By Henry Akubuiro
The sixth edition of Taskar Tatsuniyoyi audio/ video derived from Bukar Usman published folktales in Hausa language, is now available on YouTube for the viewership and listening pleasure of audiences in Nigeria, West Africa and beyond who understand Hausa language. Uploaded on December 22, 2014, the video is a vote for oral tradition and an appreciation of Africa’s cultural heritage.
In the YouTube English description of the video, Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi, the Editor-in-Chief of Taskar Gizago magazine, says: “Folktale (Tatsuniya) is one of the best mediums of education, awareness and entertainment to more especially the children in Hausaland and Africa in general. It is a means of instilling discipline, shaping the minds of younger ones in the olden days.
“Dr. Bukar Usman, OON, has collected more than 1000 folktales and published a compendium titled Tatsuniyoyi (Reservoir of Folktales), in order to preserve African literature in one hand and to educate, entertain the younger ones in one hand and to educate, entertain the younger ones in the other. This is episode 6 of Taskar Tatsuniyoyi audio/video on YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook and other social media platforms.” Bukar Usman is the current President, Nigerian Folklore Society.
In his prefatory note on People, Animals, Spirits and Objects (1000 FOLK Stories of Nigeria), published in 2018 by the Bukar Usman Foundation, Usman informed that the Foundation found it necessary to embark on a folktale research for quite a number of reasons: “Research shows that colonialists, foreign missionaries and anthropologists derived a lot of benefits in understanding communities from the study of folktales. One of such is the testimony of Albert D. Helser, an American, who was among the foreign pioneer missionaries who brought Christianity to the Babur/Bura community of Borno State in North-East Nigeria. He published 55 folktales he gathered from the area.”
Given the dearth of reading materials for children based on familiar environment, Usman recommends, “It’s expected that the tale collected and many more should be further processed into drama, movies, animations and cartoons for education and entertainment purposes, using modern technology and the new media which currently engage the rapt attention of children.”