Baaballiyo:


It may not have originated from the Arabs but surely both Hausa and Fulani (Cant say about the Touaregs) obtained the trend from Islam, because at first, Turban is a symbol of all Modibbo (Both Fulani and Hausa Islamic Clerics) during the time Hausas were Ruled by Kings (When the Hausa states were secular, though their rulers were Muslims but the states were not ruled according to the tenets of Islam), but with the comming of the erudite Arab/Berber scholar Muhammad al-maghili around 1492 to Kano and Katsina the states changed to a Sultanate (i.e. State rule according to Islamic tenets), and the rulers also adopted the use of the turban deligently, as they now become both the political and religious leaders of their states.

I believe that Turbans predate Islam by quite a bit in Africa and Asia.