By Saad Umar
I found the description of Rarara (the greatest Hausa Muse of all time) as an “unethical singer” and “unprincipled” etc by Abdallah Uba Adamu, in his professorial invective, titled above and appearing on PRNigeria.com, wrong, demeaning and hypocritical. Is it really right to reduce Rarara to an unscrupulous, avaricious insulter, abuser and body-shamer?
The real person that ought to be termed unethical is a writer who appeared to have lifted sentences, word for word, from literaryterms.net to define “invective” as if they were his. “If you did not write it yourself; you must give credit”, else it may be seen as plagiarism – the worst scholarly crime.
When someone of Abdallah’s standing engages in what seemed to be plagiarism, he automatically loses the moral rights to accuse Rarara of being unethical even if one assumes he is. It’s a case of “let him who is without sin cast the first stone”. Or if you are coming to equity, come with clean hands. Rarara isn’t unethical or unprincipled. Abdallah misunderstood him.
Rarara is not just an accomplished singer; he is a politician, a professional and a genius, much more than the immoral mercenary that some say he is. Is Rarara solely singing for money? How much did Buhari pay him for the thousand songs he sang for him? Not a single kobo. Rarara earns his fees. It’s ethical. But he is not after money. “If you go after money it will finish one day and leave you with the people.” (Rarara, Daily trust 19 September 2020).
BBC Hausa, on 21 October 2021, reported Rarara rejected half a billion Naira to stop singing for Buhari. ₦500 million cash! Buhari will never give anyone that amount. Where would he get that kind of money from? Well, unless his friends, boys or family who appear filthy rich now will lend him. Sorry I digress.
Rarara is a Buharist for Buhari’s trustworthiness and honesty, not for money. He said that much in the BBC interview. The songs were for the love of the country, APC and Buhari who we all believed was the Messiah – he isn’t. He has many flaws. For instance, Buhari’s handling of the security leaves a lot to be desired.
Katsina, the home state of both Buhari and Rarara is burdened by banditry. Bothered, Rarara respectfully requested Buhari to do more in securing the state. That’s the gist of “Matsalar tsaro”. Professor calls it “insult”. Rarara spoke out for the truth. He has every right to complain even though Buhari is a friend. To borrow a Latin phrase, amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas, Buhari is Rarara’s friend, but truth is a better friend.
Indeed, Matsalar tsaro wasn’t an insult to “a former friend or associate” but a patriotic call to action directed at a friendly but failing commander-in-chief. Holding a friend in power to account is a rare saintly virtue the kind Rarara exhibited in that patriotic song. And that doesn’t look like “kicking them when they are down”. Buhari is up in the sky; Rarara’s down below, his legs can’t kick headhigh.
In other instances, like in “Malam ya ci kuɗin makamai”, helpless and hapless Rarara (on behalf of us) was singing, naming and shaming corrupt public officials and their cronies who were accused of stealing security funds from the office of the NSA. It is a form of public accountability in a country with a judiciary that’s widely perceived to be corrupt and unable to hold big fish to account.
Besides, zambo (invective) is tolerated if not celebrated in our culture. By the way, song is song. Musicians like Shata and Ɗankwairo were masters of invective. Listen to ‘Gagarabadau’, for example, to see whether there’s anything comparable to any of Rarara’s songs. Ɗankwairo in ‘Ɗan Madami Ali Baba’ and ‘Sardauna jikan Sule’ used sweet words of praise like “wawa”, “mai kunnen ƙashi” “ɗan ƙwaya” “mai tafiyar kura’ to describe the villains in the songs. Well, that’s insulting, abusive, body-shaming. Let’s burn their houses and insult their mothers, à la anti Rarara mob. But have you heard anyone utter uff to Shata or Ɗankwairo? We still celebrate them.
Therefore, it’s puzzling to see Prof seemingly feeding a narrative explaining or justifying harm to Rarara’s body, property, family, business and citizenship as warranted poetic justice. Instead of condemning attacks on Rarara’s mother he appears as condoning it or at best indifferent to it. To him it’s a revenge well served. Sad.
Further, if there’s morality in politics, (Lenin thinks not) political invective is moral. It’s the nectar of free speech in the glands of politics. All politicians do it. Abraham Lincoln was ethical but was known for his verbal skinning. Hilary Clinton with her “basket of deplorables” was a good girl though Trump called her crooked Hillary.
Remember Rarara is a politician too. So his words, even if in songs, are political invective. And it’s true that he sometimes stinged his associates, like the Ganduje jibe in Lema ta sha ƙwaya. But this is nothing more than a ‘tongue and teeth disagreement’ – a friendly fire. It is normal. Never received a dime for it.
More, American media fully embrace political invective: are they amoral? We shouldn’t be different. I see a parallel in Rarara’s ‘Banza bakwai’ and “the seven dwarfs”, the American media tag for the then seven Democratic presidential aspirants as reported in the Washington Post of 11 October 1987. Basically, Banza bakwai is a Jihad of a loyal party man, who can sing, in defence of his party against disgruntled comrades intent on factionalizing Kano APC. I excuse any literalist who didn’t see that.
Furthermore, in most of the sponsored songs, Rarara is working as a professional akin to a lawyer. Lawyers can go to town in court. Opponents’ credibility is a fair game. A lawyer can throw the kitchen sink at his adversaries in the service of his client. A Cicero can abuse if the facts are not on his side. And, who says a lawyer cannot appear against a prior client? Perfectly ethical. That’s exactly true for professional political singers.
Talking about lawyering, Abdallah, in the piece, wears his wig and gown and assumed legal expertise to describe Rarara’s songs as defamatory. Giving sound legal advice is beyond his calling. His Invisible instigation of litigation against Rarara’s “invective defamation” is uncalled for. Politicians and public officials must know that they are held to a higher standard and must be more tolerant to criticism. No reasonable judge will usually find Rarara’s songs defamatory. Therefore, they should take Prof’s ‘legal advice’ with a pinch of salt, he is no lawyer.
Having said that, it’s high time to accord due regard to our poets. They pay their dues. Gifted singers like Rarara compare with any intellectual in terms of value. They shouldn’t be demeaned. And, if life is about pursuit of happiness, (the greatest value for me) many find it in Rarara and his songs. Certainly, they make us happier than the nihilistic, arrogant, sex for marks, disgraceful intellectuals and their boring, fancy-worded dogon turanci. (Not referring to Prof here)
Lastly, as long as Rarara will sing – for the APC; for we the masses; for the country; and against erring politicians – we’ll continue clapping, singing, dancing and sanctifying his songs. Nothing else matters.
Saad is the Deputy Chairman of APC Publicity Committee, Bauchi State and former Director-General of BASEPA. [email protected].
