11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria

Subject: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 10:23 AM

DAILY TRIUMPH
JUMADAL THANI 9 1430 A.H.   
THURSDAY JUNE, 4 2009

11 HAUSA SONGS BANNED IN KANO
By NASIRU MUHAMMAD

KANO State Film Censorship Mobile Court has banned the sale of some 11 Hausa songs it described as obscene in the state.

Announcing the ban order, the presiding judge at the court, Chief Magistrate Mukhtar Ahmad, said the songs include: Walle-Walle, Martani (Bilio), Auta, Ibro Sauka a Babur and Girgiza Kai Master.
The rest are Oyoyo, Ibro Sankarau, Kowa Ya Ci Ubansa/Uwarsa, Gari Ya Yi Zafi, Wayyo Kaico and Hasbunallahu.
According to him, the court is going to prosecute anyone found selling the songs, playing it, downloading it by any means in accordance with Section 97 of the State Censorship Board Law 2001 Cinematography and Licensing   Regulation of the same year.

He added that the law in the section states that any person who for the purpose of or by way of trade, makes products or has in his possession blasphemous, pornographic, or obscene writing, or object that will corrupt public morale, can be charged under the law, among others.

END

more infomation from h-net and http://carmenmccain.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/mobile-court-bans-listening-to-11-hausa-songs/

Announcing the ban order, the presiding judge at the court, chief magistrate Mukhtar Ahmad, said the songs include:

1 Walle-Walle
2 Martani(bilio)
3 Auta
4 Sauka a babur(ibro)
5 Girgiza kai master9ibro)
6 Oyoyo
7 Ibro Sankarau
8 kowa yaci Ubansa/uwarsa
9 gari yayi zafi
10 Wayyo
11 Hasbunallahu
------
a related article: http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=43857

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: michaelr
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 10:35 PM

Damn Nigerian scams!

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 01:01 AM

If you do not care for the loss of freedom that other creative people are experiences, you should at least realize that you are laughing and sneering at information such at this at your on peril. What is occurring in this Islamic province of the multi-religious nation of Nigeria, is a sign of what could occur in other nations if people are not pro-active and vigilant. For instance, were a fascist government headed by the BNP ever to achieve real power in Britain or other parts of the United Kingdom, they would target song composers, musicians, film makers, vocalists, actors and other creative people just as is now occurring in that one particular area of Nigeria.

This excerpt of that 2008 "Nigerian Writers, Film-makers Defy Censors"
article that Guest Felipa alerted us to should serve as a warning of things to come:

"Kano State government officials have burned books they say promote immorality...

The imprisonment clause has been put into effect several times. Besides Adam Zango, who was imprisoned in September 2007, pioneering Hausa director and former Kano State gubernatorial candidate Hamisu Lamido Iyan Tama was jailed after copies of his film Tsintsiya were impounded from a video shop in Kano in May 2008. He was accused of not registering his company Iyan Tama Multimedia with the censorship board.

(A court case reveals that the company had, in fact, registered and paid the required fees.) Ironically, the director was arrested the day of his return from the Zuma Film Festival in Abuja where Tsintsiya had won an award for Best Film on Social Issue.

The new censorship regime has had the effect of suppressing Hausa filmmaking in Kano, Northern Nigeria's largest city. The exact size of the industry is hard to determine, but a 2002 study by the national censors board counted 133 Hausa films produced between January and August of that year, making the Hausa film industry second in size only to Yoruba.

Although filmmakers are still doing post-production in Kano, locations have been moved to neighboring states, the majority now being shot in neighbouring Kaduna State. Filmmakers bypass the Kano State Censors Board by marking "Not for sale in Kano" on their films and selling them in other states.

Following the exodus of the Hausa film-making scene from Kano State, Malam Rabo, the director general of the censors board, turned his attention to the writers in the state...

The suppression of creativity in Nigeria is hardly a new phenomenon. Writers have been imprisoned and even executed like novelist and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. However, the popular imagination combined with the subversive possibilities of such new technologies point to the impossibility of the task undertaken by the Censorship Board.

Filmmakers travel out of state to film and bring the digital tapes back in to edit, taking them back out of state to market. Writers, kept from publishing articles in local newspapers, repeat sentiments on blogs and pass digital photos of correspondence with the censors via email listserves.

Bus drivers plaster the windows of their ramshackle vehicles with stickers of "porn-star" Hiyana. Young people cite watching movies as inspiration for using their phones to record conversations with corrupt lecturers and authority figures who they then expose as hypocrites.

