75 years in Osogbo: Sarkin Fulani’s story of migration & settlement

Babatunde Salihu is tall and well over 100 years old and it can be said that he is the most prominent figure in Sadiat, a large quarter in Osogbo, capital of the state of Osun, and there are quite a number of imposing buildings in this part of the capital.

His voice is clear, his eyes  glow  and he  cracks   jokes  from time to time as we look at the last 75 years of his life. With 6 wives, 25 children and more than 50 grandchildren he qualifies to be called a patriarch and his sitting room gives this impression, what with numerous offspring seated all around as the interview unfolds. Some come dashing  in and out of the room,  and  the  rapid question and answer session lasts all of 40 minutes. He cannot remember when he was turbanned Sarkin Fulani or King/leader of the Fulani in the state.

However, there are no laws in Nigeria which state that he must remember the date. But he says that the turbanning   happened ‘a long time ago’. He is the first Sarkin Fulani of Osogbo and traces his roots to Ilorin, Kwara State. There is a tendency for nomads in the latter location to cross over to Osun in the endless search for  pasture for their cattle, and all nomads are caught in this continual  cycle of movement wherever they may be, leading to a large mass of stock routes all over the country. Many  nomads hail from distant places and have made a home for themselves in their new locations which they  fully embrace, mastering the language and culture of their hosts in the process. This is very true of many of them who live in the state.

Alhaji Garba Usman, Chairman Osun state Cow Dealers and Breeders Association who is present during the interview, comments  on this “We have many places where cows can graze here. This explains why Fulani are many in the state. There is fertile ground here, and Osun is a natural magnet for nomads.” Unlike Sarki, he  was born in Osogbo. But like the Sarki, his children also married from  the Yoruba, and his brothers also did the same. He adds “Because of mutual understanding and harmony exhibited by Fulani and Yoruba, business here is doing well” saying  “If you bring 2 cows to Osun, within 2-3 years  they  will multiply. This is also because the soil and weather here are good.”

But many years  of life in Osogbo sit gently  upon Sarki’s frame, for he doesn’t look a hundred, and he repeats that he hails from Ilorin, which comes like a paradox, given his obvious affection for Osogbo. One sign of this affection is  the fact that he practically built the whole of Sadiat where he and his children have many houses, and the main street there is named after him. His  large  house also looks onto the long thoroughfare appropriately named Babatunde Seriki Fulani Street, Osogbo.

“Five kings have reigned in Osogbo. I have lived here for 75 years, and I  witnessed the entire duration of their  reigns,” he adds with some pride  emphasising that he was very close to late Oba Adenle. Commenting on the  experience when he first arrived   the area where he was to settle “At that time the whole of Sadiat  was a thick bush. My cows will go to graze in the morning and come back by themselves in the evening, for there was nobody to challenge them. After I settled here and the area began to expand, anyone  who wished  to build a house had to consult me. When  people  wish to sell a house, they also had to contact me. I became an intermediary between the vendors and the buyers, and this also created a mutual understanding between both groups.”

He explains “There has never been a time when there was a misunderstanding. When any of them want to build a house, they normally keep the cement  and other items in my custody.” On  his fluency in Yoruba, he says that he was already speaking the language while he was in Ilorin. He recalls “All my children were born here. I got married in Ilorin, shortly thereafter  I came to settle in Osogbo. But I was speaking Yoruba  as well as Fulfulde right there in Ilorin.”

He shows why all his children came to bear Yoruba names “When I came here I had no Fulani neighbours. There were only Yorubas around me, and we became very close. Then, I reciprocated their behaviour by giving my children Yoruba names. The Alfas invited to name the children at that time were Yoruba. So, I naturally preferred giving them Yoruba names.” He says that today if there are any disputes between Yoruba and Fulani in the state, these are easily resolved. His words “It is not possible for people to live together without any misunderstanding, but when these occur they are settled.”

Wale Olafare, who is also on the executive of the Cow breeders Association, speaks fondly of his relationship with the Fulani which spans many years “The more you make friends with them, the more they like you. I started as a butcher, then I became a dealer and then I began to rear cows.” He salutes the spirit of oneness often exhibited by the Fulani “If one of them has a problem, all the others rally round him. When you have a problem, they believe that they too have a problem and they  try to help. That’s their nature. If you are celebrating, they rejoice with you.”

On the way he coordinates the various Fulani communities in the state, Sarki  adds “In each local government, I appoint a leader who is under my control and he reports back to me.” One  can speak of  a chain of  sorts  linking the centre with all the Ardos in the state. If cows enter someones farm “we call the owner of the farm and compensate him. There is  never an  occasion here of any of the conflicting sides resorting to the use of guns or cutlasses, as we find elsewhere in the country.”

There are some 25,000 Fulani in the state, but Sarki says that this figure shifts on account of the ceaseless waves of migration among the nomads with some leaving and another group entering the state with their cattle. Finally, he opines that once you live with people you are bound to have differences, “but perseverance and patience help whenever  these moments of tension  emerge.”