THE CONTRIBUTION OF SIERRA LEONIAN (2)

THE CONTRIBUTION OF SIERRA LEONIAN

BRAZILIAN MUSLIM REPATRIATES TO NIGERIAN

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT (2)

By

Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi

Dept. of History

University of Lagos

WESTERN EDUCATION:

No less important was the role that the enlightened Lagos Muslims played in ensuring that Nigerian Muslims acquired western education in order to fit into modern times. Lagos became the laboratory of experiment, and the center from which new ideas radiated into the surrounding areas.

At first, there was considerable apathy and indeed opposition among the Muslims towards the issue of western education. The attitude of the Muslims to the whole set up of colonial government was that the latter was essentially pro-Christian and largely anti-Islam. The Government personnel were largely Christian; and the governor was often ordered, in the period between 1862 and 1886, by the colonial office "to take measures in the country as he might consider necessary for the conversion of the people to the Christian faith and their advancement in civilization". This apathetic attitude of the Muslims soon caught government attention in a rather indirect way.

By 1867 the government was already showing its concern about educational development when it began to make available certain sums for the maintenance and education of the children of liberated African slaves. In 1872 the government widened the scope of its educational commitment by making some token grants of ten pounds each to the three Missionary Societies by way of assisting them in their educational program. Government interest in, and financial assistance towards, education continued and increased as the government became more firmly established. But it was soon noticed that attendance at these schools was not increasing as steadily as could be expected; it was, indeed, for short of the number of children of school age. On the instigation of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a Committee of the Board of Education was set up in July 1889 to look into the problem of poor attendance in schools in Lagos68. The committee found that the attendance was low largely because the Muslims stayed away from the mission schools. It thereupon made some recommendations to the government as to how Muslims could be made to share in the educational enterprise. Thus from 1898, the government's attention was engaged by the problem of Muslim abstention from mission schools and Western education in Lagos.

It was recommended that the Governor should, in a meeting with the mallams and elders, impress on the Muslims the advantages of western education. Secondly, the Christian schools were to be induced by an offer of fifty pounds to include Arabic in their curriculum with a view to making their schools more attractive and useful to the Muslim pupils. Thirdly, the Muslims should be asked to incorporate into their own (Qur'anic) schools' curriculum the teaching in English of the 3 Rs. the basis of western education.

These recommendations signified government readiness to tackle the problem of Muslim non-attendance but in a rather superficial fashion. Some of the prescriptions were by themselves impracticable, based as they were on scanty knowledge of the local situation. For there were but very few people who knew Arabic and English enough to be useful and acceptable as teachers in either the mission or the Muslim schools respectively. There was the larger issue as to whether or not both sides, in spite of government financial inducement, would not regard the introduction of new subjects into their school curriculum as devices that would eventually hamper their own religious and educational programs.

For the time being, however, these recommendations were accepted and formed the basis of government policy on Muslims to accept Western education; extension of the curriculum of the Muslim schools to include the 3 Rs; and the inclusion of Arabic in the curriculum of the mission schools.

The first Governor to implement this policy was Sir, C. A. Moloney. He was undoubtedly much interested in educational work and particularly in the Muslim aspect of the problem. On the strength of these recommendations and in the same hope of obtaining a larger attendance in the schools from among the Muslim population he offered to the Christian schools special financial inducements for proficiency in Arabic. He also held discussions with the Muslim leaders and encouraged them to extend the scope of the curriculum of their schools. As could be expected, his efforts met with little success. No Christian school offered or could teach Arabic; and the influential Muslims were wary of modifying their traditional school system along the novel lines suggested by the government.

As there had yet been no solution to the problem of making the Muslims accept Western education, government concern continued. The next Governor, Sir, G.T. Carter, showed particular interest in the Muslim community; and on this issue he intensified government efforts though, at first, only along the lines laid down by his predecessor.

Shortly after his arrival in the Colony as Governor, the Lagos Muslims called on him to pay their respects and welcome him to Lagos. The Governor seized this first opportune meeting to breach afresh the issue of Muslims accepting Western education and extending their curriculum. 'I impressed upon them', he reported to the Secretary of State, 'the advantage of being able to secure a government grant for their schools and the obvious benefit which must accrue to the rising generation from a knowledge of English and the elementary subjects usually taught in English Schools. This meeting was only the first in a series of public meetings which were held with the Muslim community in Lagos - to encourage the Muslims to send their children to Christian schools, or, with the offer of government financial help, to induce them to reconstruct the educational program in their own schools along lines similar to those on which the Christian schools were operated. But, as usual, the suggestions only excited 'suspicion and resistance in the minds of the Mohammedan priest.

