THE LOSS OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS: How Hausa lost Gobir Kingdom to Fulani forever: Lesson to Yorùbá

Yorùbá proverb says ‘A thief offers to help you repair the door to your treasure house and you are happy!?’

The call by some clerics that “Ọlọ́un bá wa pa iná adẹ́bọ rẹ” owes its origin in Usman Dan Fodio unholy war that swept through Hausa land starting from Gobir. That is why Yorùbá must learn from this historical development and stay woke. Yorùbá Muslims have lived with the so called ẹlẹ́bọ for centuries without major fracas. The call to exterminate all adẹ́bọ, whom they erroneously termed kuffir or kaffir has political and colonization undertone. If you doubt it, here is the story of where such clarion call was made in the past and what ended the call.

Gobir (Demonym: Gobirawa) was a city-state in what is now Nigeria. Founded by the Hausa in the 11th century, Gobir was one of the seven original kingdoms of Hausaland, and continued under Hausa rule for nearly 700 years. Its capital was the city of Alkalawa.

Gobir is particularly remembered for two things: the first is that it was the oldest of the seven Hausa kingdoms and where the myth of Bayajida took place. The second reason is that it was this kingdom that accommodated and nurtured Usman Dan Fodio who later destroyed it and usurp power. Same way Ọ̀yọ́ empire accommodated Alimi in Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́, but he later orchestrated the fall of Ọ̀yọ́. However, let’s continue our focus on Gobir Kingdom for now.

Bawa, a ruler of Gobir, appears to have invited Usman Dan Fodio to the area in 1774; dan Fodio made his home in the small town of Degel, and began preaching. Just as Alimi made his home in Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ and later in Ilorin. Dan Fodio was given some role in the education of Bawa’s nephew and later successor, Yunfa. Dan Fodio, rather than educate the future king, indoctrinated him to see the way of his people as evil and haram. So, he had hoped Yunfa will become a tool to take over the whole kingdom once he becomes the king.

However, things fell out between Bawa the king of Hausa and Dan Fodio, the throne robber. Dan Fodio accused Bawa and his people of mixing shirrk with their Islamic religion. They fortify themselves with African traditional protection along whatever Arabic abracadabra Dan Fodio presented to them as the best protection. This infuriated the Islamic scholar. He wanted his God to be their only God and the only strategy left is to kill them all.

So Uthman or Usman Dan Fodio the Fulani connived with some of his Hausa recruits and waged war against the hand that fed him and the people that accommodated him into their community. When Bawa died and Yunfa took over the throne, no significant change in the life of the people from shirrk to Deen and this did not go well with Dan Fodio. More, he has been eyeing the throne secretly.

When Yunfa took the throne in 1803, he soon found himself in conflict with dan Fodio. It was alleged that Yunfa, sensing the danger of the growing power of Dan Fodio tried to assassinate him but the alleged assassination failed. Dan Fodio and his followers from Degel ran in Hejirah-like manner to go and raise army of hordes against Yunfa.

Dan Fodio, after assembling the nomadic Fulani clans into a jihadist army, beginning the Fulani War and eventually established the Sokoto Caliphate. Despite some initial successes by the forces of Gobir and the other Hausaland states (most notably at the Battle of Tsuntua), dan Fodio managed to conquer the surrounding territory. His forces seized the Gobir capital, Alkalawa, in October 1808, killing Sarki Yunfa. Come and see how Hausa students of Dan Fodio were killing their Hausa brothers at the command of a stranger. The state was then partially absorbed into Sokoto.

This is a story every Yorùbá must know irrespective of your religion: Islam, Christianity or Ìṣẹ̀ṣe.

Uthman Dan Fodio won the Gobir kingdom for himself in the name of holy Jihad implanted his fulani brothers on the seven kingdom. Till today, no Hausa has a right to the throne again. They now live like a pauper.

Yoruba Muslims and Christians, learn from the mistakes of the past heroines and heros in our land. Learn from Gobir people. Learn from Hausa.

Yoruba be careful.. dont let them use religion with political undertone to usurp your heritage or precious land.

Religion is not what you think it is.
Be warned!!!