The Ethnicity of Generals Babangida and Abdulsalami -By Gimba Kakanda

Babangida and Abdulsalami

Who initiated this trending propaganda that Nigeria has never ever had a Hausa President? That only the Fulani have managed the affairs of this nation. Well, it has, and from my home state, Niger, alone came two. Former Heads of State General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (1985 – 1993) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (1998 – 1999) are thoroughbred and self-identified Hausa men.

Babangida and Abdulsalami are known Hausa men among the Gbagyi (Gwari), the Nupe, and other ethnic groups in the state. And we do not even see why they had or have to reengineer their ethnic identity for a political prospect. Definitely not as military overlords.

Some of you have formed a stereotype of the so-called Middle-Belt that you don’t imagine a sizable population of Hausas here. My former Governor, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (2007 – 2015) and the current, Abubakar Sani Bello, are also Hausa men.

So, yes, Niger state is a habitat of indigenous Hausa men. Don’t even start with any citation of their ancestors in the typical Nigerian style of questioning one’s ancestry. And so what if they migrated from other “Hausa states?” They are not their ancestors. We don’t recognize the discourse and politics of settlers as practised elsewhere, in places like Plateau State.