In the Clarendon lectures given at Oxford University in 1996, formerly imprisoned Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o theorised that whereas the state seeks to silence alternate stories, "art tries to restore voices to the land. It tries to give voice back to the silenced". In Northern Nigeria , despite state-sponsored bans, book burnings, and imprisonments, it is becoming difficult to silence those voices in the first place."


http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=43857

-snip-

We Mudcatters should be standing in solidarity with the creative people in that Northern province of Nigeria instead of making stupid jokes about them. Isn't that what movements such as Folk Against Fascism is all about? Or is the concern about creativity being potentially stifled and actually stifled only there when it comes to White people?

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 01:15 AM

Correction to my first sentence of my preceding post:

"If you do not care for the loss of freedom that other creative people are experiencing, you should at least realize that you are laughing and sneering at information such at this at your own peril."

**

Here is an additional excerpt from that article about censorship in the Islamic province of in the northern part of Nigeria, West Africa:


"The censors board in Nigeria's northern Kano State was instituted in 2001 after the controversial implementation of Islamic shari'a law in Kano State. Film-making was at first banned outright, but the filmmakers' association of Northern Nigeria (MOPPAN) suggested a "review" board as a compromise measure, which allowed the industry to continue, though with certain restrictions on language, dress and "close dancing between men and women." (Five of the ten laws were specifically related to women's clothing or interaction with men.)...

he imprisonment clause has been put into effect several times. Besides Adam Zango, who was imprisoned in September 2007, pioneering Hausa director and former Kano State gubernatorial candidate Hamisu Lamido Iyan Tama was jailed after copies of his film Tsintsiya were impounded from a video shop in Kano in May 2008. He was accused of not registering his company Iyan Tama Multimedia with the censorship board.

(A court case reveals that the company had, in fact, registered and paid the required fees.) Ironically, the director was arrested the day of his return from the Zuma Film Festival in Abuja where Tsintsiya had won an award for Best Film on Social Issue. "

-snip-

Click http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=43857 to read more about what is now happening in Northern Nigeria and what could happen to creative people in my nation and your own nation if people aren't vigilant and pro-active.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 01:18 AM

For what it's worth, I reposted these comments on this Mudcat threadFolk Against Faacism because I believe that they are very pertinent to the discussion that is occurring on that thread.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 01:21 AM

I meant to say, thank you Felipa for alerting me and hopefully other interested Mudcatters to this assault on creativity in that Northern province of Nigeria, West Africa.


I pray for the safety of all people who are facing this horrendous situation.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 01:34 AM

The correct title of the Mudcat thread (and FaceBook group/ MySpace group) is "Folk Against Fascism".

**

Here is some information about the culturally rich Islamic province of Kano, Nigeria:

"Kano is the administrative center of the Kano State and the third largest city in Nigeria, in terms of geographical size, after Ibadan and Lagos. In population, it is the second most populous city (with a population of 3,848,885) in the country after Lagos. The city's traditional ruler is the Emir of Kano, and the current Emir, Ado Bayero, has been on the throne since 1963...

Kano is largely Muslim. The majority of Kano Muslims are Sunni, though a minority adhere to the Shia branch (see Shia in Nigeria). Christians and followers of other non-Muslim religions form a small part of the population, and traditionally lived in the Sabon Gari, or Foreign Quarter. Christians alone comprise about 1% of the population...
ano is situated at 12°00′N 8°31′ECoordinates: 12°00′N 8°31′E.[24] It has long been the economic centre of northern Nigeria, and a centre for the production and export of groundnuts. Kano houses the Bayero University and a railway station with trains to Lagos routed through Kaduna, while Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport lies nearby. Because Kano is north of the rail junction at Kaduna, it has equal access to the seaports at Lagos and Port Harcourt.

Formerly walled, most of the gates to the Old City survive. The Old City houses the vast Kurmi Market, known for its crafts, while old dye pits – still in use – lie nearby. Also in the Old City are the Emir's Palace, the Great Mosque, and the Gidan Makama Mosque. Kano has six districts. They are the Old City, Bompai, Fagge, Sabon Gari, Syrian Quarter, and Nassarawa.[25]

As of November 2007, there are plans to establish an information technology park in the city.

Durbar Festival

The Emir of Kano hosts a Durbar to mark and celebrate the two annual Muslim festivals and Eid-ul-Fitr (to mark the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (to mark the Hajj Holy Pilgrimage). The Durbar culminates in a procession of highly elaborately dressed horsemen who pass through the city to the Emir's palace. Once assembled near the palace, groups of horsemen, each group representing a nearby village, take it in turns to charge towards the Emir, pulling up just feet in front of the seated dignitaries to offer their respect and allegiance"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano

-snip-

I wonder how the information technology center mentioned in that article can survive given the oppression of creativity that is currently occurring in that particular area of Nigeria (note: this is not occurring in other areas of Nigeria).

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: bankley
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 07:13 AM

Ever since Ken Saro Wiwa was hanged , I've totally boycotted Shell...

