» »Unlabelled » THE REVOLUTION OF HAUSA PEOPLE IN BURKINA FASO By Rabiu Muhammad (Abu Hidaya) Director Al-Huda Women Educational Center Kano, Nigeria abuhidya3@gmail.com

4 16:57

It's well known that Hausa land is very vast, and the language, which is among the major African languages, is also very vast. Research has shown that Hausa people used to travel from one region to another to partake in trading of goods and other services. This is the sole reason why Hausa people are found in different countries do to their old habit of participation in trade and the desire to seek for knowledge.
This piece of writing will concentrate on how some Hausa people migrate from their very own place of living to some of their neighbouring countries, and to even some distant countries. This writing will similarly prove some of the researches of some scholars that realised that Hausa is a language that dominated many other languages, especially in the western Africa. Researches also show that Hausa language has got a permanent home in some other countries that are not considered as one among the Hausa speaking countries.
Taking Burkina Faso as an example, the agency for indigenous languages of the country has listed Hausa language as one among the 63 accepted languages of the country. This signifies a real achievement and success for Hausa language.
This piece of writing will take a careful look at the position of Hausa people and the language in Burkina Faso. It will also reveal the life style of the Hausa people in the country. My aim is to encourage the people that make researches on the history and origin of Hausa man to continue and to enable the country to be listed among the Hausa speaking countries.
As how history reveals, Hausa man is not lazy. He is a wise person that participates in different businesses to take care of himself. That's the sole reason why he travels to different countries like Sudan, Ghana, Cameroun etc. to participate in trade. It's through this movements that some of them marry in some countries while others even chose to settle there when their business becomes strong. 
Like how it happens in some other countries, the same also happened in Burkina Faso. Hausa people had been going to Burkina Faso for trading. After a long period of time, they formed a small town there which they used to call Zango. Zango became a Hausa dominated town where different activities and traditions of Hausa people like naming ceremony, marriage ceremony and other ceremonies are practiced exactly like in an original Hausa community. Besides ceremonies, even the style of leadership of Hausa land like the emir and his councils was practiced in Zango. Some of them also married people of other tribes and brought them to Zango.

