A Hausa socio-political activist, Aliyu Shuaibu has sparked a debate after sharing a video on his Facebook page, where he declared that Hausa people living in Plateau State are also indigenes of the state contrary to long-held belief that the Hausas are settlers and visitors and not indigenous to the state.
Shuaibu, who has been in the forefront of clamour for the government and citizens of the state to recognize the Hausa tribe as bona fide indigenous people of Plateau like other tribes, noting that just as other ethnic groups came from other other places to settle in the state and became known as indigenes, so did the Hausas also come and as such, they should be regarded as indigenous people as well.
Shuaibu insisted that the Hausa people did not come to Plateau to seize lands or positions, but are part of the soul of the state, having contributed a lot to its development.
He added that since they cannot be regarded as outsiders, all they demand is fairness, recognition, and the right to belong to the place where they have lived, worked, and contributed for generations.
“First and foremost, I want to address the people of Plateau State, especially those who are not Hausas. When people say Hausa, it has nothing to do with the Islamic religion,” the activist said in the video.
“There are many Hausa people who are not Muslims. Also, there are many people of different ethnic groups in Plateau who are Muslims and that does not mean they are Hausa. On this score, I can say we meet them on religious levels and not on tribal levels.
“Earlier, I made some posts on Facebook concerning some issues of indigeneship in Plateau where I raised salient points on who an indigene is.
“Many people misinterpreted my posts and attacked me. So I decided to make this video to clarify what I said.
“For some time now, we have been holding peaceful protests seeking our rights in Plateau State, but our protests have never been about being seen as indigenes. That is far from it. We are not begging to be recognized as indigenes because we are indigenes of Plateau.
“Those who keep saying they are the real indigenes of Plateau, I want to ask you: did you fall from the sky or did you just wake up and find yourself here? Didn’t your forefathers migrate to Plateau from somewhere?
‘You came from some other places to settle in Plateau State. There are so many tribes and ethnic groups in Plateau and we Hausas also want to be recognized as indigenes. We are not asking for a land to settle on to be seen as indigenes.
“There is nothing we are seeking from you people. If it is kingship, we are not after that; if it is positions in government, we are not interested in them because there is nothing you can give us.
“All we want is for us to be treated as equals just like other ethnic groups are treated.
“The Hausa people did not come to seize lands or positions in Plateau State. We are not outsiders in Plateau State – we are part of the soul of Plateau State.
“All we demand is fairness, recognition, and the right to belong where we have lived, worked, and contributed for generations. Justice is not a favor; it is our right,” Shuaibu declared.