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Peace
Date: 13 Jun 09 - 01:31 AM

I have two words for Shell:

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: GUEST,Paul Burke Cookieless
Date: 13 Jun 09 - 05:08 AM

I suspect given that it's Kano that the problem is ethno- religious rather than anything to do with oil. Northern Nigeria is predominantly Muslim and Hausa, the non-Muslim minority often from other ethnic groups. As with the UK recently, unscrupulous politicians often play on ethnic and religious divisions to boost their own ususlly corrupt positions. A good hack at the minorities' customs (music, dress, diet, facial features, mere existence, anything is grist to the mill for the bully) will always find an audience.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 10:23 AM

latest news via Africa H-net: July 8, 2009
The News Editor,
NTA Kano,
Kano.

* * *Press Release*

At an emergency meeting held at the Bayero University Kano, today, July 8, 2009, the Association of Nigerian Authors Kano State Branch frowns at the arrest of one of its members Alhaji Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA) over the alleged release of a song that has not been censored by the Kano State Censorship Board.

The Association is seriously looking at the implication of the arrest
which is seen as an attack on liberty and freedom of expression. The
Association has observed that the authorities in Kano are hostile to art and literature. This action and other past actions of the authorities are seriously undermining the position of Kano State as the leading centre of learning, art and literature.

The Association wishes to advise the authority to be cautious on the way it handles the matters of authors and other producers of art. Art and literature are part and parcel of every society and no society can do without it.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Yusuf M Adamu Alh. Balarabe Sango II
Branch Chairman
Public Relations Officer

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Art Thieme
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 02:52 PM

Martani(bilio) !


Martani(bilio) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (first song on the list -- is about an alcoholic drink.)

I love those! A dry Martani (no olive)--one-a-day is just great for helping Nigerians to see very clearly how their dictators are screwing up their lives

Art.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Peace
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 06:41 AM

From
a
blog

"Aminu Ala released, but...

Hausa singer and novelist Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA) was released on bail by the "mobile" court in Kano today. I told you about him yesterday.

The case was adjourned to July 20.

But there's a caveat. Ala was barred from granting interviews to local and international media - clearly a desperate attempt to muzzle his freedom of expression and the freedom of the press on the issue. The court ruled that his bail would be thwarted if he does so.

This case has generated a lot of heat in Nigeria. The Association of Nigerian Authors has condemned it, so also a wide spectrum of analysts who see the issue as an injustice against a man of letters who has contributed positively to Hausa culture.

I feel that Ala will not be silenced by the Kano State Censorship Board through the use of its draconian court instrument. More songs are expected to come from his pen."

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: GUEST,Peace
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 07:12 AM

Important-to-read-link.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 07:44 AM

Thanks Peace for posting that link which provides some background about the Kano government's banning of those Hausa songs.

That June 10. 2009 H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online) blog post starts with this message:

"Here is an excerpt from initial draft of a forthcoming chapter,
'Invective Rap: Hausa Technpop and Political Identity in Islamicate
Northern Nigerian Popular Culture' for "Popular Culture, Political
and Social Formation" to be edited by Aderemi Suleiman Ajala and
Abdalla Uba Adamu."

-snip-

That chapter was written by which was written by Abdalla Uba Adamu, Department of Mass Communications, Bayero
University, Kano, Nigeria.


An excerpt of that chapter follows:

..."Adam Zango kick started the whole Invective Rap (as I called the
genre) process after being released from jail in November 2007 by
recording "A. Zango Oyoyo" (Adam Zango, welcome back -- Oyoyo being
an urban Nigerian created term for "welcome" rather than being tied
down to a specific linguistic cluster, even though its roots might be
linked to Yoruba language in some way). He did not intend the
recording to be circulated as it was a private mode of venting his
anger on his jailers. He went to the extent of ensuring it was
deleted from the hard drives of the studio computer that recorded the
song after it was transferred to his mobile phone. He later played it
to a friend, who wanted it, and from then on it spread. Other
musicians, particularly in Kano (by then Zango had run away to Kaduna
where he was more warmly welcomed; in fact he recorded the song the
night he was leaving Kano the following day) realized that they can
cock-a-snook at the Kano State government behind the facade of Bluetooth technology, and picked up the mike -- leading to a deluge of invective songs all with the same message: Kano State government is bad, Shari'a implementation is hypocritical and censorship hurts their business.

