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Spoken Reminiscences of Political Agents in Northern Nigeria II1
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 May 2014
Extract
Q. Sir, I would like to know something about messengers and interpreters like Adamu Jakada.
A. Adamu Jakada was the messenger between Emir Abbas and the Europeans. Some of the messengers and interpreters were employed by the emir, and they were royal slaves. Whenever they did something wrong they were replaced by others. Adamu was a slave of the emir.
Q. Where and when was he born?
A. He was born in Kano, and he came from the family of slaves.
Q. Is there any story about him?
A. All we know is that he was chosen by the District Officer (D.O.) He would take messages from the emir to the white men and return with the white man's reply to the emir.
Q. Were messengers and interpreters powerful?
A. Yes, indeed.
Q. Were they nice people?
A. It is when they became powerful that issues of misunderstanding occurred. You know when somebody becomes powerful the person would demonstrate good and bad qualities. Some of the messengers and interpreters were like that.
Q. Were they wealthy?
A. They were slaves of the emir. Everything that they owned, they took them from the servants of the emir. Also, they were paid by government.
Q. What did people think of their work?
A. People respected and feared them because of their closeness to the emir and the Europeans.
Q. Did they speak or write in English?
A. Before they learnt English they used to work as servants to the Europeans. So they learned English from them.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright
- Copyright © African Studies Association 2008
Footnotes
1
This collection forms part of oral interviews I conducted in 1993 during my doctoral field research in Nigeria. The study benefited very much from the support of many people. For their assistance with my interviews, I am grateful to Dr. Tijjani Muhammad Naniya and Mallam Abdulkarim Umar Dan-Asabe, both of Bayero University, Kano. Mallam Umar Adamu of Kano State History and Culture Bureau also helped in conducting my interviews; he deserves my gratitude. I must also mention Alhaji Muhammadu Garba Saidu, also of Kano State History and Culture Bureau, for his inspiration and invaluable support to the study. Mallam Adamu Abdulkadir of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as well as Mallam Galadima Idris, helped me with my interviews and also transcribed and translated the oral data. I gladly acknowledge their contribution to my work.
References
2 Formerly Court Clerk and Islamic Judge, 77 years, Sorondiki Ward, Kano, 6 July 1993. Interview by Afeadie and Alhaji Muhammadu Garba Saidu.
3 The term “Europeans” is used by the interviewees to refer to colonial officials, particularly British political officers.
4 Adamu Jakada was not a slave, but was born into a wealthy family in Kano. For detailed information on Adamu, see Afeadie, Philip A., “Adamu Jakada's Intelligence Reports,” Sudanic Africa 5(1994), 185–94Google Scholar; Hogendorn, Jan. S., Nigerian Groundnuts Exports: Origins and Early Development (Zaria, 1978), 80-109, 142Google Scholar; Dan-Asabe, Abdulkarim Umar, “Comparative Biographies of Selected Leaders of the Kano Commercial Establishment” (M.A., Bayero University, 1987), 106–13Google Scholar.
5 Allah-bar-Sarki's episode has been a subject of wide discussion in Kano traditions; see Fika, Adamu Mohammed, The Kano Civil War and British Overrule, 1882-1940 (Ibadan, 1978), 122–26Google Scholar; Ubah, C.N., Government and Administration of Kano Emirate, 1900-1930 (Nsukka, 1985), 56–60Google Scholar; Lovejoy, Paul E., Mahadi, Abdullahi, and Mukhtar, Ibrahim Mansur, “C.L. Temple's Notes on the History of Kano, [1909]: A Lost Chronicle on Political Office,” Sudanic Africa 4 (1993), 13–21Google Scholar. In March 1909 Resident Temple noted Allah-bar-Sarki's appointment to waziri as “an experiment which failed owing to the fact that the man's character was not equal to the strain put upon it. He forgot the allegiance due to the Emir, to whom he owed everything… I regard the present Dan Rimi as a good man lost and rendered useless by circumstances. I doubt whether it will ever be possible to re-employ him in any post of responsibility. Up to the present he has made no effort to regain the confidence of the Emir. Until he does it will be impossible to do anything to help him.” NAK/KanoProf C.111/1908 Temple, Confidential Preliminary Report, Kano Province, March 1909.
6 It is believed that Emir Abbas stole nightly visits to some influential agents. Alkali Alhaji Ali Waziri, however, ridiculed the very thought of the emir paying any such visit. But Emir Abbas did make some nocturnal adventures during his reign; on occasions “he disguised himself as a Toareg [sic] and travelled the city at night with a confidant, a means of obtaining first hand intelligence and the apprehension of felons.” Tahir, Ibrahim A., “Scholars, Sufis, Saints and Capitalists in Kano, 1904-1974: the Pattern of Bourgeois Revolution in an Islamic Society” (Ph.D., Cambridge, 1975), 327Google Scholar.
