Wrestling, games and belonging

In his studies of Yauri Emirate and the Hausa quarter of Sabon Gari in Ibadan, Salamone shows how sports and games help people feel part of a community. In Ibadan, Hausa wrestling matches were held on Friday afternoons after mosque, bringing together young men of the Hausa community and recruiting newcomers, including youths from other ethnic groups living in the Hausa-dominated area.

The point of his analysis is that identity is not simply inherited: it is repeatedly practised and performed through events like these. Wrestling is “a metaphor for Hausa identity”, a way of saying that unity is both a pleasure and a protection in a city where Hausa people are a minority.

The same research looks at community leadership. In Sabon Gari of Ibadan the Hausa community was represented by a Waziri, a title borrowed from the old emirate courts, who protected the group in dealings with the Yoruba authorities and mediated disputes under Islamic law. The Waziri’s authority rested on the community’s support, and the community’s protection in turn depended on his skill.

These accounts come from the 1970s–1990s; the details will have changed, but the principle, that community leaders exchange protection for loyalty, is still seen in Hausa quarters across West Africa (see the chapter on the Diaspora).