Arewa

The continued use of the term, Arewa ... has conjured up an image among educated Northerners that resonated far beyond the institutional structures Sir Ahmadu Bello created: the successor to the Bornu and Sokoto Caliphate; the vision of God's Empire in the region; the universality of its claim to suzerainty; and in a more prosaic but no less powerful sense, the concept of a polity with an emphasis on unity and sense of shared purpose in northern West Africa beyond the popular slogan--'one North, one People'.

These groups do not advocate independence from Nigeria, albeit, focus on unity of the Hausa–Fulani which forms the majority in the north.

And as such, the term has become synonymous with machinations in lieu of extending political and cultural hegemony to capture the federal state.

Hausa is the most widely spoken language in the vast region due to migration and trade, followed by Fulfulde.

Other languages like Fulfulde, Kanuri also play significant roles in the cultural and social fabric of Northern Nigeria.

The region’s political and historical identity has deep roots in the pre-colonial Sokoto Caliphate and Kanem-Borno Empire.