This came about essentially because the Kano State government
(through the Censorship Board) banned what it called "alien and
pollutive" singing and dancing in Hausa video films
(Adam Zango kick started the whole Invective Rap (as I called the
genre) process after being released from jail in November 2007 by
recording "A. Zango Oyoyo" (Adam Zango, welcome back -- Oyoyo being
an urban Nigerian created term for "welcome" rather than being tied
down to a specific linguistic cluster, even though its roots might be
linked to Yoruba language in some way). He did not intend the
recording to be circulated as it was a private mode of venting his
anger on his jailers. He went to the extent of ensuring it was
deleted from the hard drives of the studio computer that recorded the
song after it was transferred to his mobile phone. He later played it
to a friend, who wanted it, and from then on it spread. Other
musicians, particularly in Kano (by then Zango had run away to Kaduna
where he was more warmly welcomed; in fact he recorded the song the
night he was leaving Kano the following day) realized that they can
cock-a-snook at the Kano State
government behind the facade of Bluetooth technology, and picked up
the mike -- leading to a deluge of invective songs all with the same
message: Kano State government is bad, Shari'a implementation is
hypocritical and censorship hurts their business.

This came about essentially because the Kano State government
(through the Censorship Board) banned what it called "alien and
pollutive" singing and dancing in Hausa video films
(http://kanocensorsboard.com/LegalTools/FILM_CENSORSHIP_GUIDELINES.pdf -- more guidelines as they affect other aspects of popular culture
are located at http://kanocensorsboard.com/LegalTools.asp) . The Kano
State Government insists that any singing and dancing in any popular
culture should be done according to Hausa culture and Islam, rather
than following the pattern of Hindi film songs that characterize
Hausa video films. The films with Hindi film style singing and
dancing (girls often dressed in tight fitting clothes, heads
uncovered, suggestive dancing etc) are most popular -- giving higher
profile and recognition not the actors who mime the songs during the
dancing routines, but to the lyricists and musicians who performed
the background songs. The result was that within five years (from 2001 to 2006) studios suddenly sprang up in Kano providing a booming business to teeming Hausa youth who suddenly discover they have a voice which is sweet enough to be recorded for a film. Rima House, for instance is a two-storey building in Zoo Road, Kano, with almost 10 studios. Zoo Road itself seems to have the greatest concentration of the studios - I counted about 25 along the three or so kilometer range of the road (from Zaria Road roundabout
to the Zoo itself).

Thus putting restrictions, as done by the Kano State Censorship
Board, on the Hausa video film industry limits their own business --
thus the anger and the invectives against Kano State Censorship,
against the Government that supports the censorship process, and
often against the implementation of Shari'a which, in some of the
invective songs was faulted as being hypocritical. Interestingly
enough, there are currently no specific censorship guidelines on
music or musicians! Thus the musicians were actually fighting on
behalf of film producers and directors, rather on their own behalf.
Banning these 11 songs is the first time modern songs have been
banned by the Kano State Censorship Board officially.

As I said earlier, none of the songs attacked Islam or Shari'a -- the anger is on the perceived contradictions between application of
Shari'a laws in popular culture and lack of enforcement of the same
Shari'a laws on other social vices (e.g. while restricting nudity in
Hausa films, Nigeria films (Nollywood) and Hollywood pirated films
are easily available with all the nudity and sexuality). Any analysis
of these invective/satiric songs should be done with this
understanding in mind.


http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Hausa&month=0906&week=b&msg=GBpPfTCaP0grHnio8jT1JQ

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 07:46 AM

I added the italics in the hlast post for emphasis.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 07:53 AM

Sorry for my poor cut and paste job with that last post.

Here's another excerpt from that same blog:

The 11 songs were an outcome of the current battle between the Kano
State (Nigeria) Censorship Board (http://kanocensorsboard.com/) and
essentially musicians and lyricists in Kano's popular culture
industries. A lively discussion was held last year at our forum on
this issue. Here is the link to that discussion:
http://kanoonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=4302.msg44928#msg44928. If
it is too much to bear, you can download one of the banned songs (A
Zango Oyoyo) and its counter attack (Bingo -- although not part of
the 11 officially banned ones) at this link:
http://kanoonline.com/jm/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=53.

The list of the songs is as follows (based on the date stamp on the MP3 files)

1.    A. Zango Oyoyo
2.    Walle-Walle
3.    *Martani
4.    Auta
5.    *Sauka a Babur
6.    Girgiza Kai Master
7.    Sankarau
8.    *Kowa yaci Ubansa/Uwarsa
9.    Gari yayi zafi (could be Dawo Gida, see 15 below, since this
refrain appeared in the latter song)
10. Wayyo Kaicho
11. Hasbunallahu

There are actually 17 of these songs and their variants. The missing ones are:

12. Dodorido
13. Bingo
14. Manta Da Dr. Dre
15. Dawo Gida
16. Rabo Rabo
17. Kanawa

The last, "Kanawa", ends the circle (so far). It was by Adam Zango,
who started the whole process with A. Zango Oyoyo (the first). It was
not an invective, however, but a praise song on Kano and its people
-- including K-Boyz who abused him, hip-hop style, in their "Bingo".
It is often difficult to determine precisely who recorded the songs,
unless they are already popular or well-known. Hasbunallahu, for
instance, was recorded by five famous Hausa lyricists (using the term
to refer to a person who composes and sings the song, but has nothing
to do with the music which is created based on the meter of the
song). Sankarau was recorded the voice of a famous comedian Rabilu
Musa Dan Ibro (although the actor claimed he did not record it; but
someone mimicked his voice).