Nevertheless, a noticeable rise was evident in the number of Muslims attending Christian schools. To take Lagos as an example: the 1892 figure of 408 Muslim pupils in the Mission schools meant an increase of 61 over the previous year. In 1893, the total number of Muslims in Christian schools was 412, which represented an increase of 0.3 per cent of the total number of registered pupils. By 1894, the number had risen to 442, 13 per cent of the total pupil enrolment. This was the highest figure and percentage so far of Muslim attendance, an improvement which can be attributed to the government's persistent admonitions to the Muslims, though other factors, such as normal development, and pressure of circumstances, may also be presumed to have played a part.

More significant was the gradual awakening of the government to the real objections of the Muslim community to Western education. Sadly enough, these objections had not been properly investigated before, and there had been a too facile tendency to blame Muslim apprehensions on 'the conservatism of their elders’. Consequently, government policy had not been very successful. But in the course of the series of government-Muslim meetings, the government came to appreciate the Muslim stand more clearly. It was on the Governor, Sir Gilbert Carter that it first dawned that the core of Muslim opposition was religious. All government offer of money, he came to realize and admit, 'could not banish their prejudices against the religious question which in their minds a knowledge of English involved. It was-clear that it still seemed to the Muslims that to encourage them to go to Christian schools was to ask them to apostasies; and to advise them to initiate the reconstruction of the traditional system of Muslim schools was to arouse their fears of bringing their schools under the influence of Christian teaching.

Government realization of the Muslim position and fears predisposed Government Carter to modify government policy. In a dispatch to London, he stressed his conviction that 'the initiative would have to come from the government. A proper school must be established with competent teachers who should be Mohammedans'. In other words, the government must take the bold step of establishing a school with Muslim teachers for the Muslims.

The Governor went ahead with the implementation of this major modification of policy. He initiated several discussions influential Muslim officials and elders and, particularly, Muhammad Shitta, with a view to persuading them to support the placing of at least one Muslim school under the Board of Education 84. Details of this scheme were not spelt out; but it was planned that by being under the Board of Education such a Muslim school would have to comfortable the 1887 Code, receive grants, and introduce new subjects. If this was done, Sir, Gilbert was convinced, such a school would serve as a pioneer which eventually would practically induce many of the fifty-odd Muslim schools to receive government aid and extend their curriculum in the direction desired.

While the government was exploring new avenues as regards Muslim education, the Lagos Muslim community was itself experiencing some internal ferment and stir. On 20 April, 1894 Al-Hajj Harun Al-Rashid arrived in Lagos from Sierra Leone, his native country. He was a young man in his early thirties, and a distinguished Arabic scholar trained in the University of Fez, who had served as an Arabic tutor at Fourah Bay College. On his arrival in Lagos, he inevitably became involved in the stir which the issue of western education had caused within the Muslim community. He held a series of meetings with the Muslims and did 'a great deal to stir up his co-religionists to the necessity of enlarged education for their youth'.

Also, as this stir increased, and as the government exerted further pressure to induce the Muslims to accept western education, the Lagos Muslim community decided to contact the Sultan of Turkey who, in July 1894, addressed them a letter urging them to provide instruction in Western learning for the rising Muslim generation.

The Turkish plea was reinforced by the pleadings of Mr. 'Abdallah Quillam, the personal representative in Nigeria of  'Abd M-Hamid II, the Sultan of Turkey. A lawyer by profession, Mr. Quillam was a solicitor to the Supreme Court of Judicature, Liverpool. Ever since his conversion to Islam, he had been actively engaged in the propagation of that faith. At the time of his visit to Lagos as the personal representative of the Sultan, he was currently the President of the Liverpool Muslim Association. On the occasion of the opening of the famous Shitta Bey Mosque in July 1894, he publicly urged Muslims to accept western education.

With all this internal ferment, the opposition of the Lagos Muslims began to diminish, and only a few dissentients still held out. The major persuasive force was not so much the advertise material advantages of western education as the 'demonstration that western education was not necessarily a concomitant of Christianity but a desirable entity by itself which did not have to involve Christianization. It was clear that it was being acquired by Muslims elsewhere who did not thereby lose the fervor of their religious conviction.

As the initial standpoints of both the government and the Muslims gradually shifted, the gap between them narrowed. It narrowed further and was eventually closed through the efforts of Dr. E.W. blyden who, for both political and educational reasons, was appointed by Governor Carter in October 1895 as Agent of Native Affairs. It was a major part of his assignment to treat with the Muslim community especially on the issue of education. He was to execute government policy in this regard; to remove the known Muslim prejudices against Christian teaching and methods; to induce the Muslims to take advantage of the provisions of the Education Ordinance; and to encourage the Muslims to place themselves in a position to share in the government grant provided for educational purposes. Blyden was well qualified for this task. He himself had four years' experience in organizing western education for the Muslims in Sierra Leone. His reputation for learning as well as his sympathy for Islam had preceded him to Lagos, as much with the government as with the Muslims. After holding a series of consultations with the Muslims, who developed increasing confidence in him, he succeeded in devising an agreement acceptable to both the government and the Muslims. The plan was to place one of the best Muslim schools in Lagos, the one at Bankole Street, under some government control. The 3 Rs and English would be introduced, and the government was to pay all the teachers' salaries. The teachers and the pupils were to be all Muslims; and the school was to retain its essentialities. Muslim character, due place being given to Islam and Arabic studies. The Muslim community, at its own insistence, was to keep the control of the buildings, paying the rent of the school house. Above all, it was to be an experiment for one year, after which the situation was to be reviewed. Wisely, the agreement was left flexible, and sufficient concessions were made to Muslim susceptibilities.