HOW DOES ZANGO LOOKS LIKE
If you enter Zango, you will feel like you are in a real Hausa land because of the large number of Hausa people in the area. You can also find all the sort of food and other Hausa traditional materials in the area.
Hausa people kept on dwelling in that area for many centuries to the instant by which many of them cannot even trace where their forefathers came from. They kept on dwelling in that area till the year 2003 when Blaise Comfore, the then president, destroyed their happiness by demolishing the town in his claimed effort of expanding the capital of the country which is called Ouagadougou.
That effort made by President Comfore really destroyed Hausa tribe in Burkina Faso even though he allocated another land for them to relocate but many of them did not relocate to the allocated place, thinking that it was very far. They said: "Had it been the place given to us is closer to Hausa land (Niger and Nigeria) we could therefore relocate, but this new place is very far from home, we can't go." That was the main reason why many of them spread into different towns and villages. That became the beginning of their segregations. As I did mention earlier, some of the Hausa people of that olden time had married other people of different tribes in the country, and now they are separated from one another. This gave a room for the adulteration of their languages, unlike when they were integrated together in Zango. Some others that are now dwelling is some places that Hausa language is not spoken at all, found it difficult to keep on communicating with the language. Gradually, the language becomes extinct in such areas to the instant by which only few people understand it. Such communities include Koufela, Fadar Gurma, Kantchari and Zangoten. They were initially not inside the old Zango, they were therefore Hausa by tribe but cannot speak the language fluently. You can identify some of them through their names like Kano, Makeri and Katsina. Some of them still use such kind of names.
However, some of the people that remained in the city continued to share cordial relationships with one another as how they used to be in their old Zango. For example, if there is a naming ceremony, marriage ceremony, funeral, or any other activity, any Hausa man in the city will be attending it regularly.
As I did mention earlier that some Hausa people in the country have blended into other tribes and disappeared, the others that remained also began to marry Morsi tribes which are the major indigenous language of Burkina Faso. This also leaded to the disappearance of Hausa language of the country. Almost every person in the country speaks Morsi language alongside French which were the major languages spoken in the country. At times you may see some others speaking Jula language which is the major languages spoken in Mali. The marriage relationship that exists between Hausa and Morsi tribes created a strong influence in blending Hausa into Morsi. You can enter into a typical Hausa family house and find them speaking Morsi language because the daughter of the house might be marrying a Morsi man and when she comes home,  she has to speak Morsi language to her children because that's the language they understand.
Another way by which Morsi language dominated Hausa in Burkina Faso was the fact that marrying a daughter of Morsi tribe is not difficult. Once the girl loves you and you have a reasonable job, no matter little you provide, they will handle you the girl. Sometimes they will directly tie the nodes of the marriage at the very moment you go to her parents to propose for the marriage. This simplicity in seeking for marrying Morsi girls makes Hausa men to always marry Morsi girls. Do to the fact that Hausa men are not many and are dispersed in the country, must of the men have to keep on communicating with their Morsi wives in Morsi language and even when they beget children, Morsi language will remain their house language because she is the one that spend most of the time with the kids. Similarly, if a Hausa girl marries a Morsi guy, she has to converse with him and their children in Morsi language. This issue really disturbs the mind of the Hausa elders that dwell in Burkina Faso. Their language will become extinct before their very eyes. In response to that, some of them chose to pack their properties and migrate to their real Hausa homes like Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Kano. Fortunately, some of them united with their kin and finally settled there. Like how one Hausa adage says, "No matter how sweet other people's home is, yours is better."
But for the others that have no home other than Burkina Faso since they were born there and also begot grandchildren there, they chose to unite themselves and form an association which they named "so dangi" which literally means "love for your kin members" where they always exchange views with other Hausas residing in other parts of the country on how to promote and sustain their tribe so that their children will be communicating in Hausa language and marry one another. At last, they made a decision of renaming the community they were more populated after their old Zango. They chose to keep on staying there since the country has even given them a license to keep on staying there as a permanent home by enumerating Hausa language as one among the 63 accepted languages of the country.
But do to the situation by which almost any one of them is having his personal commitment and that they are living in different places, the mission could not be well achieved. Similarly, their rulers (emirs) were residing in different places, like the emir of Zango and that of Hausawa (Hausa people). This situation continued moving like that till the year 2016 when some Hausa youth began to realise that they were treading a wrong lane. A positive effort was made by one Abdourahmane Nagarba who was a having two separate degree certificates in English and French language. He assembled some Hausa youth and advised them to establish a school which they will be teaching how to read and write Hausa. This will serve as an effort of teaching their fellow Hausas how to read and write Hausa for its promotion and sustenance. His effort was unanimously and handsomely accepted by Hausas, especially the women, youth and elderly persons. A first Hausa learning school in Burkina Faso was then established in Ouagadougou, the capital city of the country. The school was named ASSOCIATION MAKARANTA. Even though Abdourahmane Nagarba did not study Hausa in the university, the weight of leadership and coordination of the school was placed upon his shoulders since he was the one that came up with the idea. He made a lot of researches on internet on how to teach the language properly. He also used to ask experts and scholars he met on internet about whatsoever he found mysterious. He also possessed some books that guide him on how to understand and teach the language effectively. Moreover, Abdourahmane Nagarba tried to create a relationship with some ministries and educational institutions in Burkina Faso and other neighbouring countries like Niger and Nigeria. Within a short time, the school became popular and we'll accepted by the people in Ouagadougou. People from different places began to send their children to master Hausa language. The lessons were held in the weekends because most of the students were university and high school students.
The school kept on progressing to the instant by which other Hausa people from other parts of the country began to beseech for the establishment of such kinda school in their various towns.
Below are some of the towns where Hausa people are found in Burkina Faso since before the coming of colonial masters into the country:
1. Koufela
2. Kantchary
3. Namounou
4. Kaya
5. Dori
6. Gorom-Gorom
7. Ouahigouya
8. Bobo-Dioulasso, and
9. Nouna.

