AREWA Literature

Helon Habila of Northern Nigeria

Northern Nigeria inherited much of the literary legacy of the old Sudanic states. The Hausa Sultanates from the 9th to the 18th century produced numerous literary works.^[1] Thousands of such works mostly in Ajami, Huasa and Arabic still remain uncatalogued throughout Northern Nigeria.^[2] Since the colonisation by the British Empire, English and the Latin script has superseded the Ajami script. Abubakr Imam Kagara is regarded as one of the fathers of modern Northern Nigerian literature,^[1] His works such as Ruwan Bagaja and Magana Jari Ce, published in the 1930s, served as a bridge between the old Sudanic literary tradition and western ways. Others such as Yabo Lari and Muhammed Sule — author of The Undesirable Element — made equally important contributions in the 1960s. In the 1980s popular authors including Abubakar Gimba and Zaynab Alkaliserved to keep the Norths literary tradition alive and distinct from the Nigerian south.^[1] The 1990s saw the emergence of authors from Abubakar Othman, Ismail Bala and Ahmed Maiwada in poetry to Maria Ajima and Victor Dugga in drama. Contemporary Northern Nigerian literature is mostly produced in Kano, Kaduna, Jos and Minna. Writers such as B. M. Dzukogi, Ismail Bala, Yusuf Adamu, Musa Okapnachi, Razinat Mohammed and E. E. Sule are still active.^[1]