Bama caps bringing politicians, supporters together

Bama Cap is known for its intricate designs that portray the culture, tradition and history of the Kanuri people in Borno and Yobe states. 

The cap, named after an ancient town in Borno State with a population of about 500,000 people, is one of the few surviving traditional crafts in Northern Nigeria.

This unique embroidery is sustained by a few resilient craftsmen that operate daily to produce the caps for millions of people across the world.

On the average, 70 to 80 per cent of inhabitants of Bama town are using this craft to supplement their incomes from their main occupations, farming and rearing of livestock.

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Originally, every cap took after the name of the town, “Yar Bama”, but an evolution came with many different designs bearing influential names that easily attract certain groups of customers and admirers.

As one of the best ways to keep the age-long tradition fresh, these craftsmen adopt various designs that bear the names of governors, ministers and other top government officials which honour and immortalise them.

In Borno and Yobe states, most politicians stick to a particular cap design for identity and to attract followership.

One of the cap makers, Mustapha Mai Hula, said naming the caps after influential people was most times deliberate, but that it could be coincidental.

He said, “It’s not as if we normally give the names to the caps, no! Most times it is people who come to buy from us that describe caps being worn by a particular governor or other dignitaries.

“At times they will bring a picture of the governor or top politician and request that we produce the same design for them. From there, we will tag it by the name of that personality.”

A source in the Borno State Government House said, “The governors choose these designs to deliberately empower the cap makers. Somebody like Sen Kashim Shettima will always wear his cap design and keep many in his car and at home. This inspires his aides, friends and colleagues to patronise the makers and purchase them with high value.” 

Among those who have been honoured and immortalised on the Bama Cap are:  

Zanna Bukar 

The “Zanna Bukar” cap takes after a First Republic politician, “Zanna Bukar Suloma Dipcharima”, who was a member of the House of Representatives and at various times Minister of Administration; Commerce and Industry; and Transport.

The late Dipcharima, an indigene of Borno State, was fond of using that particular cap design throughout his life, and the cap has immortalised him.  

Mala Kachalla

This is another popular cap that takes after the fourth Executive Governor of Borno State, Mala Kachalla, who idolised the cap during his reign between May, 1999, and May, 2003.

As a payback, the cap now immortalises him and not even the renaming of Hausari Model Primary School after him by Governor Kashim Shettima makes him more popular than the cap.  

Mamman Ali

Senator Mamman Bello Ali was the Executive Governor of Yobe State for a few months before his death, but the cap, “Mamman Ali”, lives after him and is giving him more grace than his heroic sacrifices and wonderful performance in the senate and as Yobe governor. 

As a senator, Ali walked to the front of the senate chamber and declared a bag filled with N3m given to him as bribe to influence his vote during President Obasanjo’s administration.

He is also remembered for cutting short the high horse uprightness of Malam Nasiru el-Rufai to size after revealing how the former FCT minister employed a woman fresh from the university on a N1m monthly salary.  

Ali Modu Sheriff

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, popularly known as SAS, is the first governor to serve for two terms in Borno State on the platforms of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressives Congress (APP).

SAS later switched affiliation to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and acted as its National Working Committee (NWC) chairman before he returned to APC.

Recently, SAS has not been very active in politics, but his cap design is making waves in markets within and outside Borno.  

Kashim Shettima

Kashim Shettima, a banker, politician and senator served as the Governor of Borno State from 2011 to 2019.

Today, Shettima is the vice presidential candidate of the ruling APC, and the “Kashim Shettima” cap design is his signpost. 

Babagana Umara Zulum

The Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum, a former Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, is a star at the moment.

Several assassination attempts on him by Boko Haram terrorists have not deterred him from achieving excellence in peace and infrastructure development in the state.

Also, his performance in three years attracted him many awards, including the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) and Niger Republic’s second national honour, “de Grand Officier Dans I`Ordre”, which is the equivalent of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) in Nigeria.

However, these two honors, along with several other leadership awards, are not as visible as the Zulum Cap that glows on the heads and faces of thousands of people in Nigeria and beyond.  

Mai Mala Buni

Another design, “Mai Mala Buni”, has been making waves in the cap market across the country since Yobe State’s Governor, Mai Mala Buni, assumed office three years back.

However, the politics played by Buni as National Chairman of the Extraordinary Caretaker Committee of the ruling APC has given him more popularity than previous positions held.

The “Mai Mala” cap design echoes his name louder and takes over his missing appearance on TV, newspapers and some personality appearances.

However, this resilient craft is now struggling to survive and hold its influence under the Boko Haram insurgency, but the future seems even brighter with the return of Bama inhabitants to their ancestral home.