Chapter Seventeen: The King Makers

The in-fighting between the two royal families continued. With the possible outbreak of a civil war hanging in the air, many vested interests were not satisfied with the choice of Salli as the new Lamdo of Maroua, including Hayah. However, as the highest-ranking military General, he held the kingdom in check and mediated between the royal families to accept the kingmaker's decision to save the kingdom from both internal and external turmoil.

But despite his good intentions, the new Lamdo was suspicious of him. He saw Hayah's enthusiasm in trying to keep the kingdom together as a maneuver to usurp him. For him, it was mutiny. Not only was Hayah very powerful, but his followers had increased significantly since his arrival. When he settled at Balda, he came as a scholar with a few students and claimed that he only wanted to spread knowledge. But within a short time, he became the Lamdo's favorite, who also commanded the army. He had the potential of becoming a very serious threat to the kingdom. For some not-too-obvious reasons, the previous Lamdo trusted him very much. But he wasn't totally absolved from suspicion from the royals.

To make matters worse for Hayah, the Waziri had already ingratiated himself and become the new Lamdo's confidant. As a matter of fact, it was his secret manipulations that brought Salli to power. Lamdo Salli was his candidate. And now that he was in a position of power, he was manipulating him to send Hayah out of the kingdom. However, he was clever not to push too hard. Instead, he pretended to have the best interest of the kingdom at heart, while filling Salli's head with lies and horrid pictures of the future of Balda if Hayah is left in charge. The Lamdo believed him.

So, every time Hayah requested new equipment or new recruits of soldiers, the new Lamdo would object to it. He was always frustrated. He didn't know what to do. Even the intervention of his best friend, the Chiroma, did not better his lot. He later found out that Lamdo Salli had been consorting with other minor monarchs all around Fombina to have him exiled from the kingdom.

Lamdo Salli then wrote a letter to the Lamido of Yola:

Allah sabbine,

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you.

I write to inform you of the threat facing my kingdom and I believe, Fombina as a whole, by the name Hayah. As you are aware, he came here on the pretext of being a teacher, but over the years his followers have increased greatly and have become more fanatical every day, and I worry that he will become a problem beyond me soon.

I request that you order him back to Sokoto before he becomes too big of a problem for us to handle.

Lamdo Salli.

All the Lamdos in the kingdom of Fombina reported to the Lamido of Yola, Lamido Sanda, who was the supreme ruler of the kingdom, and Yola was the capital of Fombina. The Lamido replied to him:

Lamdo Salli,

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you as well.

I have read your letter, but I do not see the threat that you talked about. Hayah is the great-grandson of Usumanu the Great, and I will not be hasty to exile him from my kingdom because of your fears. Unless you have evidence to support your claims, I will not risk ruining the good name of my kingdom before the Sokoto Caliphate.

In the meantime, he will stay as long as it pleases him.

Lamido Sanda.

Lamdo Salli was disappointed.

After that incident, Hayah realized that he was in danger and moved quickly. To achieve his plans, he needed to find a more powerful benefactor. So, he sent his most trusted lieutenant, Arabu, with a letter to his powerful ally, King Mohammed Ahmed of Sudan, also known as 'Muharib' by his people, pledging allegiance to him. In return, the Muharib sent him a reply, effectively appointing him as Deputy Amirul Muminin, to exercise authority over all Muslims under Fulani rule, including the Lamido and the Lamdos of Fombina. He also sent a letter to the Sokoto Caliphate, informing them of his decision and instructing them to submit to Hayah on all Islamic matters. All the letters carried the official emblem of the Muharib and the royal seal of the kingdom of Sudan. It also came with a flag, which Hayah was to carry as the Amirul Muminin. Hayah's cousin, Umaru, who was the Sultan of Sokoto at that time, felt insulted by the letter and refused to submit. "How dare him ask the Caliphate to submit to that idiot?" He fumed and sent a defiant reply to him. Not only was the kingdom of Sokoto powerful enough to withstand any external attack, but it also had the Europeans as new allies. The Europeans had already started their colonization of Africa and were slowly annexing lands through fraudulent trade treaties with traditional rulers. The ones that went to Sokoto were the British who had very sophisticated weapons and battle-thirsty soldiers, ready to defend their 'newly found ally' if need be. Hayah's plan of using the Muharib of Sudan failed woefully.

Days turned into weeks, and then months as Hayah fought to maintain his position. He never stopped preaching, and despite the Sokoto Caliphate's denouncement, others didn't follow suit. In fact, his declaration as the new Deputy Amir increased his followers in great numbers. He amassed so many supporters that he built a new mosque that rivaled that of Yola. He also commissioned the construction of a new market to improve the lives of the people of Balda. At first, the Lamdo refused to provide him with the necessary funds, but after convincing him of the project's tremendous positive effect on Maroua's economy, the Lamdo reluctantly gave him only half of the requested amount. Nevertheless, this setback didn't discourage Hayah; instead, he utilized the many captured slaves from his recent military campaigns and his devoted followers as cheap labor. Before long, the market and the mosque were completed, leading to an even larger increase in his followers.

There was further good news. His wife gave birth to a bouncing baby boy whom he named Sai'du after his father. He cherished the boy deeply and took him along everywhere he went. However, he had hoped Fantah would be the one to give him an heir. Even though he couldn't go to see her, he never ceased thinking of her. He wrote several letters, unaware that his messengers were not delivering them in the first place. The messengers, who he never knew about, told him that Fantah looked unhappy. Hayah knew she was still hurting from the embarrassment he caused her and her family, and he acknowledged that she had every right to be angry. He had attempted to go and apologize, but he was always constrained by circumstances that seemed to deliberately prevent him from seeing her. There was a powerful force holding him back, one he could not see and didn't understand. Nonetheless, he never stopped loving her and thinking about her, wondering where she was, what she was doing, and if she had married someone else. The silence was unbearable, and he found himself yearning for her, saying, "Oh my beloved, Fantah."

[End of Chapter Seventeen]