CALL FOR ASSISTANCE FROM BURKINA FASO TO NIGERIA
After the various calls for the establishment of Hausa learning school by other towns, the school management beseeched for a professional teacher that will teach and perfect the Hausa language they study in Ouagadougou so that the first set of students would get a through training that would enable them to disperse into the remaining towns and teach them the language effectively. As I did mention earlier, the director of the school, Abdourahmane Nagarba had made effort of creating a relationship with some countries, ministries and organizations that study Hausa. Among the schools he created the relationship there was Al-Huda Women Educational Centre and Tsangayar Adabin Hausa, all from Kano, Nigeria. Al-Huda Women Educational Centre was the first school he solicited for a professional teacher that will assist them. After reaching agreement, I was the teacher chosen to travel to the country to give them the training. Thereafter, a West African organization, Africa Community, which has its headquarter in Guinea Bissau sponsored the trip.

HOW I SAW THE CITY OUAGADOUGOU
I entered Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso on Thursday, 29th December, 2016. The thing that impressed me best in the country was how the citizens obey the rules and orders of the country. I was also enticed by the level of cleanliness of the city and the hospitality of its people. Seeing that majority of the people that ride bicycles in the city were women also surprised me a lot. Despite the fact that I couldn't understand their languages, I was able to carry out most of my activities happily. It did not take long before we commenced the normal lesson on the following day which was Friday evening. The first thing I realized was that the students could read and write, so they only needed some little additional training and grooming. What we were able to study were:

Rules of reading and writing Hausa
Hausa grammar
Calculation in Hausa (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division)
Hausa tradition and culture (Ceremonies, plays and foods)
Moral lessons
We completed these lessons on 11th January, 2017.
One impressing thing about the school was the way the students liked the lesson very much. They enjoyed how the lesson went on and they were curious to ask questions whenever they don't understand something. They were the ones that made an order of avoiding speaking any language in the school, save Hausa. On the other hand, the Nigerian embassy in the country, under the leadership of Ambassador Gambo Abubakar often used to visit the school during normal lesson to supervise the conduct of the programme. Similarly, some Hausa elders used to visit the school to see and bless the programme. Foods as drinks were distributed during their 30 minutes brake times to keep them more lively and strong.
The genesis behind setting the school was to rescue Hausa language and culture from extinction in the country. We pray for the remaining people that have a role to play in the realm of Hausa language, culture and tradition to support this effort of Hausa people of Burkina Faso.

TRADITIONS OF HAUSA PEOPLE OF BURKINA FASO
Like the other tribes found in Burkina Faso, Hausa people practice their cultural activities especially during marriage, naming ceremony, end of the year ceremonies etc., but I realized that there were some of their cultural practices that contradict how they are practiced in Hausa land. Taking their marriage as example, it's the groom that will buy furniture. Similarly, during the marriage prayer, the groom will stand up and answer some questions about marriage. His representatives and that of the bride will also stand up for the other people in the presence to see them. They will thereafter shake hands and food will later be distributed to the people.
Similarly, there were some contradictions in their naming ceremonies, as I witnessed. Men assembled at the front door of the house to name the new born baby. After the naming prayer, people will be coming to the house to congratulate the parents till the evening of the day.

PLACES I VISITED
As a writer and a journalist that found himself in a new environment to purposely perform something related to education and learning, I visited the major historical places of the country like their museum, biggest palace of the king of Burkina Faso, biggest auditorium, presidential villa, American Embassy and its ambassador, Joseip Ki Zerbo, Legislative houses that were burnt down during the revolution that threw down the government of President Blaise Comfore and their central market, Ouagadougou Central Market that was built by President Thomas Sankara. It's a model market that cannot be destroyed by fire.
During the visit, I met many people whom became friends of mine like the Director History and Culture Commission and one French woman, Escape Wiki, who was in charge of my lodge. Wiki likes Hausa cultural materials so much. She used to come out every morning just to see the kind of dress I would wear. She used to admire it very much. Others include the emir of Zango, Sarki Danladi, emir of Hausa, Sarki Dankambary and who became my guide in the country, elder Baba Alhaji Sani Dantoule whom I heard about his demise after I returned home.
When I was in the country, we had a lot of visitations together with the director of ASSOCIATION MAKARANTA. We visited museum and had some discourse with the directors of the museum on how to organise a ceremony that will display and promote Hausa cultural artifacts and it was only the ministry that had the right to organise such kinda program for any tribe of the country.
We had a good understanding after the meeting. This is because I came from Hausa land and where there are a lot of traditional materials. They asked me a lot about Hausa tribe, how to organise the programme and how to get the artifacts that would be put in the museum which will entice the people that visit the museum for tourism.
They were at the beginning thinking of organising the programme at their country's level but after our discussion, they realized that Hausa is a mega international language and therefore there was need for making it an international program. I then promised them that I would be responsible for advertising the program in Nigeria. They were so much pleased and delighted with my intention and thereafter beseeched me to unite them with Kano State History and Culture Bureau.
One funny thing was that I couldn't understand French very well and they too couldn't understand English. It was the man that took me there that became the interpreter. He used to translate their language to me into Hausa and my Hausa too back to their language. We spent four days like that discussing till when we reached a solid conclusion. The programme was successfully organized at an international level. The programme was titled INTERNATIONAL HAUSA CULTURAL CEREMONY which was graced with many distinguished guests from different African countries.

