Ahmed Tahir Ajobe, Minna
As descendants of the ruling house in Nupe Kingdom, the Ndayakos are popular and respected not just in Bida but Niger State and Nigeria at large.
In the Nupe Kingdom of Bida and by extension the entire Niger State, the name Ndayako is synonymous with royalty. The history of the family is tied to that of the 9th Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Muhammadu Ndayako, popularly known as Baba Kudu, who reigned between 1935 and 1962.
Muhammadu Ndayako was the son of sixth Etsu, Nupe Muhammad Makun, who was the son of the third Etsu Nupe, Umaru Majigi, the grandson of Malam Muhammadu Dendo, also popularly referred to as Manko, a Fulani man from Kebbi and disciple of Shehu Usman Danfodio sent to Nupe kingdom to spread Islam.
Although scholars had differed on the actual year Dendo arrived the area on his spiritual journey, there is unanimity that it was after the Danfodio jihad in the Sokoto Caliphate between 1804 and 1805.
His arrival, according to historical accounts, coincided with the reign of Etsu Muazu, who was said to have brought the kingdom to its period of greatest power. His demise in 1818 had triggered a severe succession struggle between Muazu’s son, Jimada, and Majiya II, his nephew.
The crisis was said to have polarized the kingdom into Western and Eastern axes, with Jimada operating from Gara, an ancient capital city of Nupe, while Majiya built himself a capital at Rabah.
Dendo and his group which settled in Rabah before the crisis erupted naturally aligned with Majiya. Majiya and his army were said to have defeated and killed Jimada in a battle at Ragada near Ja’agi in 1810, thereby becoming the undisputable ruler of the Nupe Kingdom.
Majiya was said to have made Dendo his chaplain and spiritual adviser because of the role the later played in the war. Dendo became very influential within the kingdom and beyond. With his influence, Malam Denodo was said to have applied to the Emir of Gwandu for a flag which signified his official recognition as a leader and acceptance as the feudal chief of the Fulani Empire.
He was to change the fate of the Nupe Kingdom through his three sons-Usman Zaki, Muhammadu Masaba and Umaru Majigi, whose households have ruled the kingdom in rotation till today.
Malam Dendo’s second son, Usman Zaki, was the first religious and spiritual head of the Nupe nation to adopt the title of Etsu Nupe with all the ancient regalia of the earlier Nupe kings and making Raba the official capital of the kingdom. Within the period, the history of the Nupe Kingdom was said to have been characterized by constant intrigues, wars and rebellions, followed by expansionist endeavours.
Etsu Usman Zaki died around 1859 and Etsu Masaba as well as Umaru Majigi succeeded him one after the other from 1859 to 1873 and 1873 to 1884 respectively. Etsu Maliki reigned for 11 years between 1884 and 1895. During the reign of Etsu Abubakar between 1895 and 1901, the British invasion through the Royal Niger Company became imminent and inevitable. Late Etsu Abubakar was exiled and Muhammadu Makun, the son of Umar Majigi, was appointed Etsu Nupe.
Succession in the three ruling houses continued after his death in 1916 until 1935 when Muhammadu Ndayako whose reign has been described as the most successful in Nupe land, was appointed.
The Ndayakos belong to the Majigi royal house. The family therefore revolved around the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Muhammadu Kudu Ndayako, who ruled the kingdom between 1935 and 1962.
Muhammad Ndayako was the son of the sixth Etsu Nupe, Muhammad Bagudu, who was also the son of the third Etsu Nupe, Umaru Majigi. Muhammadu Ndayako himself also produced a successor to the throne with his son, Alhaji Umaru Sanda Ndayako as the 12th Etsu Nupe. Sanda ruled for 28 years, a year longer than his father, from January 1975 to 2003.
Like all African royal homes, the Ndayakos is a very large family with lineage spreading all over the kingdom and beyond.
Barrister Muhammad Ndayako, one of the grand sons of the house and immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Niger State, confirmed this to Daily Trust when he said the family has 20 compounds in Bida alone.
“The head of each of the compounds has three to four wives and the average population of each of the houses would not be fewer than 20,” he said.
This, considering the number of children the current most senior of the Ndayakos and second in commander in the kingdom, Alhaji Abdulmalik Ndayako has, could not have been more correct. According to Barrister Muhammad, Alhaji Abdulamalik, who holds the title of Shaba Nupe, has over 40 children from four wives. He however could not give the number of grandchildren together at the time of this chat.
Some of the sons of the Shaba, like their father, already hold traditional titles in the kingdom. Among them are; Alhaji Muhammadu Bakudu Abdulmalik Ndayako who holds the title of Koguna Nupe and Alhaji Musa Abdulmalik Ndayako, the Dandendo Nupe.
Daily Trust learnt that Alhaji Muhammadu Kudu Ndayako also has princesses who have left indelible footprints in the kingdom and beyond, even as one bore a successor to the throne within the Usman Zaki dynasty. A retired Brigadier General and current Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, is the son of the late Hajiya Habiba Abubakar (Nna Ya Etsu), a teacher and women leader.
The accession of her son to the throne of his forbearers after the death of his maternal uncle in 2003, Alhaji Umaru Sanda, made Hajiya Nna the first in the linage of the Ndayakos to beget an Etsu. She was also said to be the first female to acquire western education up to Grade II in Bida and the first to ride a bicycle in the town.
Today, one the late Hajiya Nna’s younger brothers, Alhaji Abdulmalik Ndayako, is the chief adviser to her son, the 13th Etsu Nupe as the second in command in the kingdom.
With the death of Umaru Sanda, the current Shaba Nupe, Alhaji Abdulmalik naturally became the head of the entire Ndayako royal family and that of Umaru Majigi dynasty. Shaba is the second in command in the Nupe traditional title hierarchy.
The current Shaba is the younger brother to the late Etsu Umaru Sanda Ndayako and the fourth son of Muhammadu Kudu Ndayako, the ninth Etsu Nupe. He held three other titles before the current one including Madami Nupe, Makun Nupe and Kpotun Nupe and was also a district head and federal commissioner in the Public Complaints Commission during the administration of military president, General Ibrahim Babaginda, as well as a special adviser to a former Niger State governor, Awwal Ibrahim, who is now the current Emir of Suleja.
The Shaba started his civil service career as an executive officer with the defunct Northern Nigeria Public Service and later, an administrative officer with the federal civil service. He was also a private secretary to a former Minister of Defence, Ibrahim Tanko, a higher executive officer in the Federal Ministry of Mines and Power and principal executive officer with the National Veterinary Research Institute Vom, Plateau State. He was also a member of the Niger State Boundary Commission and that of the State Pilgrims Welfare Board as well as the chairman, Presidential Monitoring and Inspection Committees on the Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) projects in Katsina and Plateau states.
The Ndayakos as it were, apart from belonging to the royal house of the Nupe Kingdom, has also produced personalities in different spheres of life both in the private and public sectors including a senator of the Federal Republic, Alhaji Dagana Ndayako.
