THE HISTORY OF MAKAWADA THE BACHAMA WARRIOR
MA-KWA-DA;
Was born in jongum among the eastern bwatiye in the present cameroon republic. Probably by the turn of the nineteenth century. He was said to be a very strange personality owing to his very hairy nature from childhood.
His father was Ule and his mother was known as kike. He had younger brothers known as Ndunwo, Ngato and Gbana.
There’s information regarding makwada’s early life except that a fulani man, who seeing his strange hairy nature , suggested to his father that he should be eliminated before he could grow up to constitute a threat to the society. He is said to have been bound with ropes and thrown into the river where he stayed for six days, but came out alive on the seventh day. This story may be connected to his alleged magical preparations or fortification for future exploits. According to some of this tales, makwada , as a young boy had been magically prepared in a hole by an old woman in the bush for some time’ and later by a mighty stone from mecca inside a river.
Makwada was to later sojourn to bornu to aquire magical powers which were believed to be found in the koran. This may not be surprising because modibbo adama , who led the jihad in fombina, had also studied in bornu where he was also believed to have acquired the supernatural powers that enabled him to proscite the holly war successfully.
Indeed ,Bornu particularly the city of Ngazargamu and Kukawa, had become a center of Islamic scholarship since the era of the mais and shehus respectively.
It is not clear whether makwada had been introduced to islam or had attended any qoranic school before his adventure to Bornu. At the moment , we do not know what aspect of islam or Islamic theology makwada studied and specialized in. Considering his supposed motives of going to Bornu , however it can only be implied that his interest was in the area of Islamic mysticism. What we do know , however is that’ makwada.
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