Naa Binbiԑɣu Tuwa
The baobab tree you see in the picture is in Yendi. It is not just one of the ordinary baobab tree, it's a strange baobab tree. This particular baobab tree can be located in Yendi just within the premises of "BABA YILI" and 'Baloɣu-Fonŋ' to be specific. According to oral history, this strange baobab tree has lived for more than 332 years.
The strange baobab tree is popularly known in Dagbɔŋ as "Naa Binbiԑɣu Tuwa". It is different from 'NAA DATAA TUWA'. The baobab tree is named after one great king in Dagbɔŋ called Naa Binbiԑɣu(1687-1700) who happens to have been the eldest prince(Zuu) of Naa Zangina(1648-1677). Naa Binbiԑɣu was the same person referred to as Zuu Jinŋli. It was named after Naa Binbiԑɣu(Nuwa Karili ku nyanŋ janŋ ŋub'bu, Daboba kobga ku duɣi zuu ŋan daa, Zangina zuu ŋan daa, Zangina Zuu Jinŋli) because its present location was where the Gbԑwaa palace was located and it also served as a place where Naa Binbiԑɣu used to mount his afgods and idols. When Naa Binbiԑɣu was given birth, he was given to Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa to groom. It was always the norm for chiefs who occupies the 'Warizohe' chieftaincy sect to groom princes of kings of dagbɔŋ. History states spans that, Naa Binbiԑɣu could not find life easy at the place where he was being nurtured. We're told, he was almost mistreated by those he was given to on a daily basis. It was also normal for any person who was given out to be groom to be treated that way but Naa Binbiԑɣu's own was out of normal and worse off if you ask me. Naa Binbiԑɣu at his grooming place in Zohԑ was task to feed the Zohԑ Naa's horses, this he combined with his miserable life of going through difficulty just to stuff his own-self and feed his face. Naa Binbiԑɣu was always starving. One day, Naa Binbiԑɣu having returned from looking for the horses feed, got hungry to the extend that he almost became unconscious but for the timely intervention of one of the Zohԑ Naa's wife who provided him with a very hot TZ and a soup. It will surprise you to note that the TZ that was provided him was even given to him on his palms. He ate the food on his palms and left some morsels of that for a particular purpose best known to him. Naa Binbiԑɣu then sent the morsels to those leather works for them to tan an amulet for him. From that day henceforth, he began wearing the amulet on a necklace as his very own protective charm.
The kind of life Naa Binbiԑɣu experienced at his parenting home was so unbearable. It was through that he had this illness of rashes and spots all over his skin. Some people says that the illness is what we now termed in Dagbɔŋ as "GBANI". His illness of "GBANI" was largely attributed to his inability to bath regularly. This illness made a lot of people within the Zohԑ Naa's palace court to treat Naa Binbiԑɣu with disgust. In fact, Naa Binbiԑɣu was subjected to all manner of contempt and scorn. The treatment of contempt necessitated Naa Binbiԑɣu's decision to go out of the palace in search of medicine to cure his illness. Naa Binbiԑɣu was sent away by almost all persons he reached out to help him cure his sickness; notable among these personalities were the Balo Naa and Kum-Lana. The trial of sending him packing by all those he reached out to did not in one way deter him. One day, Naa Binbiԑɣu headed for Kpatinŋa to meet the then Kpatinŋ Lana. When Naa Binbiԑɣu got to Kpatinŋ, he paid homage and explained to the then Kpatinŋ Lana the reason behind his sudden visit to them. The then Kpatinŋ Lana was saddened to hear the plight of Naa Binbiԑɣu but was more devastated when he thought he could have done something about it but didn't want to overstep his bounds. The then Kpatinŋ Lana's position was clear, loud and convincing in the sense that, if he(Kpatinŋ Lana) had offered to help Naa Binbiԑɣu would have been indicative of the fact that the then Zohԑ Naa was a Bad parent and uncaring as well. The then Kpatinŋ Lana was confronted with the situation where he could help but was hopeless in that regard since he didn't want to provoke the senses of his colleague chief.
