Gogo Habiba

Gogo Habiba
Sagi of Nupe
Born1805
Rabba, Kingdom of Nupe (in modern-day Niger State)
Died1867(1867-00-00) (aged 61–62)
Bida, Bida Emirate
FatherMallam Dendo
OccupationSlave merchant
Cause of deathSuicide

Gogo Habiba, also known as Habiba Sabaci, was a Fulani noblewoman and slave merchant who wielded significant political influence in Nupeland during the mid 19th-century. She was the daughter of Mallam Dendo, the founder of the Nupe-Fulani dynasty that had ruled Nupeland since the early 19th-century.[1][2]

Habiba reached the height of her power during the second reign of her younger brother, Emir Masaba (r. 1859–1873). During this period, she was granted the royal title of Sagi, which put her in charge of the affairs of women in the Emirate, answerable only to the Emir. Habiba was also said to have commanded an army comparable to that of Masaba's in Bida. Operating from her slave depot at Badegi-Lapai (now called Badeggi,[3] located in Katcha), her men regularly conducted slave raids in neighbouring, weaker Nupe and Gbagyi settlements. She traded the captured slaves as far as Lagos, notably with Madame Tinubu, another influential female slave trader.[1][4][5]

Fearing Habiba's growing influence and popularity, Emir Masaba convinced his sister to move to Bida, the capital of his Emirate. However, in Bida, her influence continued to grow, once again overshadowing her half-brother. The arrival of British merchants in the early 1860s presented Masaba with another opportunity to curtail his sister's power over the Emirate. Throughout the decade, he cultivated a strong friendship with these merchants, who supplied him with modern weaponry and a steady flow of firearms. As Masaba's wealth and power rapidly increased, his relationship with Habiba deteriorated. This led Habiba to plot a rebellion against him. She, along with some members of the ruling family, allied with Etsu Baba of the old Nupe ruling dynasty to eliminate Masaba. However, before they could act, the plot was discovered, and Habiba was forced to commit suicide.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Idrees, Aliyu A (June 1991). "Gogo Habiba of Bida: The rise and demise of a nineteenth century Nupe merchant princess and politician" (PDF). African Study Monographs. 12.
  2. ^ Weise, Constanze (2020-09-01). "Women and trade in the Nupe–Borgu region during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries". Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines. 54 (3): 459–477. doi:10.1080/00083968.2020.1749097. ISSN 0008-3968.
  3. ^ "Lapai | Traditional Culture, Festivals & Cuisine | Britannica". Britannica. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  4. ^ Scheub, Harold (2000). A dictionary of African mythology : the mythmaker as storyteller. Internet Archive. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512456-9.
  5. ^ Nadel, S. F. (Siegfried Frederick) (1942). A black Byzantium;. Internet Archive. London, New York [etc.] Pub. for the International institute of African languages & cultures by the Oxford university press. p. 147.