The school generated considerable interest and confidence among the Muslims. The Headmaster, Idris Animasaun was thrilled by the idea; and in the interest of the Muslims, he pledged his full support for the scheme. 'I took it as my duty', he wrote to Dr. E. W. Blyden, 'to encourage what you and the Government want to establish and especially for the interest of Muslims. He, accordingly, volunteered to work in the school for one year without pay. Among the Muslim parents, there was some enthusiasm also. Some withdrew their students from the Christian schools and put them in the new school. Of the forty boys in the new school, more than half had been formerly in Christian schools.

The school was officially opened on 15 June 1896, as the Government Muslim School. It opened with forty boys and forty six young men under the direction of the Principal, Idris Animasaun, assisted by two teachers recruited from Sierra Leone on a salary of £ 2, 10S a month each. The boys were divided into five graded classes, twelve in class I, eight in II and the 'rest of the children are divided into three classes". English Yoruba, reading and arithmetic were taught in each class, the depth depending on the level of intelligence of the class concerned. In the leading class, the pupils read the Standard Primer in English, Books I to III; studied some grammar, pronouns, etc.; did arithmetic, simple addition and subtraction, com addition, long division, avoirdupois weight, and so on. As for the young men, they concentrated on the Sunday School Primer, the first Standard Reading Book, and did some arithmetic.

Due prominence was given to Arabic and Islamic studies in the Government Muslim School. According to the reports of the school which were compiled by the Headmaster, Arabic was taught and translated into Yoruba. Islam was also taught, the pupils, the reports often added, made progress in these subjects. Classes were held only five days in the week, Saturday to Wednesday, from 9.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. for the boys, and, for the young men, 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 p. m. There were no classes on Thursday and Friday in order to prepare for an attend Jumat Service on Friday.

The opening of this school in June 1896 was quite properly hailed by the Government as marking 'indeed a new era in the history of Lagos when the most conservative element of the Muslim population have concluded to enter into, competition with the Christians in their effort to acquire western learning'. The happy experiment of 1896 proved successful, thanks to the cooperation of both the Government and the Muslims.

Thus in 1897 when the matter was re-examined, both sides were ready to discuss and settle certain outstanding issues. There was the case of the Headmaster's pay. The Headmaster, who had rendered free services for one year, indicated that as he had not enough income from other sources, he would want to work elsewhere 'though (he was) still prepared to attend (the school) two or three times a week if no better arrangement' could be made. On account of his commendable services and influence, he was urged to stay on in his post, and put on a salary of £ 60 p.a., on the recommendation of Dr. E.W. Blyden. Two more assistant teachers were employed, each on a salary of £ 30 p.a., making the total number of teachers four. The schools rent of £3 a month, which the Muslims had paid for one year, was henceforth to be paid by the Government, on the understanding that the Muslims would 'consent to the inspection and report on the school by the Government Inspector of Schools'. In the meantime, arrangements were made for the erection by the Government of a more commodious school building with a capacity for about 250 pupils and costing between £400 and £500. At the insistence of the Governor, who was anxious that they should have some responsibility in the matter, the Muslims were to be responsible for the maintenance of the building. At the instance of Blyden, efforts were made to ensure that the school retained the simplicity and atmosphere of the traditional Muslim schools by the use, for example, of mats in place of chairs.

The key to the success of this experiment lay essentially in the anxiety of both sides to continue with the scheme. On the government side, it involved greater expenditure than ever before but as the Governor strongly pleaded when seeking approval for the estimates, this was inevitable in order to keep the achievement of 1896. He said:

It was not until April 1896 that Mohammedans gave way and allowed one of their schools to be conducted on western principles. We fought for this point for years and now that we have gained it, we must, in my opinion, give substantial encouragement to the teachers if the scheme is to be successfully developed.

On the Muslims' side, the combination of English and Islamic studies proved exhilarating. 'The parents', reported Blyden,' (were) as a rule very much pleased with what (was) to them, the astonishing progress made by their children in the English language'. And well may Blyden assert in 1897, that 'the enterprise (might) now be considered as established in the minds of the Mohammedans'.

The successful establishment of the Government Muslim School in Lagos had immediate beneficial effects among the Muslim community as a whole. The Muslim town of Epe petitioned in June 1898 for a similar school which was opened on 16 November 1898. Five months later, Badagry also asked for a similar school which was opened before the close of 1899. Other requests followed especially from Ibadan, Ijebu-ode - an indication of the success and popularity of these schools.