The Continuous Search For Nigeria’s Elusive Unity (Part 25) By Mike Ozekhome SAN | Nairalaw

ENCORE

We had suspended these national series 19^th
December, 2017, to attend to other more crucial national
matters that continually engage my attention. I have painfully
discovered that like many things in Nigeria, we don’t give our
history the desired attention, leading to its deletion from our
secondary schools’ syllabus.

My teeming readers have continually nudged me to continue this
series as they help present-day controllers of our levers of power
to learn from history and behave better. So many stories go untold,
and some of those told by others are coloured by their own
narrations. There are so many Nigerian women heroes, whose giant
strides are no longer told or remembered. So, like the National
Anthem proclaims, I will not allow the labours of our heroes past
go in vain. That is why today, we x-ray the life and times of some
iconic Nigerian heroines, like Queen Amina of Zaria and Queen Idia
of Benin.

AMINA OF ZARIA

EARLY LIFE

Amina was a Hausa^[1]
Muslim^[2]
Warrior Queen of Zazzau^[3]
(now Zaria), in what is now North West Nigeria^[4]. She is the subject of
many legends, but is believed by historians to have been a real
ruler. There is controversy among scholars as to the date of her
reign. Some scholars placed her in the mid-15th century, while
others placed her reign in the mid to late 16th century.

Amina was born around 1533 in Zaria, a province of today’s
Nigeria. She was the daughter of Bakwa of Turunku. Their family’s
wealth was derived from the trade of leather goods, cloth, kola,
salt, horses and imported metals.
When Bakwa died in 1566, the crown of Zazzua passed to Amina’s
younger brother, Karama. Their sister, Zaria, fled the region and
little is known about her.

Although Bakwa’s reign was known for peace and prosperity, Amina
chose to hone her military skills from the warriors of the Zazzau
military. As a result, she emerged as leader of the Zazzau cavalry.
Many accolades, great wealth, and increased power resulted from her
numerous military achievements.

AMINA’S LEGENDARY EXPLOITS AND ARRIVAL ON THE NATIONAL
SCENE

More recent oral tradition tells a series of lively stories
about the Queen, and these have found their way into popular
folklore culture. Among them were that Amina was a fierce warrior
who loved fighting. As a child, her grandmother, Marka, the
favorite wife of her grandfather, Sarkin Nohir, once caught her
holding a dagger. Amina holding the dagger did not shock Marka.
Rather, it was said that Amina held it exactly as a warrior would.
As an adult, she refused to marry for fear of losing power. She
helped Zazzau (Zaria) become the centre of trade and also gain more
land. Her mother, Bakwa, died when Amina was 36 years old, leaving
her to rule over Zaria. When her brother, Karama
died after a ten-year rule, Amina had matured into a fierce warrior
and had earned the respect of the Zazzau military. She thus assumed
the reign of the kingdom.

Amina led her first military charge a few months after assuming
power. For the rest of her 34-year reign, she continued to fight
and expand her kingdom towards being one of the greatest in
history. The objective for initiating so many battles was to make
neighboring rulers become her vassal and permit her traders safe
passage.

In this way, she boosted her kingdom’s wealth and power with
gold, slaves, and new crops. Because her people were talented metal
workers, Amina introduced metal armor, including iron helmets and
chain mail, to her army.

To her credit, she fortified each of her military camps with an
earthen wall. Later, towns and villages sprung up within these
protective barriers. The walls became known as “Amina’s Walls” and
many of them remain in existence to this day.

According to history, Amina refused to marry and never bore
children. Instead, she took a temporary husband from the legions of
vanquished foes after every battle. After spending one night
together, she would condemn him to death in the morning, just to
prevent him from ever speaking about his sexual encounter with the
revered queen.

