Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 103
Chapter 2.2
Unsettling colonial years
Introduction
There seem to be two historical events marking the colonial years as rather an unsettling
period in the collective memory of many Dghweɗe. The first is represented by the threat of
Hamman Yaji, during the late German colonial period and the early part of the subsequent
British mandateship period. Both were consequences of World War One. The second is the
memory of the killing of lawan Buba in Ghwa'a 1953, as a defensive reaction to a forced
downhill policy, in which he had put himself on the front line by representing the district head
of Gwoza. Lawan Buba was also an early representative of the rising Muslim elite, fostered
by the British colonial administration under United Nations trusteeship. For both events we
not only have archival and other written records, but also oral accounts which I collected in
Ghwa'a from an eye witness during one of my short Dghweɗe fieldwork sessions in the late
1990s.
The Hamman Yaji period extended over 25 years, from 1902 when he was made emir of
Madagali by the Germans, until 1927, the year of his arrest by the British. His ongoing raids
were surely encouraged by the disruption of colonial order triggered by World War One. The
oral narrative we present below shows how the Dghweɗe first tried to call for help from the
Wandala of Kirawa, because they were their ancient pre-colonial overlords. Hamman Yaji
had come up to Ghwa'a to raid its people, but the Wandala of Kirawa did not respond. The
delegation now moved on, first to Mora, then to Dikwa, and finally made contact with the
resident of Borno in Maiduguri. The Dghweɗe oral account of how they showed the British
the way to find Hamman Yaji, leads up to a narrative of his arrest and subsequent death.
The Dghweɗe version differs from that of the colonial office, not only regarding the
circumstances, but also the reason given for his arrest. The Dghweɗe see it more from the
perspective of a traditional peacemaking operation to end the devastating attacks, and they
finally rely on the help of the British. Contrary to this account, the British version of his arrest
makes no mention at all of any peacemaker delegation led by traditional Dghweɗe. For the
British it was not so much his viciousness towards his subjects as his alleged allegiance to a
regional Mahdi movement (Vaughan & Kirk Greene 1995) which led to the decision to arrest
him. The British saw his ongoing slave raiding as the secondary reason for his arrest, and we
ask ourselves why the colonial office had not been interested in removing him earlier. After
all, the League of Nations mandateship had already been in place for at least five years by
then.
By examining the German and British colonial records of that early period, we understand
how the Gwoza hills emerged as a definable administrative unit. We will learn how German
colonial mapmaker Max Moisel drew, in 1912-13, the first boundary across the Gwoza hills.
This included Hambagda and today's Korana Basa as being part of Adamawa, while the
northern part already belonged to 'Deutsch-Bornu'. We recognise a decision-making process
linked to the geographical situation, lasting until when it was finally officially changed in
1922. We will see how the late pre-colonial boundary issues between Adamawa and Wandala
and/or Borno did not disappear so easily. Ongoing colonial difficulties in the administration
of the area led to the Gwoza hills being declared an Unsettled District from quite early on.
Ideas of resettlement to solve the difficulties rising from an emerging Gwoza town and the
hills had long been discussed. In 1953, Ghwa'a, the northern part of Dghweɗe, became known
for the 'Gwoza Affair' or the killing of lawan Buba. The incident allows us to compare official
colonial reports with the oral memory collected by myself. We will see the different
perspectives, the colonial one and the local view of the event, not only concerning the killing
itself but also regarding the perceived reasons behind it. The main participants in the conflict
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