HOW I SPENT MY TIME WITH STUDENTS IN BURKINA FASO
The first person I met when I entered Ouagadougou, the federal capital city of Burkina Faso was the chairman of SONABHY gas company, Alhaji Na'alle, who was  one among the elders of Hausa people of the country. He came and took me together with the director of Association Makaranta, Abdourrahmane Nagarba whom I also met for the first time. I was then taken to my lodge.
After I took bath and relaxed, some Hausa youth came to pay me a visit. I asked them their names one after the other, we later engaged in some discussions. We chitchatted for some times before they left with the intention of coming back to school the following day for the commencement of new lesson.
I used to stay at home in the mornings to make some researches since we used to go to the school in the evening. That gave a room for some of the students to visit me in the morning to review some of the lessons we did in the class. After that I used to engage them in discussions where I told them many stories about Hausa land and culture. I used to realize that such kinda stories enticed them much.
Since the students liked the lessons, most of their discussions at home ware about the new teacher from Nigeria. It reached to the level by which if they were coming to me for discussion and study, they used to come along with some gifts of food like beans dumplings and salad and words of greetings from their mothers. I also used to visit their mothers to great them. That created cordial relationships between us. Some of the elder women used to ask me about the cities of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi. Some of them revealed to me that those are their places of origin while some said their daughters were married off there.
The students used to tell me that they admired the way I speak Hausa and wished to learn it. There was a female student called Zainab Dan Dogo who was Fulani by tribe. She was working with Turkish company. Zainab used to be not punctual perhaps do to her work. But she really liked the studies, which made her to be coming to me during the 30 minutes break time to learn what we covered in her absence. That habit of her used to impress me because I like serious students.
There was a day I was standing with Nagarba after our closing hour when some students came to me, greeted me and informed me that they would come and chitchat and take dinner with me in the night. I smiled to them and said I'll be waiting.
In the night, they came with many dishes. Each one was served and we sat together and eat happily. I was so much impressed with their level of unity.
After that some of the students took the responsibility of bringing me lunch while some will take care of dinner and breakfast, despite the fact that Nigerian embassy asked me to be eating my food there since that was the only place I would be getting the kind of food we eat in Nigeria.
On the other hand, the chairman of Sonabhy gas company, Alhaji Na'alle organized a special feast for me in his Hausa. I ate and rejoiced with him and his family.
On the day of my departure, we snapped many pictures and wrote assessment exams. They organized a farewell party for me where their elders and the students under the leadership of Malam Sani Dantoule and Nagarba presented a lot of gifts to me.

ENDING
I came back home (Nigeria) on Saturday with so much delight and good health condition.
I'm indebted to the Organization of Arewa community, West African Branch and Nigerian Embassy in Burkina Faso and Niger for taking care of much of my responsibilities in both of the two countries. I'm also grateful to the students of Association Makaranta whom always used to be together with me in my lodge to keep me company and also grateful to the Kano State Ministry of Higher Education (even though they refused to take care of me being the first Kano man that got this unique opportunity). I'm also indebted to the management of Al-Huda Women Education Center, Kano State.