Naa Binbiԑɣu was seen wandering around in Kpatinŋ until he chanced on one AFA ABDULAI. AFA ABDULAI was seated in front of his house reciting the Holy Quran when Naa Binbiԑɣu bumped into him. The two exchanged pleasantries with Naa Binbiԑɣu narrating what happened to him and why he was in Kpatinŋ. AFA ABDULAI took Naa Binbiԑɣu as his guest and welcomed him with a porridge and a honey that was prepared for the guest by the wife of AFA ABDULAI. AFA ABDULAI gave Naa Binbiԑɣu some company whiles at the same time instructed his wife to get Naa Binbiԑɣu a somewhat hot water to bath and refresh his body. AFA ABDULAI summoned his children before Naa Binbiԑɣu to inform them that Naa Binbiԑɣu was the eldest prince of the then Yaa-Naa, Naa Zangina but was treated as an outcast simply because of his sickness. AFA ABDULAI entreated his sons and daughters to treat their guest with honour and reverence since he was also a king in the making. After the address by AFA ABDULAI, he instructed his sons to help him bathed his guest. After the bathing, AFA ABDULAI smeared his guest body with the local herbs, concoctions and from which the humble AFA ABDULAI started writing some of the Quranic verses for his guest to drink. In no time, Naa Binbiԑɣu's sickness vanished into the thin air with no traces of it and the scorned Naa Binbiԑɣu was back to normal. Naa Binbiԑɣu didn't go back to where he came from where he had relief. He remained at AFA ABDULAI 's house whiles farming and learning the Quran in the same vain.
AFA ABDULAI and his guest continued living happily until such a time when AFA ABDULAI thought of visiting Yendi with his guest to seek for forgiveness from Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa to whose hands Naa Binbiԑɣu was entrusted into to nurture. AFA ABDULAI and Naa Binbiԑɣu arrived in Yendi and moved straight to the Zohԑ Naa's palace which was supposed to serve as their lodging place. AFA ABDULAI & Naa Binbiԑɣu paid homage to the then Zohԑ Naa before revealing the secret behind their presence before the Zohԑ Naa. The secret was to seek for Zohԑ Naa's forgiveness on grounds that Naa Binbiԑɣu left his( Zohԑ Naa's palace) to seek for treatment without informing him. Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa waved the negative feelings he initially had about Naa Binbiԑɣu for leaving his palace without his permission AND AFA ABDULAI for taking Naa Binbiԑɣu into his custody without informing he(Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa). The pardoned duo of AFA ABDULAI & Naa Binbiԑɣu then requested for Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa to lead them to pay homage to the then king of Dagbɔŋ, Naa Zangina who doubled as the father of Naa Binbiԑɣu. Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa told them point blank that the eldest prince of a king of Dagbɔŋ does not set eye-to-eye with the father in a broad daylight, so he advised them to reschedule that meeting to that day in the evening. AFA ABDULAI & Naa Binbiԑɣu heeded to Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa's advise and on that same night, they all went together to the Gbԑwaa palace to pay their homage. Their visit exhilarated the king as they used that rare meeting to chat for a while. Haven returned from the visit to the Gbԑwaa palace, AFA ABDULAI on behalf of the two requested permission from Naa Biԑli Zohԑ Naa to return to Kpatinŋa as they had to attend to their respective Yam-Farm activities.
Shortly after the return of AFA ABDULAI & Naa Binbiԑɣu to Kpatinŋa, they had this sad news from an emissary from Yendi informing them of the demise of the king of Dagbɔŋ, Naa Zangina. This was so shocking news to AFA ABDULAI & Naa Binbiԑɣu especially when they recently had visited the king. Without delaying time, AFA ABDULAI did what was expected of him in terms of preparation and handed over Naa Binbiԑɣu to Naa Yab-Kuɣu Naa for onward installation as the regent of Dagbɔŋ. Naa Binbiԑɣu was supposed to rule Dagbɔŋ on an interim base until such a time when he has performed his father's funeral and pave way for a substantive ruler to succeed his father. Within the shortest possible time, Naa Binbiԑɣu in consultation with elders of Yendi and family members initiated the funeral observation of his father and in no time they successfully brought that to a close. A new king in the person of Naa Andani Siɣili(Bili-Bili ni nam polo--polo ku nam yoli, Ba so ŋun nyԑ O karimban bindi ni Vaai O karimban bindi, Gbuɣindaa kumsi ni yirigi tiŋa, No gali muni ku banŋ naani, Saviɣu-sunŋ ni laɣim kuriti, Zawuri baligu ni laɣim nohi). Surprisingly, Naa Binbiԑɣu was not compensated with a cottage let alone a community as its chief which inform his decision to move back again to Kpatinŋa where he was treated whiles Naa Andani Siɣili ruled for 10 solid years until the year 1687 when he died. A delegation at this moment was once again sent to Kpatinŋa to inform AFA ABDULAI & Naa Binbiԑɣu. Naa Binbiԑɣu initially had wanted to cry over the death of Naa Andani Siɣili but AFA ABDULAI consoled him and motivated him by saying that the death of Naa Andani Siɣili could see he, Naa Binbiԑɣu rising to the fount of authority in Dagbɔŋ. During this particular era, any person born as a prince of a Yaa-Naa was eligible candidate for the Yani skins even if you were not a chief but a mere prince. So Naa Binbiԑɣu was honouring his father's predecessor's funeral as a candidate in view of the standard set at the time for a person to assume the Yani skins.
