Hon. Hannatu Musa Musawa, Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, has emphasized her Fulani heritage while strongly dissociating her community from criminal elements operating under the guise of herders.
In an interview on Mic on Podcast, the minister described her personal connection to traditional pastoral life.
“I’ve got my stick as well, even though I don’t use it. I do have my sheep. I have my cows. I’ve got my chickens, but a lot more sheep and cows,” Musawa shared. “I’m a real herds woman but not a Fulani bandit.”
The minister clarified her identity and addressed the growing association between Fulani herders and criminal activities in Nigeria.
“A Fulani herds woman, because those bandits are a new phenomenon,” she stated. “This was not the reputation of Fulanis when we were younger, this has become a very unfortunate—very recent trend that seems to have spread very widely.”
Musawa insisted that the criminal activities currently attributed to some individuals identifying as Fulani herders do not represent the authentic character of her community.
“But this is not a reflection of who we are as a people in my community,” she concluded.
Her comments address the ongoing security challenges in Nigeria where banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling have been linked to armed groups operating in rural areas, sometimes identified as herders, leading to ethnic tensions and negative stereotyping of Fulani communities.
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