An example of Rubutacciyar Wak'a (Written Poetry)

Alhaji Ak'ilu Aliyu was a prolific poet working in the written tradition. He was a well-trained Koranic scholar, and particularly in the days before and after Nigerian independence, he was highly active in promoting the causes of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), one of the more left-leaning, anti-traditionalist parties. Alhaji Ak'ilu's large body of published work covers many religious, social, and political themes. He combined biting critiques of those whose behavior he disapproved or whose opinions he did not share with poetic virtuosity, playing with sound and meaning. He was an imposing public performer of his own work, with both a powerful voice and a strong rhythmic feel more akin to performers in the oral tradition than to his peers in the written tradition.

The excerpt here is from a poem decrying the weakening of the Hausa language by the modern generation, who have an anemic vocabulary and fill the language with English borrowings.