Djubayru b. Aadama

Zubeiru bin Adama (; 1836 – 1903) was the fourth Lamido of Adamawa, ruling from 1890 until he was forced into exile by British colonial forces in 1901. The Adamawa Emirate, founded by his father, Modibo Adama, was under threat from the Germans, French, and British by the time of his accession. He was best remembered for his 'hopeless, though spirited, rearguard action' against European encroachment on the emirate.

Early life Zubeiru was born in 1836 to Modibbo Adama, the founder of the Adamawa Emirate, and Yara, a Marghi woman. Yara is sometimes identified as a concubine, but according to historian Martin Njeuma, this is false as Adama did not keep concubines. thumb Map of the Adamawa Emirate in the 19th-centuryUpon his accession, Zubeiru began a series of wars and, according to Adamawa tradition, never spent a full month in Yola. Throughout his reign, Zubeiru was determined to preserve the territorial unity and integrity of his emirate.

In his letter to Sultan Abdur Rahman Atiku, announcing his own ouster from Yola by the British, he pledged I will not be two faced, on your side and on the side of the Christians too. My allegiance is to you, to God and the Prophet, and after you to the Imam Mahdi. There is no surrender to the unbeliever even after the fall of the strongholds.Zubairu kept his pledge, he continued resistance against both the British and the Germans till he was killed around Gudu, allegedly by "pagans", who mistook his identity, eighteen months after he was forced out of his capital. thumb Death While in German Adamawa after he was driven out of Yola, Lamido Zubairu fought the Germans in a number of places. Garwa was one of those places. After hiding for six months among the people of Adumri, he attacked a German garrison there with the help of the local population. He also fought them at Marwa with the help of the local population massively helping Zubairu and suffering very heavy casualties. Lamido Zubairu and the chief of Marwa, Lamido Ahmadu, moved to Madagali. The Germans caught up to him and engaged in battle. After his defeat, he went back to British Adamawa in October 1902. He took refuge at Gudu, a non-Fulbe town north of Song. While he was there, he was distributing propaganda leaflets "doing as much as he could to stir up the Fulani to rise up". He remained there for over five months before the British zeroed in on him. The British burnt down the town of Gudu but he managed to escape with his life. He was later killed by the Lala at Go, the latter not knowing his identity.