"Rabo Rabo" (not on the banned list, even though it refers directly
to the Director General of the Kano State Censorship Board, Abubakar
RABO Abdulkarim) is perhaps the best composition of the lot (in terms
of structure, arrangement, lyrical strength and sobriety), and was by
a trio of Hausa divas, Maryam A. Baba (Sangandale), Fati Nijar (from
Niamey) and Maryam Fantimoti.

"Hasbunallahu" is by a quartet of famous modern Hausa musicians, most
of whom were Islamic gospel singers (singing the praises of Prophet
Muhammad). They were Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA), Bashir Dandago,
Misbahu M. Ahmed, Adamu M. Kirfi, and Rabi'u Taka-Lafiya. They call
the song, the "song of freedom" (Fim, Kaduna, 2009, p. 4).

None of these invective songs has any MP3 tag that could identify the
composer, album, title or even the year (although I have tried to tag
my collection using Tag&Rename, based on my field notes). You only
get to know the composer from either the studio the song came from or
simply through sheer guess. I could only trace eight of the actual
banned 11 songs - leaving a shortage of three. "Martani", one of the
missing three, was credited to Bello Ibrahim (Billy-O, a rapper), but
when I asked him about it, he denied writing the song - in fact he
has no song in his entire repertoire titled Martani. "Manta Dr. Dre",
not part of the banned list, is a hardcore rap song lasting just 1.08
mins - and is heavily abusive - but might as well be "Kowa Ya ci
Ubansa/Uwarsa" - a direct abuse in Hausa language; a sort of more
anatomically graphic "to hell with everyone" but with the f-word. I
could not trace "Auta"."

http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Hausa&month=0906&week=b&msg=GBpPfTCaP0grHnio8jT1JQ

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 08:03 AM

Here is an excerpt from a post on http://kanoonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=4302.msg44928#msg44928. which is wherr the earlier discussion about this subject [mentioned in the excerpt above) took place:

"Abdalla on Rapacious Rap
« on: November 16, 2008, 10:30:01 PM »


Jama'a, Sallama

Yup, I am still on with my music thing! Things are quite now because of the change in focus of our sponsors. You may recall that I regularly organize music concerts at the British Council. Alas, they have a new focus now, and music and concerts are definitely off the menu. With no one interested in doing what the BC was doing, we are back to the dark period of not showcasing young and not so young musical talents. I am trying to see if I can somewhow put together a video and audio CD of the various concerts we have had -- but there is too much work to be done, and I am extremely busy with my almajirci. Sigh. But I am mulling over the process and hopefully when things get a little less hectic, I might do something in that direction; but don't hold your breaths.

The only other avenue for public exposure of musical undercurrents in Kano (where I am based) is via underground circulation of what I call Bluetooth Hits. These are songs released not via radio play or on CDs, but through bluetooth facility of cellphones. There had been about three of such releases in the last six months that I am prompted to write an ethnomusicological analysis of their subject matter: poetic invective, or zambo. Since that is a long time coming, I decided to share a few of the thoughts with you (as well as the samples -- more later!).

Traditional Hausa musicians of course are masters at this invective -- Ali Makaho and Haruna Uji war of words, for instance. Even the religious singers -- Masu Yabon Manzo -- were not left out; for instance, Rabi'u Usman Baba's blistering attack ('Yar Wasan Hausa) on the Hausa film industry for their adaptation of Rufa'i Ayagi's religious poem (Ya Muhammadu) to a Hausa video film soundtrack, Ya Matana (by Sani Garba S.K. in Dabi'a).

Now it is Nanaye and Rappers. Nanaye is a new term for synthesizer Hausa lyrics that have mixed gender singing -- the typical fare of Hausa video film soundtracks (and advertising jingles on Radio Freedom!). It has a male voice, and stringent female call-and-resonse chorus ('yan amshi). Even religious subjects are treated this way (e.g. Bashir Dandago's Fatsumatu which was a massive hit about two years ago). Some Nanaye singers often cross-over to Rap. An example is Billy-O, whose Billy Tibani is really a Nanaye song, but rapped over. But perhaps the first Nanaye singer to introduce zambo in his song is Shaba, in his Fati Bappa (a song disowned by the lady herself in an interview with an issue of Fim magazine) in which he sarcastically rendered:

