Our Cattle, Our Commerce, Still Not Our Country?

 

 

By Alpha Amadu Jalloh

 

It is one of the most painful ironies of our time that in a country built on diversity, where almost every tribe shares historical and ethnic links to other parts of West Africa, the Fula people are still being referred to as foreigners. In Sierra Leone, the narrative of belonging is conveniently revised when it suits certain prejudices, and tragically, it often comes at the expense of the Fula community.

 

I write this not as an outsider, but as someone born in Sierra Leone to Sierra Leonean parents of Fula and Mandingo descent. I write this as a witness to discrimination that is subtle in some spaces and blunt in others. I write this as a son of the soil whose identity is constantly challenged by people who should know better, but instead cling to ignorance passed down through generations of misinformation.

 

This resentment toward the Fulas is not new. It goes back decades. During the era of President Siaka Stevens, Fulas were rounded up, thrown into trucks like criminals, and deported to Guinea. I can still recall those harrowing days with pain in my chest. There were days when dogs were rounded up by veterinary officers for vaccinations or to be taken off the streets. And then there were days when human beings, Fulas, were treated no better. Arrested without cause. Hauled away without dignity. Many of these people were born and raised in Sierra Leone, knew no other home, and spoke no other language fluently than those spoken within the borders of Sierra Leone. Yet they were packed like cattle and sent off to a country many of them had never set foot in.

 

They were not Guineans. They were not visitors. They were Sierra Leoneans. But none of that mattered when the system decided to make an example of them.

 

That era left a stain on our national conscience. Yet here we are again, in the year of our Lord 2025, still having to explain, defend, and fight for our right to belong in our own country. In recent years, the Fula people have once again been targeted, arrested, harassed, and profiled for reasons unknown to many but clearly motivated by deep-seated biases.

 

This is what happens when people refuse to understand history. Fulas, like many other tribes in Sierra Leone, have ancestral connections across the region, including Guinea, Mali, The Gambia, Senegal, and even parts of the Middle East. But so do the Mende, with strong links to Liberia. So do the Temne and Limba, whose roots stretch into Guinea. The Mandingo too have a transnational heritage. Are we going to start checking the borderlines of everyone’s ancestry before we hand them their rights as citizens?

 

It is appalling that of all tribes, the Fulas continue to be singled out. The question must be asked. Why? Why are the Fulas constantly antagonized when they have done nothing but contribute meaningfully to the country? Why is it so difficult to accept that there are Fulas who are Sierra Leoneans by birth, by blood, and by every legal and moral measure?

 

Almost every tribe in Sierra Leone has a link to the Fula people. It is not just a social observation. It is a fact of our shared history. You will find families that are Temne-Fula, Mende-Fula, Loko-Fula, and Krio-Fula. These intermarriages are not new. They span generations. In fact, when many Sierra Leonean men are ready to settle down, their ideal wife is often a Fula woman, admired for her grace, resilience, and strong values.

 

We are not strangers. We are family. We are woven into the cultural and emotional fabric of every region, every village, every corner of this country. People recognize our unity. They admire how we support one another. They often say the Fulas will die for one another, and it is true because we understand community, loyalty, and sacrifice.

 

And yet, despite this interconnectedness, we are still called foreigners. That is what makes the insult cut even deeper. How can someone look into the eyes of their in-law, their cousin, their neighbor, and still hurl that word? It is not just ignorant. It is inhumane. It ignores the marriages, the children, the friendships, the businesses, the prayers, and the stories that bind us together as one people.

 

The time has come to stop this hypocrisy. If you embrace our daughters, if you cherish our food, if you lean on our strength in business and trade, then you must also embrace our identity fully and without question.

 

Look around Sierra Leone and point to a place where the Fulas have not contributed. In commerce, they are leaders. They have built businesses from the ground up, provided employment for thousands, and contributed immensely to the national economy. In every town and city, Fula-owned shops, transport businesses, and cattle trade sustain livelihoods and daily commerce. These are not people on the margins of society. They are the heartbeat of the informal and formal economy.

 

In education, many Fulas have sent their children to the best schools, not just for personal gain but because they believe in the transformative power of knowledge. In politics, Fulas have served in parliament and government and contributed to national development. They are taxpayers. They are builders. They are teachers, students, imams, and doctors.

 

Yet when someone loses an argument on social media, their first resort is to call me a foreigner. Not because I do not make sense, but because the label foreigner is a cheap shot meant to delegitimize my voice. I face this kind of profiling regularly. It is meant to strip away my dignity and reframe me as an outsider. But I am not. I am as Sierra Leonean as the next person.

 

The situation becomes even more comical when one considers that many of the people hurling these insults live in foreign lands themselves. Some of them are fighting tooth and nail to get papers to stay in Europe, North America, or Australia. They proudly raise flags of countries that do not recognize them as equals, yet feel bold enough to call a fellow Sierra Leonean a foreigner because of his tribe.

 

Even some ministers and senior officials in Sierra Leone have openly said they would prefer their children to be born in the United States rather than in Sierra Leone. What a tragic contradiction. The same people who are proud to be foreigners elsewhere are calling their own people foreigners in their homeland.

 

This level of hypocrisy must end. It is rooted in ignorance and bolstered by a dangerous nationalism that picks and chooses who gets to be called a true Sierra Leonean. This is not just unfair. It is shameful.

 

Let us reflect on the historical contributions of the Fulas in Sierra Leone. Long before modern infrastructure, Fulas were the backbone of trade across regions. Their cattle rearing and cross-border trading sustained communities, built roads through commerce, and connected Sierra Leone to broader West African economic networks.

 

Fula scholars have taught in madrassas and schools. Fula religious leaders have guided communities with wisdom and peace. Fula politicians have served with distinction. Fula professionals have occupied key roles in banking, healthcare, and public service.

 

But still, they are not seen. Still, they are not fully accepted. Still, they are being asked to prove something no one else is being asked to prove.

 

The time has come to dismantle this toxic narrative. Being a Fula does not make one less Sierra Leonean. Being born to Fula parents, speaking Fula, practicing Islam, or maintaining cultural ties to wider Fulani traditions does not make anyone less deserving of respect, rights, and recognition.

 

In fact, it is precisely the richness of these identities that strengthens Sierra Leone. The country is not one culture or one history. It is a fusion of stories, languages, beliefs, and journeys. Our unity should be based on shared values, not on tribal purity tests.

 

Those who insist on othering the Fulas must ask themselves this. What is your contribution to Sierra Leone? Because if contribution is the measure of belonging, then the Fulas have already earned their place tenfold.

 

We cannot keep repeating the sins of the past. The era of tribal bigotry must be buried. We need a new national consciousness, one that celebrates every tribe, one that sees diversity as strength, and one that will never again permit any Sierra Leonean to be called a foreigner in their own land.

 

To my fellow Fulas. Hold your heads high. You do not need to defend your birthright. Your history, your labor, your faith, your achievements speak for you. Do not be distracted by ignorance. The road is long, but we are here to stay.

 

And to Sierra Leone. Let us be better. Let us be wiser. Let us be just. Let us remember that nobody truly owns this land. We all met it. We all found it. And we all have a duty to make it better for those coming after us.

 

That is what nationhood is. That is what belonging truly means.

 

Alpha Amadu Jalloh

Author of “Monopoly of Happiness: Unveiling Sierra Leone’s Social Imbalance”