Dinah Salifou Camara

Dinah Salifou reigned from 1887 over the Nalu, a people of Guinea in the region known as the Rivières du Sud (Southern Rivers).

In this troubled region, Dinah Salifou sought to assert his independence from the French while occasionally asking for their support. His reign was constantly marked by this ambivalence.

Regarded as a great resistance fighter, he is also judged naive for having let himself be deceived by the self-interested generosity of the colonial powers. The governor of the Rivières du Sud, Dr. Bayol, invited him to Paris for the World’s Fair that saw the Eiffel Tower go up. The trip was a source of wonder, but it proved fatal to him. During his absence, unrest flared up again in the region, stirred up by his cousin Tonga. Dinah once again asked for French support. When he did not get it, he ended up having his rival executed — at the express request of the district commander Opigez, who wanted the unrest to stop. Yet the French showed him no gratitude. On the contrary, he was placed under house arrest in Saint-Louis where he died in poverty in 1897.

Acclaimed and respected by the highest authorities, it was his trip to Paris that brought about his downfall. Naive at times, betrayed by the French, envied by some members of his family, he is today regarded as a hero in his country.