fi Dare Duhu
In my own ignorance and lack of research at the time, I thought that because Houston had a high population of Yoruba Nigerians, that Yoruba was the largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
Rashin Sani Ya Fi Dare Duhu
There are a lot of empty spaces, missing pieces, and made up stories when it comes to African history. The true history of Africa is a very important and major link to World history, in which we all cannot afford to be ignorant to.
One of my major goals in life, and on this blog, is to perform thorough research about Africa, through factual and proven documentaries, science, books, historical passages, (by African scholars and historians on the continent) through my own experiences, and by talking with African elders.
Rashin Sani Ya Fi Dare Duhu
Because the continent of Africa and the African race has been greatly misunderstood and misrepresented all over the world, (more than any other place and race, in my opinion) we all need to be less ignorant when it comes to its history, countries, languages, ethnicities, cultures, and spirituality.
