Investigating the Hausa Oral Tradition of Riddles (Kacici-Kacici) and Their Educational Value in Kebbi State

Riddles, known in Hausa as kacici-kacici, form a dynamic component of Hausa oral tradition, serving functions of intellectual engagement, communal entertainment, and informal education in social gatherings. This study investigates the tradition of kacici-kacici and its educational value in communities in Kebbi State, examining riddle content, usage contexts, and the competencies their practice develops in participants. A qualitative ethnolinguistic design was adopted, combining observation of riddle-playing sessions in home and community settings in Birnin Kebbi and Argungu local government areas with interviews of 40 community members who regularly participate in riddle-playing, including elders, parents, and primary school teachers. A corpus of 120 riddles was collected, transcribed, and analysed for structural patterns, thematic content, cognitive demands, and cultural reference points. Findings reveal that kacici-kacici develop lateral thinking, cultural knowledge of natural phenomena and everyday objects, quick verbal processing, and public speaking confidence in regular participants. The riddles encode ecological knowledge about plants, animals, weather, and agricultural practices in compressed and aesthetically pleasing linguistic forms. Teachers interviewed acknowledge the educational potential of riddles but report limited integration of kacici-kacici into formal classroom activities. The study recommends piloting of structured riddle-playing sessions in Kebbi State primary schools as a culturally grounded cognitive development activity and documentation of the riddle corpus at state cultural institutions. Keywords: Hausa riddles, Kacici-kacici, Oral tradition, Kebbi State, Educational value.