7 Political Agent Auta assumed the position of ma'aji (treasurer) in 1907. Besides his financial duties, Ma'aji Auta was appointed in 1909 to a council of principal advisers to Emir Abbas on administrative and judicial issues. The other councilors included Waziri Gidado, Alkali Magatakarda Abdulkadir, and the chief imam: Fika, , British Overrule, 127–30Google Scholar.
8 Quite the contrary; Aminu preceded Jafaru as chief alkali of Kano. In 1919 Alkali Aminu succeeded his elder brother, Muhammadu Diko, as Chief Alkali of Kano. Aminu was removed from office in February 1921, and was succeeded in April by Mallam Amadu, who reigned for a year and in turn was replaced in August 1922 by Mallam Jafaru, formerly a political agent: SNP 8/10 1921 (conf. no.27/1921) A.C.G. Hastings, Acting Resident Kano to Secretary of Northern Provinces in Kaduna, Provincial Office, Kano, 19 January 1921, and Secretary of Northern Provinces to the Chief Secretary to the Government in Lagos, Kaduna, 16 August 1922, enclosed in Appointment of Alkalin Kano.
9 Both Aminu and Jafaru began their service as chief alkalai in the reign of Emir Usman. Although chosen by the emir, their appointments were influenced by the colonial authorities: Paden, John N., “Aspects of Emirship in Kano” in Crowder, Michael and Ikime, Obaro, eds., West African Chiefs: Their Changing Status under Colonial Rule and Independence (New York, 1970), 168–69Google Scholar; SNP 8/10 1921 (conf. no.27/1921) A.C.G. Hastings, Acting Resident Kano to Secretary of Northern Provinces in Kaduna, Provincial Office, Kano, 13 April 1921, Appointment of Alkalin Kano.
10 Even as a political agent, Mallam Jafaru was effective in service. Resident Gowers of Kano reported on him in 1918 as “an industrious courteous scholar:” Arewa House Archives, Kaduna (AHAK) Gowers, 1 March 1918, Native Staff Confidential Report, Kano, 1918.
11 Faid al-Qadir is an account of the Kano civil war of 1893-95, written in 1906-07 at Assistant Resident H.R. Palmer's request by Aminu who had worked as a scribe in the court of Emir Muhammad Bello (1882-93); Paden, J.N., Religion and Political Culture in Kano (Los Angeles, 1973), 262Google Scholar; Fika, Adamu Mohammed, “The Political and Economical Re-orientation of Kano Emirate, Northern Nigeria, 1882-1940” (PhD., University of London, 1973), 437Google Scholar; Ibrahim, Halil Said, “Revolution and Reaction: the Fulani Jihad in Kano and its Aftermath, 1807-1903,” (Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1978), 243–63Google Scholar.
12 Formerly, an assistant to the Chief Alkali of Kano, and member of the Alkali's court in the 1920s; Islamic scholar and son of ex-Emir Aliyu Babba of Kano, 94 years, Sheshe Ward, Kano, 13 July 1993. Interview by Afeadie and Alhaji Garba Saidu.
13 Emir Abbas' predecessor Aliyu Babba also dealt with Adamu. In 1902 Adamu sent Baba Kano, a sub-agent, to inform Emir Aliyu of the impending British invasion of Kano. Paden, , Religion, 53–54Google Scholar.
14 Literally, Auta, the protégé or client of Abande.
15 Al-Hajj Abande was a leading merchant, as well as the Turkish consul and head of the Ghadamasi community in Kano: Adamu, Muhammed Uba, “Some Notes on the Influence of North African Traders in Kano,” Kano Studies 1/4(1968), 44–46Google Scholar; Fika, , British Overrule, 109Google Scholar; Baier, Stephen, An Economic History of Central Niger (Oxford, 1980), 69Google Scholar.
16 Agent Tanko was popularly known in Kano as Tanko “Tarprinta.” As Temple (Native Races, 245) observed, “a good working knowledge of the language [Hausa] is all that is wanted for practical purposes so that an officer can at all events follow the native sufficiently to be able to check the interpreter when he makes a gross blunder; and to address a few remarks to the native himself in his own language, so that he may gain confidence, and the native may realise that what he is saying does reach the white man and that his one resource is not the ubiquitous interpreter, or ‘tarprinta’, to use the latter's own description of himself.”
