Mualia Ntama

Leader of the Funtuabeng resistance against colonial rule in 19th-century Nigeria

Mualia Ntama (c. 1830–1892), queen of the Ekoi people in present-day Cross River State, Nigeria, orchestrated one of West Africa's most innovative anti-colonial campaigns. When British forces demanded rubber plantation concessions in 1878, Ntama mobilized a women-led spy network that used encrypted pottery patterns to relay messages.

Her forces employed guerrilla tactics adapted from leopard hunting traditions, including poisoned thorns and smoke-screen retreats. The 1882 Battle of Mgbolizhia saw Ekoi fighters lure British troops into mangrove swamps, where malaria and sabotaged supply lines forced their retreat. Though ultimately defeated in 1889, Ntama's resistance delayed colonial control until 1901.

Ntama's legacy includes the Funtuabeng Code, a still-undeciphered symbols system. Modern Nigerian feminists cite her as pioneering non-centralized leadership, distributing command among village councils. A 2021 DNA study linked her descendants to leaders of the Igbo Women's War of 1929.