March 31 marked a historic milestone for Niger as the military-ruled West African nation became the first in the continent to constitutionally adopt Hausa as its national language, de-emphasising the relevance of French, the country’s long-standing official language.
The refoundation charter notifying this major shift in Niger's linguistic landscape contained a declaration that English would be a working language alongside French, whose primacy had remained unchallenged since 1922.
The constitutional amendment came just over a month after a commission appointed by the government recommended a minimum five-year window to transition to electoral democracy, based on what the administration termed a "national dialogue".
Soon after the July 2023 putsch that led to President Mohamed Bazoum's ouster, Niger's government had proposed a three-year timeline to return to civilian rule.
Adopting Hausa as the country's national language was among the key recommendations to emerge from the national dialogue in Niamey, where delegates convened this February to chart a new course for Niger's future.
Analysts see the move as a continuation of the path chosen by the transitional administration led by General Abdourahmane Tiani. The period since the military takeover has been marked by a series of measures primarily meant to break free of neo-colonial influence.
Niger has expelled French and American troops, renamed streets and monuments that bore French names, and withdrawn from the regional bloc ECOWAS to form the Alliance of Sahel States or AES with Mali and Burkina Faso.
Nationalistic sentiment
According to Dr Alamuna Nuhu of the linguistics department at Nigeria's Kaduna State University, the switch to Hausa was waiting to happen.
"Hausa has reclaimed its heritage as the symbol of national unity for the Niger people. Historically, Hausa has defined the socio-cultural identity of the areas that now form modern-day Niger," he tells TRT Afrika.
"Hausa has been an integral part of Niger's national identity and the broader West African region. But it has only now been recognised as the language of the motherland."
As both a native tongue and link language, Hausa is spoken across a dozen countries in West, Central, and North Africa, including Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
Recently, Niger, along with Mali and Burkina Faso — also former French colonies now governed by juntas — exited the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a post-colonial French language community.
While it took Niger 65 years post-independence to replace French with Hausa as the national language, English being given the status of French's administrative equal as a working language is just as significant as the 20-month-old military government seeks to redefine the country's foundations with a focus on inclusion and consensus.
Ethnic melting pot
The Hausa Day is celebrated internationally every year mainly by the Hausa people both at home and in diaspora.
Niger is a multilingual nation with a population of under 30 million, speaking over a dozen languages. Hausa is the most widely spoken, followed by languages like Zarma-Songhay, Fulfulde, Kanuri, Gourmanché, and Arabic.
Ironically, French being the official language of Niger for so long did little to expand its reach.
By selecting Hausa as the national language, which is spoken by an estimated 100 to 150 million people in many countries, Niger may have projected itself as the heart of the ancient Hausa land.
"This is a noble decision that elevates Hausa to the status of Swahili in Eastern African countries, such as Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda," Prof Abdallah Uba Adamu of Bayero University in northern Nigeria's Kano tells TRT Afrika.
He credits the late Prof Muhammad Hambali Jinju, a renowned Nigerien scholar of Hausa, with seeing the shift coming.
Jinju had apparently predicted recognition for the Hausa language in 1990.
"It is incumbent on Niger Republic and the Federal Republic of Nigeria to work towards elevating the status of Hausa to that of a nationwide language of administration and instruction," Prof Adamu quotes Jinju as saying back then.
More than a tongue
Sociolinguists define a national language as one deeply tied to a nation's people, often spoken by a majority whose identity is historically linked to it.
“A national language is the flagship of a community with a collective heritage," explains Dr Nuhu.
In contrast, an official language is used for formal communication and may not be indigenous, often a colonial language like English, French, or Portuguese.
Many countries have a de facto lingua franca that is spoken by the majority. When such a language gains official status, it can be designated as a national or official language at the national or federal level.
Dr Nuhu sees Hausa's elevation in Niger to the status of national language as a reaffirmation that it can no longer be looked at as a regional or minority language.
The academic also highlights the potential benefits for other African nations in moving away from colonial languages that represent what he sees as the shackles of "perpetual colonialism against the psyche of the African people".
