La-ak: An Ancient Zaar Community Self Help Organization.

 

✍🏾 Madalla Kadiri Dinki, Zaar Activist

the Hausa's call  it  Gayya. La-ak is a ancient community based self- help organization in Zaar villages,  La-ak was a   umbrella ☂️body of community based self help organization in each Zaar village formed by the community to  complement the Seng wari assisted by Elders effort in the area of community  development. Community self

help was employed in constructing homesteads, pathways, roads, bridge, market. Membership of La-ak was voluntary not compulsory.

Institutions under  La-ak were age grade, village council. Age grade is a group of adult that are circumcized and initiated from childhood to adulthood through some certain rituals the same day especially Male Children,  age grade systems were used to checkmate and regulate behaviour of  youths.  Age grades played a significant part 

Zaar  communities. They saw that local institutions were not abused and that the habit of self help was developed.

The Village council coordinate the organization through the head of the La-ak call Barde.

During La-ak day, work were assigned according to age grade and during eating  time, food we're shared according to age grade.

The village council that coordinate the la-ak  through Barde there head  received instruction directly from the Seng Wari assisted by Elders. Seng Wari  was  a  priest  that  exercised  spiritual, traditional  political  power  over  the  Zaar society. During cultural festival like Lepm Zaar, Waktari the work of La-ak was to assist Zaar  community in clearing of  grass on a pathway that link one Village to another,  clearing of village square etc  so that nocturnal animals   like snakes 🐍 cannot hide on it and bite people during the festival, all Zaar cultural festival were organized and Presided  by the Seng Wari assisted by Elders. 

The Seng Wari political system gradually eroded in Zaarland during the colonial era, the office of Ghun was created to replace office of Seng Wari, the political power of  Seng Wari office over Zaar Society as the custodian of cultural heritage was automatically transfered  to Ghun office.

During the La-ak era there was  no written constitution governing the affairs of the organization except verbal constitution and you hardly here about division, conflict of interest.  Trevor Clark write in his book titled  "Right Honorable Gentleman" that Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa once told him that  "In the northern province of Nigeria there are many pagan tribes who are still in the primitive stage they seldom leave their homes, they have very few wants... But in spite of all these they are very happy and quite contented with life as it is. They have their own custom and belief which they honour very much. they have adopted hardly anything of the more advance people around them. There had never been a 

time when they seemed to think of any change in their beliefs"