The Waliou de Gomba.
Personal Preface:
"After several attempts to learn more about the holy men of the islands, I was taken along a jungle path onto the promontory of Fotoba and shown a grave that goes back one hundred years. This would be a more recent holy man, and his name was Waliou de Gomba. He was a legendary Muslim prophet (marabout) from the rural village of Gomba near Kindia. His direct descendants welcomed my interest in their history and famous forefather, and I visited the ancestral home with them. He left a very strong religious heritage, and people came from many places far and wide to see him, hear his words, and be healed by him. He was humiliated by the colonial powers, incarcerated at the Fotoba prison for his insurrection, and died a contested death one night. He was buried in the non-descript grave that I was now seeing. The grave has since been partly restored, and is a place for tourists and pilgrims to visit. The pictures of his incarceration and humiliation, as well as his life story were entrusted to us to preserve and celebrate as the history and life of a key person of Guinea, an icon of the Muslim people, and to highlight as an interfaith initiative." (Ken Keirstead)
A Summary of the Life of Waliou de Gomba
Thierno Aliou N'Diaye was born about 1832 at Tounkara (Mombeya) near Ditinn, in the prefecture of Dalaba, Guinea. He was a brilliant student of the scholar Thierno Mamadou Samba Mombeya. Following the instructions of his intellectual guide, he finally settled in a village he founded in 1886 called Gomba Missidé. He was 54 years old. His education and religious instructions under the "Grand Chérif" saw him first installed in the "Chérif's" home village of Démou Koulouma, and then to Horè Wédou under the tutelage of another scholar Therno Alinou Diallo. Here he was seconded to Thierno Ibrahima, son of a martyred man, to accompany him and act as his spiritual leader.
At Gomba, he gathered many family and friends who sent their children to his school. He also established a good relationship with the chief Kandé Bourama of Sangaréa.
By 1900 he was recognized 'vox populi' as a "Waliou" or "Saint." His religious influence dominated the Ditinn plateau, Timbi, Maci, the area of Télimélé and all the Susu lands bordering the Fouta. The prestige of the prophet (marabout) increased year after year. Many miracles performed by the saint clearly established his virtue (healing, onmipresence, and prophesy). Over time Gomba became a refuge for those who were pursued because of political hatred and the abuses of the "Almamys." As an example of this, he granted refuge at Gomba to the famous Houbous, religious reformers, who were also declared dissidents. While the Fouta Almamys forces never presented a threat to the Waliou, it was a different matter with the French forces.
Strictly speaking, Thierno Aliou's problems started in 1907 with the Bastié incident. Bastié, a French colonial administrator, was on tour in the Pita area, when he was murdered with an arrow by a jealous husband while wading across an oxbow lake in the Maci. People didn't take long to think about the possible complicity of the spiritual leader of the Zaouia, and attribute the murder to the Waliou's "talibé" - students in the Koranic school. It was clear that the incident provided a great opportunity to launch an attack on Gomba. The real and deep cause of that attack was exposed in the writing of Mr. Suret Canale: "After the French colonial administration broke the power of the most dangerous foes like Samory or the Almamys of Fouta, it did not hesitate to accept the help of chiefs who seemed to be less fearful, and their alliance with the colonial power made conquering Alfa Yaya in Labé and Thierno Aliou in Gomba easier."
At daybreak on Thursday March 30, 1911, two columns of French soldiers, commanded by Captain Talay from French Sudan (Republic of Mali today), and Captain Laussu from the Kindia garrison, came to seize the Waliou. The Waliou's supporters fought so strongly and violently that it cost the lives of officers such as Talay, First Lieutenant Bornand, eight non-commissioned officers among which were the Warrant Officer Wild, Sergeants Hureaux and Delpebene, and many Senegalese soldiers. They gave up after six hours of fighting and fell back to Fofota, a little station where they buried one of their dead men. After the slaughter, Thierno Aliou escaped to Kabala, located at Bati Kanou in Sierra Leone. It was from there that he was extradited back to French custody on July 11, 1911.
Sentencing proceedings started in September 1911 in Conakry, Guinea. It was a Wednesday, the 26th day of the Holy Lent month, and ended on the 29th day of Holy Lent. The sentence was not long coming. Most of the Waliou's devotees were meted out heavy penalties, from deportation to exile-for-life in the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guyane. Hundreds of them died from hunger and disease. The rest were eventually buried at Fotoba.
While he was incarcerated at the Fotoba Prison, the Waliou's guard was Daouda Keita, a private first class draftee and soldier. The saint and prophet died in his cell at daybreak on Wednesday, April 3, 1912. He was 80 years old. He left five children and twenty two grandchildren whose descendents now live in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and the United States.
"May the citizens of Guinea and the world remember and revere this Holy Man."
This summary is published on behalf of his family, and with their permission.