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THE REVOLUTION OF HAUSA PEOPLE IN BURKINA FASO By Rabiu Muhammad (Abu Hidaya) Director Al-Huda Women Educational Center Kano, Nigeria abuhidya3@gmail.com

It's well known that Hausa land is very vast, and the language, which is among the major African languages, is also very vast. Research has shown that Hausa people used to travel from one region to another to partake in trading of goods and other services. This is the sole reason why Hausa people are found in different countries do to their old habit of participation in trade and the desire to seek for knowledge.
This piece of writing will concentrate on how some Hausa people migrate from their very own place of living to some of their neighbouring countries, and to even some distant countries. This writing will similarly prove some of the researches of some scholars that realised that Hausa is a language that dominated many other languages, especially in the western Africa. Researches also show that Hausa language has got a permanent home in some other countries that are not considered as one among the Hausa speaking countries.
Taking Burkina Faso as an example, the agency for indigenous languages of the country has listed Hausa language as one among the 63 accepted languages of the country. This signifies a real achievement and success for Hausa language.
This piece of writing will take a careful look at the position of Hausa people and the language in Burkina Faso. It will also reveal the life style of the Hausa people in the country. My aim is to encourage the people that make researches on the history and origin of Hausa man to continue and to enable the country to be listed among the Hausa speaking countries.
As how history reveals, Hausa man is not lazy. He is a wise person that participates in different businesses to take care of himself. That's the sole reason why he travels to different countries like Sudan, Ghana, Cameroun etc. to participate in trade. It's through this movements that some of them marry in some countries while others even chose to settle there when their business becomes strong. 
Like how it happens in some other countries, the same also happened in Burkina Faso. Hausa people had been going to Burkina Faso for trading. After a long period of time, they formed a small town there which they used to call Zango. Zango became a Hausa dominated town where different activities and traditions of Hausa people like naming ceremony, marriage ceremony and other ceremonies are practiced exactly like in an original Hausa community. Besides ceremonies, even the style of leadership of Hausa land like the emir and his councils was practiced in Zango. Some of them also married people of other tribes and brought them to Zango.

