I am a journalist with over a decade of experience in the field. Over the past years, I have filed my stories from the remote alleys of Dutse to the busy offices of Kano. From technology, insecurity, business, and economic change to the daily routines of people within this country, I have covered it all.
However, the ever-unfolding story, the one that I definitely didn’t intend to write, is the way in which the press has a tendency to oversimplify and inaccurately portray the North as I know it.
I am a Northerner.
A Muslim.
A Hausa man.
And too often, in headlines about the nation, these three things function as a warning label rather than a definition of identity.
“The North I know is textured and human.”
It is the leather craftsman in Kano who is the embodiment of histories prior to the colonial maps.
It is about youth in a Gombe discussing football ahead of the next Kano Pillars game.
It is during vigorous discussions in the common room at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where students analyse inflationary trends with the same confidence with which they engage in philosophical discourse.
There is always a lot of ambition, energy, and activity in the region in real life, but this version never passes the editing process. Why? You should also ask.
Where Nuance is Absent
When a conflict breaks out between herders and farmers, the conversation automatically drifts towards ethnicity despite the evidence presented by researchers and field correspondents about climate change, dwindling grazing routes, lack of policing, and political manipulation being key drivers of these conflicts.
However, the headline often condenses all this information into one phrase: “Fulani Herdsmen unleash terror.”
“Labels become identities, and identities become accusations.”
However, examples opposing the stereotype rarely circulate among the general public:
The girls from Nigerian Tulip International College (NTIC), Kano, emerged winners of the National SUN Coding Geeks Challenge in 2024 in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Cybersecurity, and Internet of Things among others.
The Women Venture Studio Digital Innovation Hub, located in Kano, is an enabler of women in the fields of technology, fashion, and creative entrepreneurship, with mentorship, training, and access to physical and online workspaces offered with European Union funding and supported by ANWE and the Northwest University Kano.
Amana Inclusive Technology Initiative provides coding, artificial intelligence, and computer literacy education for disadvantaged groups with programming offered in local languages to equip youths and women for international and local employment opportunities.
“These stories ‘are not marginal ones. This shows a region developing, working on itself, and fully participating in the future of the nation.’”
What Journalists Should Do Differently
For us to get fair and accurate reporting, the first step is purposeful storytelling.
Avoid clichés: There is always a complexity beyond ethnicity and religious identity driving a conflict. Consider who is controlling the territory and who is best served by a new climate reality?
Vary your sources: Northerners include economists, technologists, artists, researchers, and entrepreneurs. They can talk about matters concerning the nation, such as inflation and innovational matters rather than just ‘Northern concerns.’
Mind your language: For example, words with a hidden bias may be ‘despite,’ ‘conservative,’ or ‘backward.’ Bias may whisper rather than shout itself in your face.
Treat success and failure with the same emphasis:
Tech hubs
Technology
Manufacturing cooperatives
Girls’ coding teams
“If a technology hub, a manufacturing cooperative, or a girls’ coding group appears, this is just as much a national story as a security briefing.”
A Region Larger Than Its Headlines
The North is not a problem needing a solution. It is a region within this society where innovation and problem solving, hardship and hope, conflict and creativity co-exist a reality for the rest of society too.
As a region, the North is being stereotyped, and this stereotyping reduces an entire region of the population to a single characterization, which leads readers astray and reinforces an already precarious divergence within national policy.
With over a decade of experience in my field, my key message is: ‘If we let stereotypes guide us in our news, we’re no longer journalists.’ A truer story is owed to Nigeria. And a truer story owes the North a story that captures not just a headline but a full chapter in the story of this nation.
Abubakar SD writes from Kano and can be reached via [email protected].
