On Misrepresentation of Identities | sada malumfashi | TEDxMinna

Quick Overview

Sada Malumfashi, a Nigerian writer and filmmaker, discusses the misrepresentation of identities, particularly focusing on the Hausa identity, arguing that the colonial imposition of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1900 erased pre-existing political entities like the Sokoto Caliphate and the Kanem-Borno Empire, leading to a manufactured, singular identity narrative.

Key Points: The speaker, Sada Malumfashi, is a writer, filmmaker, and curator whose work focuses on documenting the identity and cultural world of the Hausa people. Malumfashi grew up speaking Hausa, but upon moving from Kaduna to Sokoto, he realized that the identity he knew was not the singular, stable entity he had been taught, contrasting with the English spoken by his new friends. The British proclamation of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1900, which bundled millions of people from various entities like the Sokoto and Kanem-Borno Kingdoms, created an administrative shortcut that erased prior complex identities. The term 'Hausa' became popular in the 1960s through Lagos-based newspapers needing a label for the Northern political establishment, which was then repeated until it became a perceived singular identity. The speaker argues that the hyphenated identity (e.g., Hausa-Fulani) is not about culture but about political convenience, often used to maintain power structures dating back to colonial demarcations. He poses questions to the audience regarding how many identify as Hausa-Fulani or solely Hausa, highlighting that these modern labels often erase deeper, older identities like those associated with the Kanem, Zazzau, or Kanuri. The talk concludes by emphasizing that history remembers language, but often erases the complex origins and distinct identities of people bundled together by colonial or political fiat.

Context: This TEDxMinna talk, titled "Beyond the Noise," features Sada Malumfashi, a Nigerian writer, filmmaker, and founder of Open Arts. The presentation centers on the concept of identity, specifically challenging the monolithic representation of the Hausa identity in Nigeria. Malumfashi uses his personal experience of moving between regions and his background in Hausa literature to illustrate how colonial boundaries and subsequent political narratives simplified and misrepresented the complex, layered identities that existed in Northern Nigeria prior to 1900.