Mokolo

Mokolo is the departmental capital and largest city of the Mayo-Tsanaga department, in the Far North Province of Cameroon. It is the fourth largest city in the Far North Province, after Maroua, Yagoua, and Kousséri. It is located in the Mandara Mountains that run along the Cameroonian-Nigerian border.History and CultureFulbé and Mafa peoples dominate the Mokolo area. Historically, the Mafa were the original inhabitants. When the Fulbé came through the area, many of the Mafa dispersed into the surrounding Mandara Mountains. The Mafa are also known as the Matakam, a name given by the Fulbé, meaning “well-dressed.”In 1916 Mokolo was subordinate to Madagali, a Nigerian town, and was ruled from there. Mokolo was centrally located along a well-traveled trade route. The Guiziga and Fulbé peoples living near Maroua traded salt and natron with the Mafa living further West, who provided red earth and herbs, used for dyeing cloth.In roughly 1947 the Muslim Lamido Idrissou came to power in Mokolo. Idrissou did not wish to manage the affaires of the animist Mafa populations. He appointed one of his subordinates, an Islamized Mafa named Mamoudou, to govern the animists. Mamoudou came to be accepted as the Lamido of the Mafa, and subordinate to Idrissou, who was recognized as Lamido to the Muslim Fulbé population. Eventually, the Mafa revolted against paying taxes to both the Lamibé . Seemingly under pressure of French colonialists living in the area, Idrissou was obliged to release Mamoudou from his subordinate position.