THE CONTRIBUTION OF SIERRA LEONIAN (1)

THE CONTRIBUTION OF SIERRA LEONIAN

BRAZILIAN MUSLIM REPATRIATES TO NIGERIAN

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT (1)

By

Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi

Dept. of History

University of Lagos

Introduction

Out of my four visits to Brazil I organized with brother Ahmad Alsaifi  two  symposiums on the Afro-Brazilian Muslim roots , in Bahia , the first capital of Brazil, where the Afro-Brazilians are the dominant ethnic group residing . Five research papers were prepared for the first symposium round 1983 with cooperation of Bahia University . For one reason or another the symposium was not held . One of these papers was prepared by Dr. Tajudeen of Lagos University in Nigeria ,and it was the most informative paper .

It focuses on the role and contribution of the Sierra Leonean Brazilian Muslims repatriates who returned back to homes in West Africa .

Dr. Salih Samarrai

salihsamarrai3232@gmail.com

Shortly after the abolition of the Slave trade, there was a movement to encourage the return of the freed slaves back to their homestead. The majority of such returnees and repatriates were Christian converts and their experiences and influences have been amply chronicled and detailed in the history of West Africa. But undoubtedly a substantial number of them belonged to the Muslim fold, and we are yet to study fully their own experiences as well as their chosen homes. This paper attempts to focus attention on the Nigerian experience of these Muslim returnees, and stimulate a study of their contributions to Muslim history in particular, as well as Nigerian history and development.

Prior to the arrival in Nigeria of these returnees, Islam had been well established in many parts of the country. Even since the eleventh century, there has been a notable Islamic presence, for example, in Borno, Kano, Zaria, Katsina and other parts of Hausaland. In the South, Islamic presence, though less prominent, was evident especially in such Northern parts of Yorubaland as had considerable contacts with the Islamized Northern States. As it was among these Yoruba Muslims that virtually all the Muslim returnees stayed, it would be useful to dwell more on the position of Islam among the Yoruba in particular before the arrival of this new element in their history.

In the pre-returnee period Islam in Yorubaland was nurtured essentially from "the North". The scholars, preachers, and leaders of the Muslim Community came primarily from various Islamised northern and north-western centers. Largely as a result of their activities and influence, Muslim communities were being established in the major urban centers such as Oyo, Osogbo, Ibadan, Ede, Iwo, Ogbomoso, to mention only a few. Each community organized itself independently of the other even though there was a free circulation of scholars and preachers. Also each depended largely on its own resources for development and its fate depended on the logic of the internal forces of history within that particular town. Thus as a whole, there were some differences in the relative position and strength of the Muslim Community in the Yoruba cities.

It is against this background of a North-dependent, urbanized and decentralized Muslim Community that we should view the advent of Muslim returnees from Sierra Leone and Brazil.

Islam in Yorubaland was also reinforced by a considerable migration from across the areas. There was the return to West Africa of liberated slaves. As earlier indicated most of them were, indeed, Christians, about whom the sponsors of their liberation and return entertained great hopes for the successful establishment of Christianity and the radiation of European civilization in West Africa. Attempts were thus made to facilitate their return not just to Liberia and Freetown but also from the latter place to other parts of the West African coast. This deliberate promotion of the return of the freed salves was facilitated by the thriving oceanic trade that linked the West African coastal towns - a coastal trade that grew as these immigrant colonies expanded. Partly as a result of the promotion of this return movement and partly as a result of this flourishing coastal trade, the liberated Africans returned to Yoruba country.

