Ramadan, Nigerian Style
The holy month of Ramadan, which started last Thursday, is a unique month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Apart from the conventional abstinence from eating, drinking, sex and other social engagements during the day, Muslims are encouraged to increase their acts of worship by remaining steadfast to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
While it’s the norm among Muslim faithful in various parts of the world to maintain strict observance of religious etiquettes during the month-long fasting season, Nigerians have devised various means, using cultural displays, to spice up the period while at the same time maintaining their religious obligation. While television and other forms of modern engagements have taken over social life in the cities, in rural areas, cultural activities, passed on from one generation to another, are still practised.
On the religious side of things, mosques are now filled to the brim and busy with different acts of worship, the most been the interpretation of the Qur’an (tafseer) by various scholars. For a long while now, one prominent feature of Ramadan in Nigeria is the organization of pre-Ramadan and Ramadan lecture series by various Islamic organizations and clerics. Topical issues like sharia, human rights, Islam and peace, terrorism, communal harmony among others are discussed by local and foreign scholars. Roads in major towns and cities are somewhat free from 7:00 p.m., shortly after Muslims rush home to break their fast. Because the fasting period offers an opportunity for families to bond over meals, family members regulate their movements to ensure they eat the pre-dawn meal (sahur) and also to break the fast (iftar) in group.
In many parts of Nigeria, youth groups create one form of social activity or the other to create fun as members of the society wind down following the day’s struggles. In the North, a prominent event is Tashe. The word is coined from the Hausa word for waking people from sleep. The target of such activities are bachelors whose married friends feel may not be able to wake up at 3.00am for the pre-dawn meals and the long prayers offered deep into the night.
Peer groups organise themselves into musical groups, moving from one door to another singing in local dialects while mocking their unmarried friends. The aim is to as to wake them for the sahur. Among the local instruments used by the groups are drums known locally as ganga and garaya while others use local flutes known as algaita. They move in groups of five to seven, and usually belong to the same age bracket. One of the popular songs goes thus: Gwauro Tashi ka ci abinci ( Bachelor wake up for the pre-dawn meal) Gwauro asuba tayi (Bachelor it is sahur time) In kayi fushi kayi aure (If you are angry, go get married).
For the much younger jesters, waking up that early is difficult, as such, their own time of entertainment comes after the Ishai prayers, when Muslims have concluded their religious obligations for the day and are relaxing at home. The groups normally dress in different local costumes and carry out one stage activity or the other. Some will dance to various beats while others will act short drama to depict a character or make jest of some one.
Not all the groups keep large numbers. Others move about in a convoy of two to four people, while others do it alone. Surprisingly, no one seems to be angry if singled out by the jesters.
In other parts of the country, such local musicians have risen to national and international prominence with the brand of music coined during Ramadan. In the South West, a prominent feature is the usage of a unique music called weere or eji saari (Yoruba for “wake up for sahur”) during the period to awaken the spirit of the Muslims during the sahur.
The eji saari musical groups gather themselves with the bembe drums and sing to awaken Muslims very early in the morning for sahur. The musical groups, usually consisting of three to seven members, move from one house to the other to wake the Muslims for nafl prayers and having the meal. Usually, they wake specific people by calling their name, and ask them to rise to say their prayers and to take the sahur meal. Women, too, are called through the names of their children, to wake and prepare the meal for the sahur. The eji saari music in the SouthWestern part of Nigeria has developed over the years to weere music, whereby competitions were organised in various areas from the 1940s through to the 1980s.
Winners at these competitions in Ibadan, Osogbo, Abeokuta, Lagos, and other major towns became great Muslim musicians. Such include Alhaji Dauda Epoakara at Ibadan who styled his music as awurebe, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister who calls his music Fuji — a name derived from a Japanese advertisement. Other Fuji exponents that came out of the Ramadan music are Shefiu Ayinde Kadoso in Abeokuta, Alhaji Kolawole Ayinla (a.k.a. Kebe n’Kwara), Wasiu Ayinde, and many more. Various Islamic musical groups in Nigeria also developed from this weere and eji saari music. Such include Abdullahi Akinbode, Waheed Ariyo, Wasiu Sadiq, and many more.
Despite the sophistication of the mass media through radio and television programs, the eji saari music is still relevant in the rest of Nigeria up to the northern states, as the small musical groups still move about in the night to wake people. Their services are appreciated by Muslims who provide them monetary gifts, food items, clothing, and other materials. Some Muslim leaders make it a point of duty to give them their sahur every day after they have moved round the town.
Many growing up in our clime remember the Ramadan activities with fond memories. While the intensity from days gone by may have reduced due to security challenges and the impact of modernity, the significance of such social engagements are not lost to us. If there’s one place I would want to be in this holy season, it’s my village.