By Bello Bala Shagari
In the face of growing insecurity in Nigeria, we are not only losing lives and property, we are also losing our grip on history and heritage. One disturbing development is the widening ethnic rift between Hausa and Fulani communities, whose unity once gave rise to the powerful Sokoto Caliphate following the jihad of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio.
Today, that unity is under threat, not just from banditry, but from deliberate historical distortions. Increasingly, we hear the claim that Dan Fodio’s jihad was nothing more than a Fulani conquest of the Hausa. This narrative is not only inaccurate; it is rooted in colonial propaganda designed to divide us.
What’s even more troubling is that even northern intellectuals are falling into this trap. Once a bandit is labeled “Fulani,” the average urban Fulani begins to feel targeted. Some feel forced to defend their ethnic identity, which can be mistaken as a defense of criminality. Others lash out in return, blaming Hausas for stereotyping — all of which leads to dangerous tribal name-calling. In this way, even well-meaning people can unwittingly aid the agenda of division, all in the name of tribal ego.
Let’s not forget: it was colonial education that first tried to recast the jihad as ethnic warfare. Around 2013, I came across a book co-authored by Jean Boyd, a respected historian, and my grandfather Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who himself was a former history teacher. The book warned of how early colonial narratives deliberately stripped Shehu Dan Fodio of his role as an Islamic reformer, painting him instead as a tribal warlord so as to weaken the influence of Islam in the region. This distortion explains, in part, the early northern suspicion of “Boko” or Western education.
As Boyd and Shagari rightly wrote: “The jihad united Fulani, Hausa, and others under a shared Islamic reform agenda. Colonialists recast this as ethnic strife to justify divide-and-rule policies.”
The historical record supports this. While Dan Fodio was Fulani, his followers and lieutenants included Hausas, Tuaregs, and others. Aliyu Jedo, a key military commander, was Hausa. Malam Musa of Zazzau and Yakubu of Bauchi, both flag bearers of the jihad, were not Fulani either.
Even Hugh Clapperton, the first British explorer to reach Sokoto in 1824, met Sultan Muhammad Bello, Dan Fodio’s son, and described the Sokoto Caliphate as a just, well-organized, and intellectually vibrant Islamic state. He also noted the Sultan’s cooperation with Hausa elites, reinforcing the fact that the caliphate was not an ethnic project, but a moral and religious one.
We must be careful not to allow present-day insecurity, especially the violent crimes of some rural Fulani bandits, to shape how we view the past. The crimes of today’s criminals should not be used to rewrite the legacies of those who fought for justice, knowledge, and religious renewal centuries ago.
The Sokoto Caliphate should be a source of national pride, just like the Hausa civilizations before it, the empires of Borno, Oyo, Ife, and Benin. It was vast, sophisticated, and left a rich legacy of Islamic scholarship and governance. The legacy of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio did not stop at Nigeria’s borders — it inspired Islamic reform, political movements, and intellectual traditions across West Africa and beyond.
You often hear claims that Usman Dan Fodio claimed to have brought Islam to Nigeria. That is nothing short of an exhibition of ignorance. Islam had already been present in parts of Nigeria as early as the 11th century, particularly in regions like Kanem-Bornu and the Hausa states, long before Dan Fodio’s time.
To put it in perspective: just as democracy didn’t begin in Nigeria in 1999 but was revived then, Dan Fodio did not introduce Islam; he revived it and reformed our systems. His mission was to purify the faith, correct societal injustices, and establish an Islamic state grounded in justice and learning. He was a reformer, not a founder, and he went on to establish the Sokoto Caliphate, one of the most enduring and influential Islamic empires in West Africa.
Yes, today’s insecurity is real. Yes, many of its perpetrators are Fulani by ethnicity. But we must not confuse ethnicity with ideology or history. The Fulani bandits of today are attacking not just Hausa communities, but also other Fulani and rural dwellers who also suffer in silence. Their actions are not a continuation of the Sokoto Caliphate — they are a betrayal of everything it stood for.
Rather than turn on each other, we must understand that our real enemies are the decades of neglect and the failure of leadership. The sooner we stop searching for scapegoats in history and start addressing the root causes of our current crisis, the better.
We must not become the agents of historical distortion, nor should we let tribal emotions blind us to the truth. The legacy of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio is one of justice, reform, and unity — not division. Let us remember that.
I will leave you with this quote by George Orwell, who once wrote:
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
Let us not become complicit in the erasure or distortion of our own heritage.
Bello Bala Shagari, writes from Abuja. Email: [email protected]