HOW DOES ZANGO LOOKS LIKE
If you enter Zango, you will feel like you are in a real Hausa land because of the large number of Hausa people in the area. You can also find all the sort of food and other Hausa traditional materials in the area.
Hausa people kept on dwelling in that area for many centuries to the instant by which many of them cannot even trace where their forefathers came from. They kept on dwelling in that area till the year 2003 when Blaise Comfore, the then president, destroyed their happiness by demolishing the town in his claimed effort of expanding the capital of the country which is called Ouagadougou.
That effort made by President Comfore really destroyed Hausa tribe in Burkina Faso even though he allocated another land for them to relocate but many of them did not relocate to the allocated place, thinking that it was very far. They said: "Had it been the place given to us is closer to Hausa land (Niger and Nigeria) we could therefore relocate, but this new place is very far from home, we can't go." That was the main reason why many of them spread into different towns and villages. That became the beginning of their segregations. As I did mention earlier, some of the Hausa people of that olden time had married other people of different tribes in the country, and now they are separated from one another. This gave a room for the adulteration of their languages, unlike when they were integrated together in Zango. Some others that are now dwelling is some places that Hausa language is not spoken at all, found it difficult to keep on communicating with the language. Gradually, the language becomes extinct in such areas to the instant by which only few people understand it. Such communities include Koufela, Fadar Gurma, Kantchari and Zangoten. They were initially not inside the old Zango, they were therefore Hausa by tribe but cannot speak the language fluently. You can identify some of them through their names like Kano, Makeri and Katsina. Some of them still use such kind of names.
However, some of the people that remained in the city continued to share cordial relationships with one another as how they used to be in their old Zango. For example, if there is a naming ceremony, marriage ceremony, funeral, or any other activity, any Hausa man in the city will be attending it regularly.
As I did mention earlier that some Hausa people in the country have blended into other tribes and disappeared, the others that remained also began to marry Morsi tribes which are the major indigenous language of Burkina Faso. This also leaded to the disappearance of Hausa language of the country. Almost every person in the country speaks Morsi language alongside French which were the major languages spoken in the country. At times you may see some others speaking Jula language which is the major languages spoken in Mali. The marriage relationship that exists between Hausa and Morsi tribes created a strong influence in blending Hausa into Morsi. You can enter into a typical Hausa family house and find them speaking Morsi language because the daughter of the house might be marrying a Morsi man and when she comes home,  she has to speak Morsi language to her children because that's the language they understand.
Another way by which Morsi language dominated Hausa in Burkina Faso was the fact that marrying a daughter of Morsi tribe is not difficult. Once the girl loves you and you have a reasonable job, no matter little you provide, they will handle you the girl. Sometimes they will directly tie the nodes of the marriage at the very moment you go to her parents to propose for the marriage. This simplicity in seeking for marrying Morsi girls makes Hausa men to always marry Morsi girls. Do to the fact that Hausa men are not many and are dispersed in the country, must of the men have to keep on communicating with their Morsi wives in Morsi language and even when they beget children, Morsi language will remain their house language because she is the one that spend most of the time with the kids. Similarly, if a Hausa girl marries a Morsi guy, she has to converse with him and their children in Morsi language. This issue really disturbs the mind of the Hausa elders that dwell in Burkina Faso. Their language will become extinct before their very eyes. In response to that, some of them chose to pack their properties and migrate to their real Hausa homes like Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Kano. Fortunately, some of them united with their kin and finally settled there. Like how one Hausa adage says, "No matter how sweet other people's home is, yours is better."
But for the others that have no home other than Burkina Faso since they were born there and also begot grandchildren there, they chose to unite themselves and form an association which they named "so dangi" which literally means "love for your kin members" where they always exchange views with other Hausas residing in other parts of the country on how to promote and sustain their tribe so that their children will be communicating in Hausa language and marry one another. At last, they made a decision of renaming the community they were more populated after their old Zango. They chose to keep on staying there since the country has even given them a license to keep on staying there as a permanent home by enumerating Hausa language as one among the 63 accepted languages of the country.
But do to the situation by which almost any one of them is having his personal commitment and that they are living in different places, the mission could not be well achieved. Similarly, their rulers (emirs) were residing in different places, like the emir of Zango and that of Hausawa (Hausa people). This situation continued moving like that till the year 2016 when some Hausa youth began to realise that they were treading a wrong lane. A positive effort was made by one Abdourahmane Nagarba who was a having two separate degree certificates in English and French language. He assembled some Hausa youth and advised them to establish a school which they will be teaching how to read and write Hausa. This will serve as an effort of teaching their fellow Hausas how to read and write Hausa for its promotion and sustenance. His effort was unanimously and handsomely accepted by Hausas, especially the women, youth and elderly persons. A first Hausa learning school in Burkina Faso was then established in Ouagadougou, the capital city of the country. The school was named ASSOCIATION MAKARANTA. Even though Abdourahmane Nagarba did not study Hausa in the university, the weight of leadership and coordination of the school was placed upon his shoulders since he was the one that came up with the idea. He made a lot of researches on internet on how to teach the language properly. He also used to ask experts and scholars he met on internet about whatsoever he found mysterious. He also possessed some books that guide him on how to understand and teach the language effectively. Moreover, Abdourahmane Nagarba tried to create a relationship with some ministries and educational institutions in Burkina Faso and other neighbouring countries like Niger and Nigeria. Within a short time, the school became popular and we'll accepted by the people in Ouagadougou. People from different places began to send their children to master Hausa language. The lessons were held in the weekends because most of the students were university and high school students.
The school kept on progressing to the instant by which other Hausa people from other parts of the country began to beseech for the establishment of such kinda school in their various towns.
Below are some of the towns where Hausa people are found in Burkina Faso since before the coming of colonial masters into the country:
1. Koufela
2. Kantchary
3. Namounou
4. Kaya
5. Dori
6. Gorom-Gorom
7. Ouahigouya
8. Bobo-Dioulasso, and
9. Nouna.

