Behold! First church in northern Nigeria •Established in 1929
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Written by Moses Alao; Sunday Trbune
The Saint Batholomew church, Wusasa, Zaria, built in 1929.
It might not have been the first church in the north, since people could have gathered in units to pray in houses or elsewhere. But, without doubt, St. Bartholomew Church, Wusasa, of the Anglican Communion, is the first church building to be erected in the north as captured in this piece by MOSES ALAO, who was in Zaria.
WHEN Christians sing the popular song, “The church is marching on, the gate of hell shall not prevail, the church is marching on,” derived from the statement of Jesus Christ about Peter in the book of Mathew 16:18, many would think that the statement is only spiritual.
However, the Saint Bartholomew Anglican Church, Wusasa, Zaria that was built in 1929 with local building materials and in the traditional Hausa architecture, which is still standing in good shape coupled with the fact that it is the first church building in the entire Northern Nigeria, has proved that even physically, the gates of hell cannot indeed prevail over God’s church.
The mud church, having withstood the onslaught of the ‘gate of hell’ of modernization has not only remained the longest standing church in the North but also a landmark of Christianity in the region and the country in particular. Little wonder it has been a centre for conducting prayer sessions and tourist attraction for a sea of Christians who visit the ancient city of Zaria, with a particular record-creating visit by the Prince of Wales himself, Prince Charles in 2006.
When Sunday Tribune visited the area in Wusasa, where Christianity was said to have started in Northern Nigeria, not only was the church standing out, the other achievements which Christianity recorded in the area, like the building of a hospital and a school, could not but ascertain the verity of Christ’s words that the gate of hell would not prevail over his church.
Like the Biblical allusion of a stone rejected by builders becoming the cornerstone, the church, according to Rt. Rev. Dr. Buba Lamido, the Bishop of Wusasa Diocese and head of the church, came to be built in Wusasa Zaria in 1929, when a young missionary doctor from Cambridge, Walter Miller, who came through the Church Missionary Services (CMS) formed a Hausa band in 1896, with a target of starting Christianity in Kano, where he was rejected. “In 1902, he came to Zaria to build a church, a school and a hospital. Then the church existed inside the wall city of Zaria. He started the school with about 33 boys; the mission expanded and for lack of space, a more spacious place was sought and one square mile of land in Wusasa, where we are now was given to the Christians. The mission was moved to Wusasa in 1929, so he built the church, which is still standing, with the traditional Hausa architecture in 1929,” the Bishop stated.
He added that not only has the church continued to stand strong despite age and different challenges at maintaining it, it has also produced many influential Nigerians and has remained a rallying point for them. “This missionary enterprise has produced many prominent people in this country, some have grown to become administrators, vice chancellors, engineers and so on, and they have not stopped visiting and contributing to its development,” the Bishop stated. Already armed with the information that former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon hailed from Wusasa, Sunday Tribune asked if the family of the former military leader was part of the church. The Bishop revealed that in 1930 when the Church Missionary Services was handed over to Sudan United Mission, Gowon’s father and some of his family members, who were faithful Anglicans travelled to Wusasa from Plateau State to join the church. “Gowon and his brothers were part of this church; in fact his father was a catechist in the church and an important part of the growth of the church,” he revealed.
Despite the church’s age, the Bishop was asked for some of the landmark events in the history of the church apart from its having produced influential Nigerians, he said: “Some of the landmark events that happened in Wusasa as a result of the church would include the inauguration of the church as a diocese. The diocese in the entire north used to be one, headed by several Bishops, called the Northern Nigeria Diocese but in 1997, Wusasa was given a diocese with a bishop. A number of churches have grown out of Saint Bartholomew Church. As at the time of its inauguration, over 100 churches were under the church. So, Saint Bartholomew became a cathedral. It is a landmark that the first church in Northern Nigeria has been given a diocese of its own with a Bishop.”
In an age like this where churches destroy old edifices to pave way for master-pieces and more expansive ones, it was strange that an 82-year-old church could still be allowed to stand while resources would also be expended on its maintenance. When asked what informed the decision to leave the edifice, despite the fact that the church had built a bigger and modern auditorium with 21st century archtecture, the Bishop said: “Wusasa is unique, unique in the sense that many Christian missionaries lived here and they used what could be obtained around to build the church. So, such edifice could not be demolished but preserved. The reason for the preservation was to inform the new generation how traditional architecture looks like and the building, if you look at it, has some unique attributes.
During harmattan, when the weather is cold, if you enter the church, it will be warm and when it is hot, outside the church will be cold. The roofing and other things were done traditionally to correspond with the environment of the people.”