Naa Binbiԑɣu at this stage gathered all his belongings and headed for the funeral of Naa Andani Siɣili. During this era again, majority of the chieftaincy regalias were always with the princesses of the kings at the Gbԑwaa palace royal museum(Katini), princesses such as Gundɔ Naa, Kpatu Naa, Kuɣu-Lɔɣu, Shilin Naa etc.. Naa Binbiԑɣu was one of the contenders who made it a point to always greet his aunties in the persons of the princesses on a daily basis since from the beginning of Naa Andani Siɣili's funeral till the end. During the period in question, anytime Naa Binbiԑɣu goes to greet the princesses, they will make fun and mockery of Naa Binbiԑɣu pass comments such as; "Naa Binbiԑɣu, you're best suited for this vacancy in Dagbɔŋ but your ugly and poor statues might deny you the opportunity to rule Dagbɔŋ". On the day of the circumambulation of the Gbԑwaa palace to climax Naa Andani Siɣili's funeral, Naa Binbiԑɣu as usual went into the Gbԑwaa palace to greet his aunties. Naa Binbiԑɣu's aunties as usual started teasing him to the extend that they insisted and persisted on him to put on the chieftaincy regalias on a test mode. Naa Binbiԑɣu was forcefully adorned with the chieftaincy regalias by the princesses. The princesses sang tunes of Damba songs with the hope that Naa Binbiԑɣu will dance to but he never did. The princesses pressed on Naa Binbiԑɣu to dance and when Naa Binbiԑɣu finally succumbed to the princesses request, He danced back and forth from the princesses position to the door leading to the Gbԑwaa palace main hall. Through the dancing of Naa Binbiԑɣu and on the third try of his testing mode, Naa Binbiԑɣu with all seriousness rushed through the palace main hall to which he was met with the "GINGAANI" tune by the chief drummer of Yendi, Namo Naa and his follow drummers under Naa Binbiԑɣu's appellation names of "Binbiԑɣu Yi polo ku lahi sɔɣu". This event on that day, signified the installation of the predecessor of Naa Andani Siɣili. Naa Yab-Kuɣu Naa shockingly heard the sound of the "GINGAANI" tune from Kuɣu and quickly rushed for the Gbԑwaa palace with his elders(Gomli,Kpatii and Tuɣiri Nam) whiles Naa Yab-Gushԑɣu Naa who was at MalӠԑri also rushed through to see things for his own eyes. These chiefs responsible for installing a king for Dagbɔŋ sent Naa Binbiԑɣu to the royal museum as the king so selected. The necessary rituals were carried out to confirm his legitimacy.
Naa Binbiԑɣu reigns lasted for 13 thirteen years. Naa Binbiԑɣu as the king of Dagbɔŋ gave birth to some princes. Naa Binbiԑɣu's eldest prince was Piԑnŋ-Lana Mahanmanŋ/Mahami. Next to his eldest princes was Piԑnŋ-Lana Abudu, Next in the princes were Nasa Lana Amuɣutaani, Nabiri Naa Mbariba and Nabia Yɔnŋ Tukasa. Naa Binbiԑɣu's regentess was Paɣabi Lana Ataya.
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