Shaba mai golden voice          Shaba, with golden voice
Na daramma mai muryar kare,      I am superior to he who barks like a dog
Wani mai wakar hanci          He who sings with nasal tone
Sai ka ce ana gudar biki,          As if in a ceremonial ululation
Kai idan yana waka                      See, when he is singing
Kamar an kunna injin markade,    He sounds like a milling engine
So na ke ka fito fili          I want you come out in the open
Ka nuna yau da ni za kai biki,       And challenge me if you dare
In ma rokon Allah                      And I will pray to Allah
Sai ka zamma dan banzan gari..    To turn you into a guttersnipe

The overwhelming view-- not denied by Shaba himself -- in Kano was that he was referring to a well-known imitation singer (whose speciality is imitating the voice of a popular Hausa video film comedian) and with whom they had an altercation sometime before the song. "...

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 08:54 AM

Here's another excerpt from that same blog post:

When the Kano State Censorship under Mal. Rabo became some kind of Taliban for the popular culture industry in Kano, musicians (or more accurately, lyricists) quickly banded themselves and released an underground song, Ki Yi Shiru Maryam Baba (which was instantly renamed Rabon Wahala)

[Note: Because of formatting problems, I'm posting the Hausa words to these songs first and then posted the English translation. In the blog the translation were posted across from each line. The italic words in parenthesis are my guesses about what some of the words or lines might mean in colloquial American English]


Hausa lyrics:

Mai karfi da karfin mulki      
Ba ka fi fa karfin Allah ba
         
Mai karfi da karfin iko               
Ba ka fi fa ikon Allah ba            

Mai karfi da karfin khakhi         
Bai wuce tasrifin Allah ba         

Mai karfi da karfin jama'a         
Bai wuce rundunar Allah ba      

Allah Kai mukewa kuka            
Zalunci ba zai dore ba
         
Wanda duk ya ke zalunci         
Karshensa ba zai kyawu ba      

English translation:   

You who use abuse your position
Your power is less than that of Allah

And you use you use your legality
Allah is more legal than you

He who uses the power of his uniform
His transformative powers are less than those of Allah

He who uses the power of the masses
Has nothing on the army of Allah

Allah we beseech thee
Tyranny will never sustain itself

Whoever terrorises the people
Will surely come to a sticky end!
[a sticky end-no good?]

The fact the Mal. Rabo was a former Commander of Hisbah Corps (moral police) and was indeed fond of his Hisbah uniform is not lost on those who listened -- and love the song. From my inside sources, Mal. Rabo heard the song and was apparently unhappy with the radio play it was receiving from Radio Freedom. He seemed to have complained, and they suddenly stopped airing it. However, my fieldwork indicates he did not do such thing. If anything, he actually loved the song and had it mobile phone! He says it is a good song that urges leaders to be careful and merciful in what they do -- and there is nothing wrong with that.

But the most fiery invective was from Adam Zango -- a session musician turned into an actor, and later Nanaye singer when the acting seemed to have slipped him. He released a Macossa themed video album last year (2007) titled Bahaushiya -- and he was clamped in jail for almost three months for showing an exposed midrif (of a female) during one of the songs. After his release from prison (after he apologized to the Emir of Kano, the Governor, the People of Kano etc), he recorded a song, A Zango Oyoyo. It was a blistering attack on Kano State and, particularly the Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.


Hausa lyrics:
To Bisimillah Allah                                          
Zan wake mugun bawan nan                                 
Jaki mai harbin nan ya fake da cin addinin nan      
...

To Barau ka kama ni,
Kuma ka je ka kulle ni                                          
Karshe ma ka daure ni                                          
Ni na ji dadin daurin nan                                       
Shi ba daurin Allah ba         
Ba daurin Manzon Allah ba                                    
Ba kuma daurin Musulunci ba                                 

...
Wata motar mota ce                                          
Wata motar sai an tura ta

Wani daktan dakta ne                                          
Ai wani daktan na abortion ne                              
Wani tailan taila ne
Wani tailan fid da tsiraici ne
Wani malam malam ne                                          
Wani malam bokan iska ne                                    
Wani gemun gemun taure ne...


English translation:                        
I start with the name of Allah
To sing about that horrible servant (of Allah)
The kicking donkey,
who hides behind the facade of Islam
…

Well, Barau you have arrested me
And you have clamped me in a cell
And game [gave?] me jail term
Oh, I am so happy with this jail term
It is not ordainable by Allah
Nor it is ordainable by His Prophet
[It is?] Not even Islamic

…

Some cars are real cars
Some are just lemons
Some doctors are real doctors
Others are abortion butchers
Some tailors are real dressmakers
Some just make clothes that make you nude
[that show an excessive amount of your body]
Some Malams (Islamic scholars) are real Mallams
Others are just useless marabouts*
And some beards are just like that of billy goats

-snip-

The icons used in the song of course allude to Shekarau -- who intensified the Shari'ah in Kano (although it did not start with his Governorship) and of course sports a clipped beard typical of Muslim mallams. Other portions of the song allude to Shekaru's dark complexion."

http://kanoonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=4302.msg44928#msg44928.