While further giving reasons for preserving the old building, he revealed that the building has attracted tourists from within and outside the country, among whom was the Prince of Wales. “Prince Charles took interest in the old church to the extent that it was the only church he visited when he was in the country in 2006. He stayed in the church for over one hour, looking at the architectural design, talking about the materials that were used in building the church. Preserving the church was so important because various people have come to have emotional attachment to where they started,” he averred.
With landmarks like the Saint Bartholomew Church, it is not impossible to have people turn to it as focal point for miracle or even a pilgrimage site. Thus when Sunday Tribune asked the Bishop if the church have come to be seen as a point for miracle, he maintained that though it is not as if the people have come to put their faith in the building, saying “people still come from far and near to enter the church and pray because this is where Christianity started in the North. People always like to enter the church, have quiet time and pray. Also, if you look at the surrounding of the church, you could see the tomb of missionaries like Norman Cook; people like to stand in places like this to pray for missionaries and for the land.”
The interior of the church.
From outside, the church, built with red mud, reveals the affluence of a traditional Hausa building, sitting on a large expanse of land while its interior shows the skilful efforts of a group of architects whose finesse would still stand out as uncommon in modern times. The pews in the church are made of mud and arranged in two rows, facing the altar which has a window that opens to the outside.
The only modern touch which could be visibly seen to have been added to the church was the roofing, and when Sunday Tribune asked if indeed the church was roofed with corrugated iron sheets, the Bishop was quick to answer that that became necessary when it was discovered that there were no builders of the category of those who built the church, who could work on the preservation of the roofing. “The Building Department of the Ahmadu Bello University advised us to cap the building with roofing sheets but it is not as if we demolished the existing roof. The old roof is still under the iron sheets.”
The 82-year old church and cradle of Christianity in Northern Nigeria could not have been standing without a cost and sacrifice from members of the Anglican Diocese of Wusasa, who must have been paying for the decision to educate coming generations about an aspect of their culture and to preserve a landmark of the faith. The Bishop revealed that the British High Commission in Abuja, under the direction of Prince Charles, came to do the renovation two years ago, adding that it would be good if the government would take more interest in tourism and monuments in the country. “I think the Federal Government has to take tourism seriously, preserve our monuments, our museums because a nation without history is no nation. That is why we are taking the pain to preserve the church,” he said.
Apart from following the Biblical injunction not to remove the ancient landmark which the fathers have set, the Anglican Diocese of Wusasa, by preserving the old Saint Bartholomew Church, is contributing to the faith in the Northern part of the country while also teaching the government and people of the country on the importance of the preservation of the nation’s heritage.
The Saint Batholomew church, Wusasa, Zaria, built in 1929.
It might not have been the first church in the north, since people could have gathered in units to pray in houses or elsewhere. But, without doubt, St. Bartholomew Church, Wusasa, of the Anglican Communion, is the first church building to be erected in the north as captured in this piece by MOSES ALAO, who was in Zaria.
WHEN Christians sing the popular song, “The church is marching on, the gate of hell shall not prevail, the church is marching on,” derived from the statement of Jesus Christ about Peter in the book of Mathew 16:18, many would think that the statement is only spiritual.
However, the Saint Bartholomew Anglican Church, Wusasa, Zaria that was built in 1929 with local building materials and in the traditional Hausa architecture, which is still standing in good shape coupled with the fact that it is the first church building in the entire Northern Nigeria, has proved that even physically, the gates of hell cannot indeed prevail over God’s church.
The mud church, having withstood the onslaught of the ‘gate of hell’ of modernization has not only remained the longest standing church in the North but also a landmark of Christianity in the region and the country in particular. Little wonder it has been a centre for conducting prayer sessions and tourist attraction for a sea of Christians who visit the ancient city of Zaria, with a particular record-creating visit by the Prince of Wales himself, Prince Charles in 2006.
When Sunday Tribune visited the area in Wusasa, where Christianity was said to have started in Northern Nigeria, not only was the church standing out, the other achievements which Christianity recorded in the area, like the building of a hospital and a school, could not but ascertain the verity of Christ’s words that the gate of hell would not prevail over his church.
Like the Biblical allusion of a stone rejected by builders becoming the cornerstone, the church, according to Rt. Rev. Dr. Buba Lamido, the Bishop of Wusasa Diocese and head of the church, came to be built in Wusasa Zaria in 1929, when a young missionary doctor from Cambridge, Walter Miller, who came through the Church Missionary Services (CMS) formed a Hausa band in 1896, with a target of starting Christianity in Kano, where he was rejected. “In 1902, he came to Zaria to build a church, a school and a hospital. Then the church existed inside the wall city of Zaria. He started the school with about 33 boys; the mission expanded and for lack of space, a more spacious place was sought and one square mile of land in Wusasa, where we are now was given to the Christians. The mission was moved to Wusasa in 1929, so he built the church, which is still standing, with the traditional Hausa architecture in 1929,” the Bishop stated.
