Bishop Frederick Drandua - TUALU

Traditional dance was an essential and important aspect of Madi culture. It was
regarded as a necessary part of recreation and funerals. Whenever a fierce wild
animal was killed, a ritual dance was performed in honour of the man who killed
it and, the man was hailed as a hero 20 . Besides a Madi traditional dancer was a
man of status among his people.
Clement therefore, made a passionate effort to turn his son Drandua, into the rank
of his clansmen. He bought for him drums, costumes and every thing that was
necessary for a traditional dance 21 .
This meant that Drandua’s father inspired him to aim at status and, rank and
taught him to work hard for its achievement. This impacted greatly on his future
success as a church leader.
As a little boy, Drandua also looked after his father’s goats. His father had no
cows since the Madi generally did not have cattle. Instead, they had plenty of
goats and, for this they were known (nicknamed) by their neighbours as Madi-
indri, literally: Madi - goats, meaning the Madi who kept goats. Their goats were
nicelooking, large and fat “but their species is no longer in existence”, laments
Bishop Frederick.
He recalls:
My father had fifty goats and I used to like very much
looking after them. I could take them for three to four
miles looking for grass and water in dry season and bring
them back home safely 22 .
It was these activities, that built in Drandua the kind of strong personality and
character he later exhibited as a young man, that made him rise to heights and
made his leadership a success.
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