Jega Market

OSUMAN DAN FODIO, the Shehu (Sheikh) who established Fula 1 dominion 120 years ago over so great a part of the Western Sudan, numbered amongst his early disciples a turbulent character named Abdu Salame, a Hausa of the tribe of Ariwa Mantu, and a man of reputed sanctity. Abdu Salame was a cause of the final breach between the Shehu and Yunfa Sarkin Gobir. Incurring the enmity of Yunfa, he and his followers were compelled to seek safety in flight. Entering Gimbana they fortified the town and defied the Sarkin Gobir. Their resistance was unsuccessful; Gimbana fell and many prisoners were taken. While these were on their way to Yunfa the Moslems amongst them were released by the Shehu, who by that time had acquired considerable influence. The repeated demands of Yunfa for the surrender of the prisoners were met with refusals, and this led to the break between the Shehu and the Sarkin Gobir which precipitated the jihad. When the time came for the victorious Shehu to choose governors for his extensive dominions, his Hausa disciple, Abdu Salame, was put in charge of a considerable district. After a while the turbulent spirit of Abdu began to assert itself. Finally he abjured Islam and openly rebelled against the Shehu, and, we are told, it was at a place called Jega that he and his followers offered a long and successful resistance to the Fula. He was finally defeated and died a fugitive. He and his followers and their descendants are known as Gimbanawa, and Jega is to-day their principal town. Bohari, the son of Abdu Salame, was the first Sarkin of Jega

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