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• Meet descendants of Argungu warriors using swords to entertain monarchs, governors, others
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
They have no fear for cutlasses, neither are they scared by knives, arrows, spear or anything related to iron. Reason? Their bodies can’t be penetrated by iron particles. They are the descendants of warriors from Argungu Emirate of Kebbi State.
History has it that before the coming of Fulani Islamic jihadists, led by Shehu Usman Dan-Fodio, and the British colonial masters to their homeland, all the well known warriors in old ‘Kabi Kingdom’, were known to have possession of ‘magani’, the local medicine. This was the supernatural power used by the warriors to resist swords, arrows and any other iron thrown against them in the warfront. With their unique powers, they became some of the most favoured foot soldiers of the defunct ‘Kabi Kingdom.’
These warriors might have been dead and buried years ago, but their offspring, who are certainly no longer moving from village to village, from city to city waging war, possessed the secrets of the supernatural power their forefathers used. But they now use the inherited ‘magani’ for entertainment purposes, to earn their daily meals.
The Tauri dancers group, it was gathered, was formed by the well-known children of the warriors within Argungu Emirate. They were said to be from families of these warriors who are from different villages such as Gulma, Tiggi, and Zazzagawa, among others. These are villages in which the long gone warriors resided.
Since there is no war these days, these trusted great-grand children of the old warriors, full of courage and confidence in themselves and the supernatural powers of their ancestors that have been passed down to them, now team up as a group, moving from one town to another, from one state to nearby countries to entertain royal fathers, governors, presidents and other important personalities in the society.
With big drums called ‘duma,’ knives, cutlasses and red attire, they go about entertaining and making money. Their name, Tauri, literally means a group of dancers displaying knives and cutlasses to entertain audience. Their main man, with a sizeable potbelly, and few others are always at the front to displays their skills before the people while drummers, led by the mai-duma are on standby to beat the duma drums which were used at the warfront in the years of yore, to ignite their spiritual power.
A leader of the group, Alhaji Haruna Mai-Duma was sighted at a programme recently. He spoke to Saturday Sun on the group’s peculiar form of entertainment.
Mai-Duma, who has been with the Tauri dancers group for the past 42 years, explained that members of the group were carefully selected and recruited from the families and compounds of well known warriors in few villages within the Argungu Emirate.
While carefully selecting the questions he would respond to, Mai-Duma said: “We formed this group with the selected individuals that have the supernatural medicine inherited from their ancestors, which would not allow any dangerous weapons made of iron to penetrate or enter our bodies. It could be swords, arrows, cutlasses or knives. These items that I listed cannot penetrate our bodies.
“Members of this group are from well known compounds of past warriors of Argungu Emirate. They are from different families from villages like Tiggi, Zazzagawa, and Gulma, who must have possessed the power from their ancestors, their great, great grandfathers. We all know that in Africa, our ancestors usually pass certain things to their successors such as inheritance like land, farms, houses and so on. That could also include supernatural powers like the ones that we showcase. We inherited the powers from our ancestors.
“Like me, I have been in this group for the past 42 to 43 years. I am from Gulma town in Argungu Emirate of Kebbi State. This is our job now; this is where we get our daily means to take of our children, our families. We have been entertaining different people in Nigeria and nearby countries like Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively. We have been going to Sokoto, Niger and other states in Nigeria. We have been to many national festivals and events across Nigeria to entertain important personalities.”
While speaking on the risks that doing that line of business entails, Mai-Duma, who is the number one drummer of the group, insisted that they have not recorded any casualty among his group members. He noted that there have been some people, who thought they also possessed such powers and tried to use knives on their bodies. He informed that such people ended up getting disappointed, as the powers failed them when they tried to imitate the antics of the Tauri dancers on their bodies. They ended up getting cut by the iron.
Hear him: “Since we have been together, none of us has suffered any cut or injury. Once we are coming out from our various houses, we do pray to Almighty God to protect us. That’s all. We also ask our people, our relatives to be praying for us. So, we don’t have any fear at all. Only those people who were not properly fortified by their ancestors suffer cuts when they are displaying with knives and cutlasses in public. And they are not part of us, Tauri group of Argungu. So, we in Tauri group, God Almighty is our strength.
Recounting their blessings, Mai-Duma said the group had been able to secure six cars from different Kebbi State governors at different occasions while the dancers have also travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj.
He said: “All of us in this group have performed the Hajj. We are meeting up with our daily needs. We have wives, children and many of us have given out our daughters in marriage. We have built houses and our blessings still continue, insha Allahu. This is real African culture, our tradition and we too will pass it to our children for continuity.”
An indigene of Gulma town, Mallam Muhammad Jamilu Gulma, told Saturday Sun in a telephone interview that many of them inherited such supernatural power from their great-grandfathers in the process of following them to the farm or during hunting expeditions.
According to him, “as you know, in this part of the country, many of us are farmers and hunters at the same time. So, anytime we follow our fathers to the farm or go hunting with them, they usually show us certain types of leaves, trees bark that could be used for local medicine such as the one that could resist penetration of iron on our bodies. The knowledge has been given to our fathers from their great-grandfathers who were warriors and hunters in the olden days before the coming of the colonial masters. During the wars in those days, we had some warriors who were specialists in different strategies of war. Some possess the powers to turn rivers to blood. Some could turn road paths to thick forests to prevent enemies from gaining entrance to the city. Those warriors who were foot soldiers possessed the medicine that would not allow swords or cutlasses to cut them. Members of these Tauri dancers group are the descendants of these warriors I’m talking about.
“Some of these medicines could be swallowed like garri powder, some you bathe with and some you rub on your body. You can only find this practice among the descendants of old warriors in different communities in Argungu Emirate. This has not made them pagans or unbelievers. We are Muslims and we do our prayers every day, observing all the principles of Islam. Like you know, many of these Tauri dancers have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform their Hajj. So, this is our culture, this is our tradition and we are proud of it as the people of Argungu Emirate of Kebbi State,” he said.
While speaking about culture recently, Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Nasir Idris, who was represented by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed Birnin Kebbi, noted that the present administration has placed a great importance on culture and tradition, which he noted could he harnessed for the development of the state.
He spoke at the first Unity Cultural Festival, organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture, held at Birnin Kebbi Stadium where different tribes were invited to displays their cultures and tradition.
“Governor Kauran Gwandu has placed premium on developing culture for social cohesion, unity and economic growth. This is demonstrated by his support to the Ministry of Information and Culture to stage the first cultural festival of unity in the state by assembling people of diverse cultural heritage to mingle with one another and showcase peculiar cultural talents,” the commissioner announced.
“The incumbent government of Comrade Nasir Idris is a people-oriented administration. It shall continue to employ cultural diversity for unity and peaceful coexistence,” Yakubu emphasised.
