Wusasa: Where Muslims, Christians unite for good
One of the reasons which informed the decision of the royal family to move the activities of the missionaries outside the city was the conversion of many residents of the Zaria city, including some members of the ruling class, to Christianity. The rulers, then, who were earlier reluctant in relocating the missionaries, found their activities […]
One of the reasons which informed the decision of the royal family to move the activities of the missionaries outside the city was the conversion of many residents of the Zaria city, including some members of the ruling class, to Christianity. The rulers, then, who were earlier reluctant in relocating the missionaries, found their activities intolerable when some members of the royal family began to accept Christ as their redeemer.
“This was why Dr. Miller, the head of the missionaries’ team, was asked to go anywhere outside Zaria city to find a convenient place to relocate his school. The missionaries had already built a school and a hospital in the city. Dr. Miller’s school was becoming popular with each passing day. The need for space for the expansion of the Miller’s school was another reason which forced the movement, but the most important, according to what we were told, was when princes of Zaria and mass of residents began to accept Christianity,” Chief of Wusasa, Mallam James Nuhu Hassan, said.
When colonial explorers came to Zaria, Chief Hassan said, they first settled in Babban Dodo inside the ancient city. The then emir of Zazzau, Kwasau; according to Chief Hassan, was not comfortable with the Christian missionaries’ stay in the ancient city, which was predominantly of Muslim faithful. Dr. Miller, who was given the liberty to choose a new settlement, opted for the present Wusasa and the Emir did not hesitate to give him the land to use on loan for 60 years.
Before Dr. Miller found Wusasa area, which was then known as Wusa-Wusa, he had visited many places. The head of the missionaries was attracted by the Wusa-Wusa rock. He was said to have met some Wusa-Wusa indigenous hunters who took him round the land. After Dr. Miller had found the area suitable for his activities, the white man, who couldn’t pronounce the name Wusa-Wusa, changed the name to his convenience, which is Wusasa. “After his royal highness, the then emir of Zazzau Kwasau, and later Sarki Ibrahim, had given them the permission to relocate to Wusasa, the missionaries with some of the Hausa-Fulani early Christians, settled in the area and continued with their evangelism. They built a Church, hospital and school in 1929. The Church is still in the shape the missionary built it in 1929. It is only the roofing that was modified to zinc instead of its original thatch and mud,” Chief Hassan said.
Some parts of St. Luke’s Anglican Hospital, the second prominent hospital in Zaria after ABUTH, are still maintaining their original shape as built in 1929 by the missionaries. The first clay building of the hospital, which consists of three rooms, had however collapsed. The hospital management had continued to retain the relics of the building despite the various expansion and development which took place in the hospital.
The coming of Christianity to Zaria and the subsequent founding of Wusasa had its root when in the year 1899; a group of Christian missionaries from Britain came to the Hausaland of Nigeria to establish Christianity. The group of five; Bishop Jugwell, the leader, Dr. Miller, Mr. Burgin, Rev. Dudley Rider and Rev. Richardson came to Nigeria after learning the Hausa language at Tripoli, capital city of Libya, from the Nigerian Hausa pilgrims who usually had a stop-over amidst their foot journey to Mecca.
According to Chief Hassan, the team of the missionaries journeyed from Lagos to Kano. In Kano, the missionaries were turned back by the then authorities. In 1902, the emir of Zazzau Aliyu Kwasau allowed the missionaries to settle in Zaria city. He assigned two locations to them within the city; one was at Durumin Mai-Garke – Babban Dodo – and the other at Kofar Kuyanbana.
The activities of the missionaries, Chief Hassan said, progressed satisfactorily in the city. A Church, school and hospital were developed simultaneously. Many feats, according to Chief Hassan, were recorded in the school. One of the students; late Rev. H.G.D. Miller became the ordained reverend Minister of the Church. He was ordained in 1922. Dr Miller in conjunction with J.T Umar and P.A Yusufu translated the Holy Bible to Hausa for the benefit of their evangelism of Hausaland and the Zaria area in particular. This historic trend made Wusasa the way it is now where in the same household one can find Muslims and Christians living together as brothers and sisters. “We don’t have any problem here in Wusasa, contrary to what outsiders may be thinking. We relate here as brothers and sisters that is why we don’t face any problem even during crisis. I know those who know Wusasa may be thinking that Wusasa would be the worst-hit when the last post-elections riots broke out.
“However, both Muslims and Christians formed a strong force of youths and we stationed them at all the entries to Wusasa to prevent any mercenaries from entering our town to cause havoc. We did that because we know that no Muslim or Christian residing in Wusasa would attempt to fight one another because when you do that one may end up killing his or her biological relative,” Malam Haruna Sani, a resident of Wusasa, told Weekly Trust.
According to Sani, Wusasa residents don’t discriminate. “Apart from attending our different Churches and Mosques, we almost do everything together. We celebrate each other’s festivities like Sallah and Christmas, we attend to each other’s naming or wedding ceremonies and we mourn together in the event of death or any tragedy. Sometimes a Muslim even marries from a Christian family.”
This cordial co-existence that Wusasa enjoys has its origin from the first settlers of Wusasa who embraced peace and don’t discriminate among one another. One of the indigenes of Wusasa whose parents were among those the missionaries met at Wusa-Wusa had once told Weekly Trust that the secret of peaceful co-existence in Wusasa rests in the history of the town.
In a 2008 interview with Weekly Trust, Mallam Mohammed Dallami, then 77 but now late, said; “My grandparents were born here. When the missionaries came, they made attempts to convert our grandparents to Christianity. God has it that we would not become Christians and that was why we still remain Muslims while the other indigenes of this place are Christians,” Malam Dallami said. According to Mallam Dallami, the resistance of his grandparents and some other indigenes of Wusasa to accept Christianity is the reason behind the presence of Muslims in Wusasa. “Any Christian you see in this area that is not Hausa-Fulani came from outside to settle here. The original people, apart from the indigenes, who settled here along with the missionaries, were Hausa-Fulani. It is because of this you find that it is difficult to separate a Wusasa Christian from his Muslim brother. We speak the same language and share same customs.
“In the same compound, you find brothers following different religions. Then with whom are you going to quarrel. We live peacefully with one another.” These values, according to him, brought about the cordial co-existence among the people of the area. All the Chiefs of Wusasa are reporting to the emir of Zazzau. Because of the peace that Wusasa is enjoying, it has produced many intelligent elites that gave the northern part of the country its place of pride.
The first Northern Nigerian medical doctor, I. B. Dikko, was trained in Wusasa. Late Professor Ishaya Audu, Malam Zakari, late Malam John Tafida, Rhoda Mohammed, the first woman Nigeria’s ambassador to United Nations, General Yakubu Gowon, former head of state and quite a number of other prominent Nigerians have their roots at Wusasa. Apart from technocrats, Wusasa had produced veteran journalists like the late James Audu, musicians like the late Bala Miller and academicians like Professor Adamu Biki.
“What our parents told us was that our grandparents settled in this place. They came from different parts of the North like Sokoto, Katsina, Kano and many other Northern towns to embrace Christianity. Up to this moment, we do go to our hometown in Kano and visit our brothers and sisters in the village. Our siblings in the village are predominantly Muslims,” an elder of Wusasa said. In the views of many residents of Zaria, the only way forward for Nigerians is to copy the Wusasa example or occurrences like the last post-election crisis would continue to rear their ugly heads in Nigeria.