CALL FOR ASSISTANCE FROM BURKINA FASO TO NIGERIA
After the various calls for the establishment of Hausa learning school by other towns, the school management beseeched for a professional teacher that will teach and perfect the Hausa language they study in Ouagadougou so that the first set of students would get a through training that would enable them to disperse into the remaining towns and teach them the language effectively. As I did mention earlier, the director of the school, Abdourahmane Nagarba had made effort of creating a relationship with some countries, ministries and organizations that study Hausa. Among the schools he created the relationship there was Al-Huda Women Educational Centre and Tsangayar Adabin Hausa, all from Kano, Nigeria. Al-Huda Women Educational Centre was the first school he solicited for a professional teacher that will assist them. After reaching agreement, I was the teacher chosen to travel to the country to give them the training. Thereafter, a West African organization, Africa Community, which has its headquarter in Guinea Bissau sponsored the trip.

HOW I SAW THE CITY OUAGADOUGOU
I entered Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso on Thursday, 29th December, 2016. The thing that impressed me best in the country was how the citizens obey the rules and orders of the country. I was also enticed by the level of cleanliness of the city and the hospitality of its people. Seeing that majority of the people that ride bicycles in the city were women also surprised me a lot. Despite the fact that I couldn't understand their languages, I was able to carry out most of my activities happily. It did not take long before we commenced the normal lesson on the following day which was Friday evening. The first thing I realized was that the students could read and write, so they only needed some little additional training and grooming. What we were able to study were:

Rules of reading and writing Hausa
Hausa grammar
Calculation in Hausa (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division)
Hausa tradition and culture (Ceremonies, plays and foods)
Moral lessons
We completed these lessons on 11th January, 2017.
One impressing thing about the school was the way the students liked the lesson very much. They enjoyed how the lesson went on and they were curious to ask questions whenever they don't understand something. They were the ones that made an order of avoiding speaking any language in the school, save Hausa. On the other hand, the Nigerian embassy in the country, under the leadership of Ambassador Gambo Abubakar often used to visit the school during normal lesson to supervise the conduct of the programme. Similarly, some Hausa elders used to visit the school to see and bless the programme. Foods as drinks were distributed during their 30 minutes brake times to keep them more lively and strong.
The genesis behind setting the school was to rescue Hausa language and culture from extinction in the country. We pray for the remaining people that have a role to play in the realm of Hausa language, culture and tradition to support this effort of Hausa people of Burkina Faso.

TRADITIONS OF HAUSA PEOPLE OF BURKINA FASO
Like the other tribes found in Burkina Faso, Hausa people practice their cultural activities especially during marriage, naming ceremony, end of the year ceremonies etc., but I realized that there were some of their cultural practices that contradict how they are practiced in Hausa land. Taking their marriage as example, it's the groom that will buy furniture. Similarly, during the marriage prayer, the groom will stand up and answer some questions about marriage. His representatives and that of the bride will also stand up for the other people in the presence to see them. They will thereafter shake hands and food will later be distributed to the people.
Similarly, there were some contradictions in their naming ceremonies, as I witnessed. Men assembled at the front door of the house to name the new born baby. After the naming prayer, people will be coming to the house to congratulate the parents till the evening of the day.

PLACES I VISITED
As a writer and a journalist that found himself in a new environment to purposely perform something related to education and learning, I visited the major historical places of the country like their museum, biggest palace of the king of Burkina Faso, biggest auditorium, presidential villa, American Embassy and its ambassador, Joseip Ki Zerbo, Legislative houses that were burnt down during the revolution that threw down the government of President Blaise Comfore and their central market, Ouagadougou Central Market that was built by President Thomas Sankara. It's a model market that cannot be destroyed by fire.
During the visit, I met many people whom became friends of mine like the Director History and Culture Commission and one French woman, Escape Wiki, who was in charge of my lodge. Wiki likes Hausa cultural materials so much. She used to come out every morning just to see the kind of dress I would wear. She used to admire it very much. Others include the emir of Zango, Sarki Danladi, emir of Hausa, Sarki Dankambary and who became my guide in the country, elder Baba Alhaji Sani Dantoule whom I heard about his demise after I returned home.
When I was in the country, we had a lot of visitations together with the director of ASSOCIATION MAKARANTA. We visited museum and had some discourse with the directors of the museum on how to organise a ceremony that will display and promote Hausa cultural artifacts and it was only the ministry that had the right to organise such kinda program for any tribe of the country.
We had a good understanding after the meeting. This is because I came from Hausa land and where there are a lot of traditional materials. They asked me a lot about Hausa tribe, how to organise the programme and how to get the artifacts that would be put in the museum which will entice the people that visit the museum for tourism.
They were at the beginning thinking of organising the programme at their country's level but after our discussion, they realized that Hausa is a mega international language and therefore there was need for making it an international program. I then promised them that I would be responsible for advertising the program in Nigeria. They were so much pleased and delighted with my intention and thereafter beseeched me to unite them with Kano State History and Culture Bureau.
One funny thing was that I couldn't understand French very well and they too couldn't understand English. It was the man that took me there that became the interpreter. He used to translate their language to me into Hausa and my Hausa too back to their language. We spent four days like that discussing till when we reached a solid conclusion. The programme was successfully organized at an international level. The programme was titled INTERNATIONAL HAUSA CULTURAL CEREMONY which was graced with many distinguished guests from different African countries.

