A trip to Tula Cave

Tula plateau is located in present Kaltungo local government Area of Gombe State and is about 120 kilometres from the state capital. The chiefdom of Tula is made up of three settlements, namely, Tula Yiri, Tula Bowle and Tula Wange which is the present traditional administrative headquarters of the chiefdom.

Andrew Aliyu, 64, is the village head of Tula Wange. He narrated that the Wure Titilo came into being after their ancestors took the advantage of the rocky nature of the area to perforate the hill on which Tula Wange is presently situated.

He stated, “Our ancestors took the advantage of the mountains around to settle and that gave them a cover against external aggression from enemies.”

Explaining further, Mr. Andrew said the cave had only a small hollow opening from the outside that served as the entrance which made it impossible for the invading enemies to notice its presence.

That gave the Tula warriors the assurance that the people kept in the cave are safe and protected from external aggression.

He said the selection for the site of wuro Titilo by their forefathers was carefully done and chosen to be beneath the settlement of the community. The cave could accommodate several hundreds of people because the interior was well carved and excavated to provide a spacious environment for complete human habitation, it was also said that there was a well dug to provide water for those taking refuge in the cave.

He said, “The site for the cave was carefully chosen by our forefathers.

As you can see, the cave is located beneath our settlement for easy access and as a hideout against enemies. Inside the cave, there is a well that provides water for the various needs of those in the hideout.”

A visit to the location of the cave which is about 200 meters from the mountainous gate of Tula by our correspondent, revealed that the Wure Titilo that is supposed to be a national monument for tourist attraction, was just relegated to mere farmland as weeds had overgrown the small opening that had once served as an entrance to the cave as well as the entire surroundings of the area.

Prior to 2003, before the coming of the present administration into power, if the potentials of a historical monument like Tula cave would remain untapped by either the government or the private sectors one has little or no reason to frown at it because the road leading to Tula was absolutely inaccessible following the mountainous topography of the area.

Reaching Tula plateau by whatever means is considered a daring adventure because of the risk that one could be exposed to. However, there are some special vehicles that ply the hilly road periodically which are used for the difficult task by the indigenes, for whom going to Tula is somewhat mandatory.

As a matter of fact, going to Tula is considered as a mission impossible with the exception of few natives of the area, but with the advent of Goje’s administration, a succour has now been brought to the inhabitants of the place as well as their visitors as a tarred road has been provided by the government but despite that, historical monuments like Tula cave and a host of others are still lying fallow.

Post colonial prison in which the former Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was once jailed in the early 60s and the building that housed the secretariat headquarters as well as the building of the resident quarters and dispensary used by the missionaries in the colonial era are some of the tourist attraction sites in the area that have remained unharnessed. 

According to some legend, Tula was the only chiefdom that had never been subdued by the enemies in the pre-colonial days of ethnic and inter tribal wars in the entire former Tangale/Waja federation, which at present occupies the southern part  of Gombe State.

It is also on record that of all the wars fought by the people of Tula, none took place in Tula. They all fought their battles outside the chiefdom of the Tula community with the exception of the colonial war that had brought the chiefdom under the administration of the colonial government.

Giving an account of one of the battles fought by the people of Tula against the Emir of Misau, a town in present day Bauchi, Andrew said the Tula warriors came with a war strategy by blocking and poisoning the water source of the invading Misau warriors and with the aid of the power of Tula war soothsayer, named Kwalleri the battle was won with ease and that enabled the Tula warriors to behead the Emir of Misau and have his head for keeps.

According to him, “the battle won against the people of Misau during the inter tribal war has remained the most celebrated victory in the history of the Tula people. This tells you the bravery and supremacy of Tula.

You should note that the war was not only fought and won, but the Emir of Misau was beheaded and the head was taken back to Tula.”

Some sources said  Kwalleri used her spiritual war power to fight the battle alone as it was explained by Andrew , who said the female war magician attacked the Misau enemies by expelling bees and fire from her womanhood that killed all the enemies at the battle field.

By 1908, the surrounding ethnics group reported Tula to the then Colonial Resident Officer in Bauchi that there was another tribe (Tula) in Tangale/Waja that was still harassing and terrorising them (smaller ethnic groups), that brought a delegation of colonials masters to broker peace among all the concerned communities but the Tulas rejected all efforts of a peaceful resolution by the colonialists.

However, as if the Tula people wanted to test the might of the colonial masters, the gun of the whiteman who came for the resolution of the conflict was stolen and this singular act did not go down well with the colonialists. Therefore, the colonial masters left with a promise to come back for a war.

One Captain Calye led the colonial army that fought and conquered Tula, for their rudeness and despising the authorities of the British colonial masters.

The chiefdom that had once served as the headquarters of the entire Tangale/Waja was relegated to become answerable to Kaltungo chiefdom which is just a chiefdom in Tangale/Waja.

Andrew added that, “For the fact that Tula always had an upper hand with its enemies, they thought it was going to happen the same way even when fighting with the colonial masters. When the colonial army led by Captain Calye came to Tula for the peaceful resolution of conflicts between Tula and the surrounding communities, Tula rejected and went into war with the colonial army which finally led to its conquest.”

The three communities of Tula had an organised royal setting that made it possible for the chiefdom to serve at the headquarters of the defunct Tangale/Waja that occupies the present four local government areas of southern Gombe from 1906 to 1970, until when the agitation for the relocation of the headquarters began by the other chiefdoms because of the inaccessible nature of the area.

In 1966, the agitation for the transfer of the headquarters of the Native Authority (NA) from Tula gathered more momentum.

Therefore, by 1970 Billiri, Kaltungo and Cham chiefdoms had collectively voted for the relocation of the NA headquarters in favor of Billiri which is situated on the present Gombe/Yola highway.

It was speculated that the chief of Tula Wange had one time headed the traditional council of Tangale/Waja but when the mighty fell, the master became the servant. However, Tula had by 2001, regained its former status of a chiefdom.