 EXIT OF A LEGEND

Records also decreed that she died during a military campaign at
Atagara, near Bida, in the present Niger state of Nigeria. Her
exploits earned her the moniker, “Amina, daughter of
Nikatau, a woman as capable as a man.” Her legendary
exploits made her the model for the television series, “Xena
Warrior Princess”. Today, her memory represents the spirit and
strength of womanhood. (Concluded).

QUEEN IDIA OF BENIN: A WORLD RENOWNED
WARRIOR, SKILLED ADMINISTRATOR, MYSTICAL WOMAN AND THE FIRST QUEEN
OF ANCIENT BENIN KINGDOM IN NIGERIA

EARLY LIFE

Iyoba Idia popularly known as “Idia ne Iye Esigie”, was a
renowned warrior-Queen, skilled Administrator and the first Iyoba
(Queen Mother) of the Kingdom of Benin, capital of the present Edo
State in Nigeria. Iyoba Idia’s visage is the most widely known face
of an African royal woman after the Egyptian Queen,
Ahmose-Nefertari or Nefertiti. Her face has gazed on us from
countless museum pedestals the world over. It has been widely
reproduced on commemorative trays, cups and plates, jewelry, ebony
and brass plaques, and on textiles, specifically, george materials
of the Intorica and Indian Madras labels, wax design cotton prints,
and tee-shirts. Idia was first an Olori (royal wife) of Oba Ozolua,
a military strategist cum mystical warrior, before becoming an
Iyoba, as well as the mother of Oba Esigie (1504-1550 CE), who
was the first King of Benin to ascend the throne with the title
Esigie in about 1504 and was the first leader in the West-African
Sub-Region to establish diplomatic relationship with a European
country.

IDIA’S LEGENDARY VICTORIES AND EXPLOITS

The kingdom of Benin^[5] (in present-day Nigeria)
was plunged into a state of turmoil at the end of the fifteenth
century, when Oba Ozolua died and left two powerful sons
to dispute succession. His son, Esigie, controlled Benin City,
while another son, Arhuaran, was based in the equally important
city of Udo, about twenty miles away. The ensuing civil war
severely compromised Benin’s status as a regional power and
undermined Benin City’s place as the political and cultural centre
of the kingdom. Exploiting this weakness, the neighbouring Igala
people sent warriors across the Benue River to wrest control of
Benin’s northern territories. Esigie ultimately defeated his
brother and conquered the Igalas, thus reestablishing the unity and
military strength of the kingdom. His mother Idia received much of
the credit for these victories as her political counsel, together
with her mystical powers and medicinal knowledge, were believed to
be critical elements of Esigie’s success on the battlefield. To
reward and honour her, Esigie created a new position within the
court called the “Iyoba”, or “Queen Mother,” which gave
her significant political privileges, including a separate
residence, with her own staff.

NOW THIS QUEEN IDIA: THE FACE OF FESTAC
77

Idia’s face was immortalized in the sixteenth century ivory mask
presently tucked away in the British Museum. It became famous when
the Nigerian military government chose it as the emblem for the
Second Black Festival of Arts and Culture, known as FESTAC ‘77,
which Nigeria hosted in 1977. The visibility of the mask increased
when the British government’s Museum refused to release it on loan
to Nigeria, even after demanding two million pounds, which the
Nigerian government put up. The late Oba Akenzua II, then reigning
Oba of Benin, broke the impasse by commissioning the Igbesamwan
(ivory carvers guild), to produce two replicas of the Idia mask
that had been looted by British soldiers during the 1897 punitive
expedition. The fine workmanship of the replicas established that
modern Benin ivory carvers are consummate artists, as were their
forebears, and like the latter, responded with pride and reverence
to the royal commission. The replicas were carved and Festac 77
successfully hosted the entire African continent. (To be
continued).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are
determined not be done.” (Marge
Piercy^[6]).

LAST LINE

Hope Nigerians are reading, digesting and awaiting the next
explosive discourse of Sunday Sermon on the Mount of the Nigerian
Project by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, FCIArb, PH.D, LL.D.