* definition for marabout-A Muslim hermit or saint, especially in northern Africa.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Peace
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 09:52 AM

Azizi, do you know whether Amnesty has taken up his case?

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 10:17 AM

Bruce,I learned about this subject of banned songs and this music genre from this discussion thread and from other links that have been posted in this discussion.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything else about this or about what [else] is going on in that Muslim province* of Nigeria, West Africa.

*if "province" is the correct term

**

While I'm very concerned about the political aspects of this situation, I'm also interested in providing documentation via reposts from those articles/blogs of the descriptions and examples of this new [?] song genre.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 10:26 AM

Here's another excerpt from that same blog post:

http://kanoonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=4302.msg44928#msg44928.

..."When he [Adam Zango] migrated back to Kaduna (allegedly after threats to his life from the few who learnt about the song, although did not hear it), he kept playing the song to his friends -- and eventually someone copied it, who bluetoothed it to someone, to someone etc. It eventually came back to Kano. According to Fim magazine (November 2008), many who heard Zango's song promised to "deal with him" whenever he comes into Kano. In typical Nigerian parlance, it means he will either be beaten, harassed, or worse.

One group that took exception to the song ["Zango Oyoyo"] was the K-Boyz -- a duo (stripped from four) of hard core Hausa rappers. After listening to Zango's song, they went to the studio and recorded a blistering counter-attack which they call Bingo. Bingo is a common name for a dog, and from my discussions with them (Hassan and Ibrahim as they are now), they said they use the word Bingo to refer to Adam Zango as a dog...

They used the same format he used in starting the song and ending it. It was simply too strong. They started first by abusing Zango's mother, before moving on to Zango himself and his followers, revealing layer by layer, Zango's previous life. I can't bring myself to reproduce it (there are young people, such as Muhsin    , reading this board), but it made quite a few allusions to an anatomical portion of Zango's father. Recorded with a hard core beat, it is the classical Parental Advisory candidate that you see on some rap CDs. Due to its abusive contents, the song was not played on any radio station in Kano, but became a hit -- gaining popularity through being transferred via bluetooth. Incidently Adam Zango was played the song, and he was reported (in Fim magazine November 2008) as saying that he doesn't mind, and that it is because he is worth it, that is why they are abusing him. That may be the case; but many would find it odd to be glorified with abuses, rather than praises.


Media technology has provided Hausa youth with the musical power to sustain some of the poetic invectives used by the traditional Hausa musicians and which often could be vicious (e.g. the line in Shata's Bakandamiya which lambasted kukuma music, and which Ahmadu Doka did not like, and became a basis for his own Bakandamiya -- and after which he stopped singing (alledgeby because of being "cursed" by Shata for daring to reply to Shata).

Poetic literary invective is nothing new in literature -- having been around since earliest times when writers and poets started putting their thoughts to paper. It is not likely to end either, because someone somewhere will always take an exception to what another artist does. It becomes worrying, however, when it becomes a standard conversational fare, thus taking people's attention from the creative genius of the poet, singer, or writer."...

[Italics added by me for emphasis]

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 10:37 AM

BINGO

Hausa lyrics:

Kin haifo jaki                        
Mawallafin asara                  
Da haihuwarsa, tsinanne         
Gwamma rashin da ne            
....

Bakin kare                              
Ka ce an daure ka don asara   
Ka ki bin dokoki                     
Dole ka sha dauri                  
Da kai da masu binka               
duk babbarTsinannu jakai
Mawallafin asara                     

Ka ce wai Gwamnan mu            
Na ta ci da gemu                     
Ka dakata ka ji mu                  
Ai ya fi dai ubanka                  
Mawallafin asara                     
Mai takama da muni                  
Da haihuwarka, tsinanne            
Gwamma zama ba bu


English translation [with my guesses about meaning in brackets and italics]
            
You have given birth an ass
Author of misfortune
Rather than giving birth to the cursed one
It is better to be childless

Black dog
You complained of being arrested, misfortuned one
You refused to obey the law
You must therefore be jailed
So you and your followers
........(censored!)    (er.. can go to blazes -- listen to the song, and you will understand!)
Cursed, assess [ass or asshole in colloquial American English?]

