My name is Idris Hamza Yana. I was born in Yana, Bauchi state in the Muslim-dominated northern part of Nigeria. Some people get confused because my surname is the same with my hometown. Well, that is part of the colonial legacy we inherited whereby children enrolled in a centralised school, from different parts of a locality, were named with their villages for easy identification. I am Fulani by tribe. Fulani people constitute one of the largest (if not the largest) tribes in west and central Africa. They are commonly found in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Senegal, The Gambia and Togo. I speak Hausa and understand Fulfulde (also called Fula). As a child, I used to attend primary and Islamic schools on weekdays and shepherd goats on weekends. There are three different seasons in where I grew up: rainy, hot and harmattan. Rainy season lasts for about five months. Then harmattan will gradually creep in with its stinging cold and dusty air. The temperature sometimes drops to less than ten degrees Hot season precedes rainy season and it’s the time when farmers begin preparation. Sometimes the temperature reaches up to forty-five degrees during hot season. I am currently doing my PhD in the Department of English, University of Exeter. The focus of my research is the place and involvement of women in pre- and post-independence Kenyan politics. My interest is on the participation of women in the social, political, cultural and economic spheres of the society.
Son of Essence
I am a son
Of essence and substance
Dweller of the Sahel
Canvasser of the Sahara
Climber of the Mountains
Explorer of the Rivers
I am a son
Of winds and hurricanes
Of dews and dusts
Of mists and fogs
Of sweats and tears
Of laughters and cheers
I am a son
To Adamu and Adama
To Shaka and Sundiata
To Jaja and Fodio
To Mumbi and Gikonyo
To Amina and Opemsoo
I am a son
Of a man
And a woman
A human
So real
So dark
I am a son of essence
©Idris Yana