Alhaji Umaru Danjuma Katsina (a.k.a. Kasagi) is one of the leading Hausa dramatists of our time. The 1980s television drama called ‘Kasagi’, which ran for eight years under the sponsorship of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), made Katsina a household name nationwide as its main character.
He worked with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, for several years and retired as Director of History and Culture Bureau, Katsina state.
Apart from being an A-list actor, Kasagi is also a playwright. He is also well known as the author of two plays, “Kulba Na Barna” and “Ai Ga Irin Ta Nan”, both published by the Northern Nigerian Publishing Company (NNPC) Limited, Zaria. The books have been on the hausa syllabus of primary schools in the North for over 25 years. “Kulba Na Barna” was also adapted into a movie produced by the Nigerian Film Corporation and featuring Bilkisu Labaran, formerly of the BBC Hausa service, and it won an award at a film festival abroad.
In spite of his accomplishments, however, Kasagi believes that government has treated him unfairly because he is not “properly recognised” or honoured for his contributions to national development through his vocation of drama.
In this interview with Blueprint’s HAMIDU SABO in Katsina at the weekend, Kasagi laments how he was neglected and dumped by government after making the country proud
When did you start acting?
I started acting in ‘Kasagi’ drama shortly after I returned from England in 1980. Coincidently, there was a scheduled programme of ‘Kasagi’ on the Nigerian Television Authority, Kaduna. The programme was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Information and it was aimed at discouraging ceaseless migration of villagers from rural to urban areas. The Shehu Shagari administration wanted to stop the trend.
The Federal Ministry of Information initiated the programme because TV was one of the easiest ways of conveying the message to the public.
Luckily, the current Director of Programme of the NTA, Alhaji Bello Sule Rimi, was the initiator of the programme, but after we produced three episodes, including the pilot copy, Bello asked me to continue with writing the script and, eventually, I took over the entire production. The programme ran for five years, from 1980 to 1984 when General Muhammadu Buhari took over government. So because of the roles I played in the programme, people called me “Kasagi”.
What did this ‘Kasagi’ entail?
“Kasagi” is an old Hausa word, which simply means an adventurer. In the programme, I always wanted to remain in the city instead of going back to the village. To achieve that, I preferred engaging myself in various odd jobs that would help me stay in the city.
How do you view the present day films?
Film-making business has been marred by so many elements. The difference is very clear between the old system of film-making and the present one. We have gone for various courses and trainings. I was trained on film production, screenplay and directing, so also my team mates like Kasimu Yero and Alhaji Usman Baba Pategi (Samanja) who has been on television for twenty to thirty years. Therefore, you cannot compare his experience with that of these boys.
In our days we were trying to, as much as possible, explore more of our culture, more of our language and protect our religion in our acting because of our exposure. But our younger artistes of the presented day don’t care about culture, the language and even religion. So my fear is that in the next twenty years, researchers of Hausa language and culture would find it very difficult to differentiate between the real Hausa culture and other cultures because things are really falling apart.
Governments, wealthy individuals and non-governmental organisations, including Islamic organisation such as Jama’atu Nasril Islam should start sponsoring programmes like ‘Kasagi’. And government must also regulate the production of such programmes so that when we return to acting, people will then choose between our movies and the ones produced by these boys.
All northern states must also establish a censorship board. With the board on ground in each of the northern states, government can easily regulate the activities of these boys. Wherever they take their films for sale, the censorship board must censor the firm before it goes to the market.
This is because films that can be shown in Kaduna cannot be shown in Kano because of culture and or language differences. So also those that can be shown in Kano may not be possibly shown in Bauchi because of the same reason. Therefore, if you cannot stop these boys from producing rubbish then you can checkmate them through the board. This will bring sanity in the industry of film production.
And the censorship boards must be headed by people of good character, people held with high esteem in society.
You are the author of the book ‘Kulba Na Barna’. How did you come about it?
I initiated the idea since my childhood because of the hatred of some certain behaviours of our leaders and wealthy individuals who maltreated young ladies. At that time there were people who encouraged the habit of taking away school girls for sexual abuse due to their position in society and the most unfortunate thing is that they connived with the school masters or principals in the night or even in the day time to take away those small girls to their guest houses, which was quite disheartening.
Therefore, I chose to turn it into a book to avoid being arrested or molested by those leaders because they knew themselves. The book was equally used as a drama just to educate people or parents on what was going on, and I successfully wrote the book in five weeks and the message was successfully delivered.
How successful was the publication of the book?
Yes, it was something joyful that I cannot forget in my life, because history cannot allow it to die like that, and this encouraged me to accept that “he who seeks equity must come with clean hands”. In fact, the present Wazirin Katsina, Sani Abubakar Lugga, was the one that supported me and encouraged the publication of that book. At the time we met in Kaduna and he asked me: “When are you producing your book?” I told him, “Frankly, I don’t have the means.”
He immediately gave me a note to the Northern Nigerian Publishing Company (NNPC). I took both the letter and the book and met one Malam Aliyu Na’alma, who was the Hausa Editor in the company. After four years since the submission of the manuscript to them, that was between 1974 and 1979, the book gained acceptance for publication. I was studying in England when somebody called me from the company and said, “Your book is ready.” Even though I was made to understand that some people rejected it, but it later became inevitable that it must be published.
Did you enter into an agreement with the NNPC before the publication of the book?
Of course, there was an agreement; I have the copy with me. The agreement was that at any time somebody, group or an individual intends to use the book as a film or translate it for any purpose, turning the book to another thing, there will be payment for me and this stands till date, and I am collecting 10 percent of the sale every year from the company. I also rerceived N300,000 as another 10 percent from the Nigeria Film Corporation which turned the book into a film after seeking permission from the publishers. The money was given to me via ABU, Zaria. Interestingly, I purchased my present house in Katsina with the money and I consider it as a legacy for my family.
Do you relate with other authors within the country? People know you better as an actor rather than an author.
Yes, I registered with the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) but it seems they are not present in Katsina. There is no encouragement at all in Katsina, most especially, because in Katsina once government is not involved or doesn’t have an interest in something noting will move forward. And there are differences between acting in film and writing a book. A person will be known within a short period of time in film-acting because the film will be watched in many homes; but writing a book it will take you a long time to be known and only a few people read books since we have a poor reading culture.
What do you do for a living now?
Unfortunately, I am almost a beggar now. That is why I am not happy with the trend in the country. I have brought honour to my country and my country has dumped me. My book, ‘Kulba Na Barna,’ was used made into a film by Ahmadu Bello University and the Nigeria Film Corporation, and it won several awards for the Federal Republic of Nigeria during an international festival.
My annoyance is that there was no any honour for me from the government, and this is quite discouraging. The award was not given to me, but it was given to the federal government. And I saw others who did something less than mine, yet they were honoured. I don’t know why. Maybe it is because they are from the southern part of Nigeria.