Author of misfortune
You said our Governor
Is making waves with his beard (promoting Islam)
Listen to us
He is better than your father
Author of misfortune
You who is preens in his ugliness
Your mother shouldn't given birth to you
Your non-birth is better than your existence

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Peace
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 10:55 AM

I just Wrote to AI and asked if Alhaji Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar was on their radar. (AI has no office in Nigeria.)

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 10:57 AM

thank you Azizi. I came to Mudcat to make another post on this thread because there is more news relayed by H-Net:

*Press Release*
At an emergency meeting held at the Bayero University Kano, today, July 8,2009, the Association of Nigerian Authors Kano State Branch frowns at thearrest of one of its members Alhaji Aminuddeen Ladan Abubakar (ALA) overthe alleged release of a song that has not been censored by the Kano State Censorship Board.

The Association is seriously looking at the implication of the arrest which is seen as an attack on liberty and freedom of expression. The Association has observed that the authorities in Kano are hostile to art and literature. This action and other past actions of the authorities are seriously undermining the position of Kano State as the leading centre oflearning, art and literature. The Association wishes to advise the authority to be cautious on the way it handles the matters of authors and other producers of art. Art andliterature are part and parcel of every society and no society can do without it.

Yours faithfully,
Dr. Yusuf M Adamu
Alh. Balarabe Sango II Branch Chairman/Public Relations Officer

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 11:50 AM

Thanks for taking that action, Bruce. And thanks for posting that update Felipa.

**

I admit that my interest in the words of these songs is more "folkloric" than political. I know that the limited folkloric study that I'm capable of doing isn't as important as the political ramifications/consequences of the actions reported via the Internet.

However, it's possible that other people may be curious about these songs as literary and sociological products. {I didn't add "musical" to that list because I've never heard these songs]. That said, I'm adding some thoughts that occurred to me about the song "Bingo".

Firstly, in that Net.com post, Abdalla Uba Adamu indicated that the [Hausa] song "Bingo" was recorded by the K-Boyz.

That name "K-Boyz" uses a speliing practice of substituting a "z" for an "s". I attribute this practice to hip-hop culture and I think this practice was influenced by the Phonics reading movement which was popular in the USA in the 1990s.

A popular early example of the "z" instead of "s" practice was the 1991 American movie Boyz N the Hood .

**

With regard to title of the Hausa song "Bingo", Abdalla Uba Adamu wrote "After listening to Zango's song, they [the K-Boyz] went to the studio and recorded a blistering counter-attack which they call Bingo. Bingo is a common name for a dog, and from my discussions with them (Hassan and Ibrahim as they are now), they said they use the word Bingo to refer to Adam Zango as a dog"...

-snip-

I'm assuming that when Adamu wrote that Bingo was a common name for a dog, he meant among the Hausas (or perhaps among all Nigerians).

It occurs to me that that name "Bingo" came from the American children's song "B I N G O".

The Mudcat Digital Tradition has this version of that well known song:

BINGO

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name, sir.
B-I-N-G-O,
B-I-N-G-O,
B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name, sir.

The farmers black dog sat on the back fence, etc.

The farmer's dog's at our back door
begging for a bone, O etc.

Note: As a kid's singing game, do any one verse,
and repeat it, each time silently mouthing one
more letter of the spelling.
@kids @camp @playparty

@displaysong.cfm?SongID=644

-snip-

I've only heard and read the first verse of this song. In my experience, after singing the words of that verse, that verse is repeated with one letter dropped from the spelling of the name "Bingo", as per that note. So for the second rendition, people sing would say "I-N-G-O" and the third time people sing "N-G-O" and so forth until the end when no letter is sung.

I find it interesting that this children's song may have influenced not only the naming practices for dogs in parts of (or all of) Nigeria, but also influenced the composition of a politically charged African "Rap" song.

**

I'm wondering if the reference in that Hausa "Bingo" to "black dog" is an in-racial* putdown of Adama's dark complexion [if indeed he is dark complected. I've never seen a photo of him]/

*by in-racial I mean Black people insulting [putting down] another Black person because of his or her dark skin color.

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 09 - 12:01 PM

This is really isn't important. But the version of
"B I N G O" that I know we sung "And Bingo was his name o" and not "And Bingo was his name, sir".

Also, I read this sentence in Adama's post this way "from my discussions with them (Hassan and Ibrahim as they are now called)".

Subject: RE: 11 Hausa songs banned in Kano, Nigeria
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Feb 10 - 06:06 PM

musa mohammed
SOKOTO

i wonder if songs are the major problems. the same politicians pay to be praised through songs (at their family weddings and the like). they (the politicians) engage in homosexuality,rituals,assasination (character and otherwise). they act hypocritically. they pretend, they encourage corruption,hate crimes,thuggery kai! ME NE BASUYI?

---

Spammers have occupied this thread for years. If you wish to post musical content, as a moderator to reopen it for you. ---mudelf