He added that not only has the church continued to stand strong despite age and different challenges at maintaining it, it has also produced many influential Nigerians and has remained a rallying point for them. “This missionary enterprise has produced many prominent people in this country, some have grown to become administrators, vice chancellors, engineers and so on, and they have not stopped visiting and contributing to its development,” the Bishop stated. Already armed with the information that former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon hailed from Wusasa, Sunday Tribune asked if the family of the former military leader was part of the church. The Bishop revealed that in 1930 when the Church Missionary Services was handed over to Sudan United Mission, Gowon’s father and some of his family members, who were faithful Anglicans travelled to Wusasa from Plateau State to join the church. “Gowon and his brothers were part of this church; in fact his father was a catechist in the church and an important part of the growth of the church,” he revealed.
Despite the church’s age, the Bishop was asked for some of the landmark events in the history of the church apart from its having produced influential Nigerians, he said: “Some of the landmark events that happened in Wusasa as a result of the church would include the inauguration of the church as a diocese. The diocese in the entire north used to be one, headed by several Bishops, called the Northern Nigeria Diocese but in 1997, Wusasa was given a diocese with a bishop. A number of churches have grown out of Saint Bartholomew Church. As at the time of its inauguration, over 100 churches were under the church. So, Saint Bartholomew became a cathedral. It is a landmark that the first church in Northern Nigeria has been given a diocese of its own with a Bishop.”
In an age like this where churches destroy old edifices to pave way for master-pieces and more expansive ones, it was strange that an 82-year-old church could still be allowed to stand while resources would also be expended on its maintenance. When asked what informed the decision to leave the edifice, despite the fact that the church had built a bigger and modern auditorium with 21st century archtecture, the Bishop said: “Wusasa is unique, unique in the sense that many Christian missionaries lived here and they used what could be obtained around to build the church. So, such edifice could not be demolished but preserved. The reason for the preservation was to inform the new generation how traditional architecture looks like and the building, if you look at it, has some unique attributes.
During harmattan, when the weather is cold, if you enter the church, it will be warm and when it is hot, outside the church will be cold. The roofing and other things were done traditionally to correspond with the environment of the people.”
While further giving reasons for preserving the old building, he revealed that the building has attracted tourists from within and outside the country, among whom was the Prince of Wales. “Prince Charles took interest in the old church to the extent that it was the only church he visited when he was in the country in 2006. He stayed in the church for over one hour, looking at the architectural design, talking about the materials that were used in building the church. Preserving the church was so important because various people have come to have emotional attachment to where they started,” he averred.
With landmarks like the Saint Bartholomew Church, it is not impossible to have people turn to it as focal point for miracle or even a pilgrimage site. Thus when Sunday Tribune asked the Bishop if the church have come to be seen as a point for miracle, he maintained that though it is not as if the people have come to put their faith in the building, saying “people still come from far and near to enter the church and pray because this is where Christianity started in the North. People always like to enter the church, have quiet time and pray. Also, if you look at the surrounding of the church, you could see the tomb of missionaries like Norman Cook; people like to stand in places like this to pray for missionaries and for the land.”
The interior of the church.
From outside, the church, built with red mud, reveals the affluence of a traditional Hausa building, sitting on a large expanse of land while its interior shows the skilful efforts of a group of architects whose finesse would still stand out as uncommon in modern times. The pews in the church are made of mud and arranged in two rows, facing the altar which has a window that opens to the outside.
The only modern touch which could be visibly seen to have been added to the church was the roofing, and when Sunday Tribune asked if indeed the church was roofed with corrugated iron sheets, the Bishop was quick to answer that that became necessary when it was discovered that there were no builders of the category of those who built the church, who could work on the preservation of the roofing. “The Building Department of the Ahmadu Bello University advised us to cap the building with roofing sheets but it is not as if we demolished the existing roof. The old roof is still under the iron sheets.”
The 82-year old church and cradle of Christianity in Northern Nigeria could not have been standing without a cost and sacrifice from members of the Anglican Diocese of Wusasa, who must have been paying for the decision to educate coming generations about an aspect of their culture and to preserve a landmark of the faith. The Bishop revealed that the British High Commission in Abuja, under the direction of Prince Charles, came to do the renovation two years ago, adding that it would be good if the government would take more interest in tourism and monuments in the country. “I think the Federal Government has to take tourism seriously, preserve our monuments, our museums because a nation without history is no nation. That is why we are taking the pain to preserve the church,” he said.
Apart from following the Biblical injunction not to remove the ancient landmark which the fathers have set, the Anglican Diocese of Wusasa, by preserving the old Saint Bartholomew Church, is contributing to the faith in the Northern part of the country while also teaching the government and people of the country on the importance of the preservation of the nation’s heritage.