HOW I SPENT MY TIME WITH STUDENTS IN BURKINA FASO
The first person I met when I entered Ouagadougou, the federal capital city of Burkina Faso was the chairman of SONABHY gas company, Alhaji Na'alle, who was  one among the elders of Hausa people of the country. He came and took me together with the director of Association Makaranta, Abdourrahmane Nagarba whom I also met for the first time. I was then taken to my lodge.
After I took bath and relaxed, some Hausa youth came to pay me a visit. I asked them their names one after the other, we later engaged in some discussions. We chitchatted for some times before they left with the intention of coming back to school the following day for the commencement of new lesson.
I used to stay at home in the mornings to make some researches since we used to go to the school in the evening. That gave a room for some of the students to visit me in the morning to review some of the lessons we did in the class. After that I used to engage them in discussions where I told them many stories about Hausa land and culture. I used to realize that such kinda stories enticed them much.
Since the students liked the lessons, most of their discussions at home ware about the new teacher from Nigeria. It reached to the level by which if they were coming to me for discussion and study, they used to come along with some gifts of food like beans dumplings and salad and words of greetings from their mothers. I also used to visit their mothers to great them. That created cordial relationships between us. Some of the elder women used to ask me about the cities of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi. Some of them revealed to me that those are their places of origin while some said their daughters were married off there.
The students used to tell me that they admired the way I speak Hausa and wished to learn it. There was a female student called Zainab Dan Dogo who was Fulani by tribe. She was working with Turkish company. Zainab used to be not punctual perhaps do to her work. But she really liked the studies, which made her to be coming to me during the 30 minutes break time to learn what we covered in her absence. That habit of her used to impress me because I like serious students.
There was a day I was standing with Nagarba after our closing hour when some students came to me, greeted me and informed me that they would come and chitchat and take dinner with me in the night. I smiled to them and said I'll be waiting.
In the night, they came with many dishes. Each one was served and we sat together and eat happily. I was so much impressed with their level of unity.
After that some of the students took the responsibility of bringing me lunch while some will take care of dinner and breakfast, despite the fact that Nigerian embassy asked me to be eating my food there since that was the only place I would be getting the kind of food we eat in Nigeria.
On the other hand, the chairman of Sonabhy gas company, Alhaji Na'alle organized a special feast for me in his Hausa. I ate and rejoiced with him and his family.
On the day of my departure, we snapped many pictures and wrote assessment exams. They organized a farewell party for me where their elders and the students under the leadership of Malam Sani Dantoule and Nagarba presented a lot of gifts to me.

ENDING
I came back home (Nigeria) on Saturday with so much delight and good health condition.
I'm indebted to the Organization of Arewa community, West African Branch and Nigerian Embassy in Burkina Faso and Niger for taking care of much of my responsibilities in both of the two countries. I'm also grateful to the students of Association Makaranta whom always used to be together with me in my lodge to keep me company and also grateful to the Kano State Ministry of Higher Education (even though they refused to take care of me being the first Kano man that got this unique opportunity). I'm also indebted to the management of Al-Huda Women Education Center, Kano State.

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