17 Mallam Da'u raised his right palm to his mouth, indicating the awe associated with political officers.
18 Kano, 22 July 1993. Interview by Umar Adamu, on behalf of Afeadie.
19 Magajin Gari Kano (traditionally, city mayor); also Federal Minister of Works and Surveys (1955-65), Minister of Defence (1965): Kasua Rimi, Yakasai Quarters, Kano, 29 June 1993. Interview by Afeadie. For more information on Alhaji Wada see Ado, Ibrahim-Dasuki, History and Genealogy of the Gyanawa, 1000 AH to Date (Kano, 1988), 61–62Google Scholar.
20 In fact, writing in ajami preceded British expansion and colonial conquest of the region.
21 Son of ex-Ma'aji Auta of Kano, 82 years, Alkalawa Ward, Kano, 7 July 1993. Interview by Afeadie and Dr. Tijjani Naniya.
22 Al-Hajj Abande is known to have participated in other marriage alliances aimed at developing trading relationships, such as those involving the Yaro brothers in Zinder. As Baier (Economic History, 69) noted, “Nana, Malam Yaro's second wife, was the daughter of Al-Hajj Abande, who in turn married Balkissu, Malam Abdu's daughter.”
23 The royal household cultivated Abande and other merchants for exotic goods. Abande was also active in the succession dispute that developed into the Kano Civil war of 1893-95. Abande helped to finance the Yusufu faction to victory, and maintained good relations with its leaders, including Emir Aliyu Babba and Muhanunadu Abbas, the wombai and later emir; Adamu, , “Influence,” 44–46Google Scholar; Naniya, Tijjani Muhammad, “The Transformation of the Administration of Justice in Kano Emirate, 1903-1966” (Ph.D., Bayero University, 1990), 93Google Scholar.
24 Ma'aji Auta succeeded Sadiq, an Arab merchant who had participated in negotiations for the choice of Abbas as emir, and earned the emir's appointment to the post in 1904: Paden, , “Emirship in Kano,” 185Google Scholar; Hausawa da Makwabtansu (Zaria, 1979), 2:56Google Scholar.
25 “He [Auta] is a trader on his own account:” SNP 6/4 11/1908 W.P. Hewby, Kano, 3 October 1908, The Position of the Wazirin Kano, enclosed in Report on Kano Emirate, November 1908.
26 It is not known whether this piece of information is accurate.
27 Like some merchants in the Central Sudan, Abande knew some English: Baier, , Economic History, 71–77Google Scholar.
28 Abande was an Arab (note 15 above)
29 Indeed, Auta settled in Ghadames for some years and conducted business for Abande: AHAK, Acting Resident Arnett, Annual Report on Chiefs, Kano, 1911.
30 Introduction of western education to northern Nigeria was informed by the colonial principle of training the sons of chiefs for future leadership in society. In Kano and elsewhere in the region, the ruling aristocracy was initially hesitant in putting up their children for western education, partly, on the suspicion and fear of it undermining their religion: Bull, Mary, “Indirect Rule in Northern Nigeria, 1906-11” in Robinson, Kenneth and Madden, Frederick, eds., Essays in Imperial Government (Oxford, 1963), 73–74Google Scholar; Graham, , Government and Mission Education, 79Google Scholar. Also important in the colonial education policy was the need to produce subordinate officials for the central and local governments and teachers for proposed elementary schools. For pupils, this need catered largely to mallams who naturally hailed from elite backgrounds, and the offspring of political agents and other indigenous civil servants, who worked closely with the colonial officials. Apparently, education for the common people (talakawa) was marginal in the colonial objectives. The sons of the talakawa were the least encouraged to enroll in the burgeoning western schools: Tibenderana, Peter Kazenga, “The Emirs and the Spread of Western Education in Northern Nigeria, 1900-1946,” JAH 24(1983), 520–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Abubakar, Tanimu, ed., The Essential Mahmud: Selected Writings of Mahmud Modibbo Tukur (Zaria, 1990), 121–26Google Scholar.
31 Among his duties Auta prepared the annual budget of the subordinate administration, in consultation with the emir; received funds and payments to the treasury; managed the payment of salaries to the indigenous ruling elites; advised the emir on spending the contingency and miscellaneous funds such as pertaining to stationery and establishing mosques; and exercised authority to write off losses of provisions and small sums of money. The ma'aji also provided the various residents with regular accounts of cash balances in the treasury; Perham, Margery, Lugard. The Years of Authority, 1898-1945 (London, 1961), 486–87Google Scholar; Lord Lugard, Political Memoranda (London, 1970), 329–33Google Scholar.
32 On assuming the position of ma'aji, Auta moved from his residence in the Dandalin Turawa to Mandorin in Nassarawa. Located east of Kano (outside the city walls), Nassarawa became the living quarters for colonial officials, and housed the residency, as well as the beit-el-mal and a palace for the emir.
