For Defying Cultural Norms, Northerners Put Hausa Actress, Rahama Sadau Under Fire
Northern Nigeria born Nollywood actress, Rahama Sadau is under the fire again for ditching the cultural norms of her people and exposing her arms in a new photo. Each ethnic tribe in Nigeria is conservative in its own right, but the northern part of the country takes the cake when it comes to conservatism.
As cultures continue to diffuse across real and imaginary borders, and with the gaining popularity of technology and education, even the north, like the others will not be spared a new wave of values.
The indigenous people of the North, otherwise known as the Arewa clan, pride themselves over their modesty and a strong love for the predominant religion of Islam in their region, which sees to their women covered in modest attires.
But changing times are gradually and silently threatening the core of many cultures, including the modest culture of the north, and Rahama is constantly getting caught in the wake of a more expressive lifestyle, that is irritating the conservative north.
Yesterday, the actress shared a photo of herself rocking a monostrap top on her social media. She had to know what she was getting into, because she had been heavily criticised in the past for her failure to strictly adhere to the values of the north, including one time, when she featured in a music video and had her arms around the neck of the male artiste.
Many people have attributed the outrage at Rahama’s style by her clansmen to patriarchy and religious oppression, but in reality, it may not be more than a natural response to what can be termed as culture shock, stemming from the actress’s atypical inclinations in an otherwise conservative culture.
See reactions below:
Rahama captioned her photo:
“Unapologetic Powerful Woman!”