Q. Sir, I would like to know something about messengers and interpreters like Adamu Jakada.
A. Adamu Jakada was the messenger between Emir Abbas and the Europeans. Some of the messengers and interpreters were employed by the emir, and they were royal slaves. Whenever they did something wrong they were replaced by others. Adamu was a slave of the emir.
Q. Where and when was he born?
A. He was born in Kano, and he came from the family of slaves.
Q. Is there any story about him?
A. All we know is that he was chosen by the District Officer (D.O.) He would take messages from the emir to the white men and return with the white man's reply to the emir.
Q. Were messengers and interpreters powerful?
A. Yes, indeed.
Q. Were they nice people?
A. It is when they became powerful that issues of misunderstanding occurred. You know when somebody becomes powerful the person would demonstrate good and bad qualities. Some of the messengers and interpreters were like that.
Q. Were they wealthy?
A. They were slaves of the emir. Everything that they owned, they took them from the servants of the emir. Also, they were paid by government.
Q. What did people think of their work?
A. People respected and feared them because of their closeness to the emir and the Europeans.
Q. Did they speak or write in English?
A. Before they learnt English they used to work as servants to the Europeans. So they learned English from them.