33 Auta had “a thorough knowledge of trade and a quick grasp of accounts and money matters in general:” AHAK, Acting Resident Amett, Annual Report on Chiefs, Kano, 1911.
34 The circumstances of Ma'aji Auta's deposition relates to Governor Lugard's drive to secure central control over the native treasury apparatus. Right on his appointment in 1914 as governor of the amalgamated Nigeria, Lugard fought his subordinate officers, as well as the colonial office, on the expenditure and management of the native treasuries. In 1917 Lugard proposed the scheme for official “examiners of Native Accounts” and secured the approval of the colonial office. In 1918 a Native Treasury Examiner audited the Kano treasury accounts and Ma'aji Auta was found negligent, a charge that the ma'aji repudiated. But eventually Auta was deposed, supposedly for embezzling government funds. Afeadie, Philip Atsu, “Egalitarian in Colonial Administration: Ma'ajin Kano, Muhammadu Auta (1852-1922),” Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana ns10 (2006/2007), 211–12Google Scholar.
35 To the contrary, Auta had joined the colonial service as a political agent by 1899. He worked as an informal agent, serving freelance and providing information at will and on the request of colonial officials, while practicing trading on the side. Public Record Office CO 446/15 (26861), 685. Acting High Commissioner to the Secretary of State for Colonies, Government House, Jebba, 2 July 1901, Civil Establishment up to December 31, 1900. At the battle of Kotorkwashi in 1903, many Kano officials fled British capture, and “some followed Wambai Abbas, others Madawaki Kwairinga, but he [Abbas] went to Malikawa instead of Kano. The Europeans sent Ma'aji Auta with soldiers to receive Wambai Abbas. He came with many followers on a Friday [6 March 1903]:” Hausawa, 55.
36 A ward in Kano city, referring to area of dye pits.
37 Group Interview: Alhaji Rufai Gwarzo and two other informants, all about 60 years of age, Dangado Quarters, Kano, 8 July 1993. Interview by Mallam Umar Abdulkarim Dan-Asabe, on Afeadie's behalf.
38 Ma'aji Auta's effectiveness is legendary. He is known to Kano traditions to be thorough and religious in performing his duties. As Resident Arnett described Auta in 1911, “he occupies a position of great trust as the official in charge of the Emir's treasury, the Beit-el-Mal, and he has shown himself to be quite worthy of it. The Treasury Accounts are rendered punctually and accurately by the Mallams under Ma'aji's supervision. I believe him to be a man of integrity and intelligence.” Similarly, Adamu Fika noted Auta as having displayed the “zeal for proper accounting of the emirate's finances as desired by the Administration.” AHAK Acting Resident Arnett, Kano, Annual Reports on Chiefs, Kano, 1911; Fika, , British Overrule, 165Google Scholar.
39 This statement may not be entirely accurate.
40 Eighty years, Hotoro Quarters, Kano, 18 July 1993. Interview by Umar Adamu, on behalf of Afeadie.
41 The informant relates Adamu's activity in the years subsequent to the groundnut boom of 1913, when the agent was very active in trade: Hogendorn, , Nigerian Groundnut Exports, 80-109, 142Google Scholar.
42 Yes, he was; Adamu died in 1943: Afeadie, , “Adamu Jakada's Intelligence Reports,” 194Google Scholar.
43 Formerly tailor in government hospital at Kano, 73 years, Gyadi Gyadi, Kano, 20 July 1993. Interview by Umar Adamu, on behalf of Afeadie.
44 Sultan Abdurrahman (1890-1902), nicknamed danyen kasko (unbaked pot) for his ill temper and the “propensity for executing people for little or no reason: Last, Murray, Sokoto Caliphate (London, 1977), 127Google Scholar; Afeadie, , “Adamu Jakada's Intelligence Reports,” 190-91, 195Google Scholar.
45 Sharwood Smith (late 1940s and early 1950s); wandon karfe means iron trousers, symbolizing inflexibility and trouble.
46 The resident's provincial court had jurisdiction over colonial civil servants, including African employees such as soldiers, police constables, clerks, and political agents. The provincial court also had responsibility for enforcing the abolition of the slave trade in the region.
47 Fifty-eight years, Sokoto, 20 September 1993. Interview by Umar Adamu, on behalf of Afeadie.
48 In the period 1902-1914 the salary of political agents ranged from £36 to £72 per annum: MSS.Brit.Emp.s.99 (L), 3, Northern Nigeria Estimate, 1901-1902.
49 Fifty-eight years, Indabawa Quarters, Kano, 15 August 1993. Interview by Umar Adamu, on behalf of Afeadie.