Some of the Akus in Sierra Leone were Mulsims including those who had been Muslims even before their capture and export as slaves. Some Aku Muslims clearly remembered their particular homesteads - Oyotta and the like. Others, probably the greater number, hardly knew their Yoruba towns, and were converted to Islam only in their foreign environment. While they were still in Sierra Leone, these Aku Muslims were anxious to join in the return movement to Yorubaland. Crowther noted that when it was known that we had chartered a vessel to take us to Badagry we received applications from every direction from Mohammedans and pagans offering themselves to be employed as laborers and servants. The offer of free passage and the hope of employment and protection in Badagry might have encouraged the Aku Muslims to seize the opportunity to return home, but their eagerness to do so must have arisen partly out of nostalgic feelings and love for their homeland in that era when the cry was back to the mother country. To some of the Aku Muslims, there was hardly any conceivable reason why they should not remember and go back to their town when everybody was returning to his own. But it would appeal1 also to have arisen out of their desire to be free of the difficulties, political and otherwise, which they faced in Sierra Leone. They did not live happily enough with the others in Sierra Leone; and they must have felt almost ostracized not only by the well-meaning and ardent Christian evangelists but also by the high-handed administrators.

These two classes of people were less concerned about the Aku Muslims than about the nucleus that was to propagate Christianity and civilization. In the circumstances, the Aku Muslims kept closely to themselves at their two main centers: Fourah and Foulah Town. When the return movement to Yorubaland set in among them, they were quite understandably anxious to avail themselves of any proffered opportunity.

Among the Christian sponsors of the exodus of native Christians from Sierra Leone there was some hesitation about the idea of encouraging alongside their own scheme the return of the Aku Muslims and pagans. The missionaries were to make the country good first consequently; they tried to pour cold water on the Muslim schemes as much as possible. The exaggerated tales of hardship which people such as the Duke of Wellington brought back about the batch of Sierra Leonean emigrants in Badagry.

But understandable as Christian hesitation was in these circumstances, it is not doubt that it was directed particularly at the pagans....in any case, the Aku Muslims did not have to rely on Christian support. Quite a number of them paid their passage back home; and the prominent ones among them, such as Shitta and Savage, organized their own groups for the return. Muhammad Savage, who was the Aku Muslim headman at Fourah Bey, bought his own ships and at least fifty of his own people sailed back home in a group11.

As a result of these individual and group efforts, Aku Muslims found their way back to Yorubaland during the period under study. In Badagry there were a number of these Muslims, some of them, according to Crowther's testimony possessing copies of the Arabic Bible given to them in Sierra Leone. Perhaps the most notable group of the Muslim emigrants who came to Badagry was that headed by Salu Shitta. This Shitta had gathered his family together with their one year old son and left Eaterloo in 1831 for Fourah Bey in Sierra Leone. Here, the older Shitta became the Imam of the Muslim community of the town - a post he held for some years.

In 1844 he decided to leave Sierra Leone and join the Aku Muslims farther down the coast At the head of a group of about fifty of his followers with their wives and children, he came down with his own family to Badagry in 1844. Here the family stayed for a considerable period, mixing freely with other Muslims in the town.

Lagos, much more than Badagry, was the destination of the returning Muslim emigrants. Here grew up two distinct groups: the Sierra Leonian and the Brazilian. The first group was (and still is) commonly known as the group of Fourah Bey or Saro Muslims. They settled at Olowogbowo and Isale Eko area and were more numerous than the Brazilian group. Among them were some members of such well-known families as Abdallah Cole, Amodu Carew, Muhammad Savage, Umar and Williams. Their number, common experience and outlooks as well as the contiguity of their residence made them erect their own first big mosque at Olowogbowo in 1861. Initially called the Fami'u Mubariq (the Blessed Mosque), it later became more popularly known as the Horobay Mosque".

The Brazilian group, better known as Aguda, came to lagos a little later than the Sierra Leonians. The first group of repatriates was reported to have arrived about 1841. Their number rose steadily from 1,237 to 1,800, especially from 1847 onwards after the guarantee of safety and encouragement received from Chief Tapa Osodi, Many as they were, the number of Aguda Muslims never equalled that of the Sierra Leonian group. Muslims were to be found among notable families in this Aguda group: Pedro, Martin, da Silva, Tiamiyu Gomez, Yahya Tokunbo, Salvador and Agusto". They settled mainly at Bamgbose Street in Lagos, when they erected their own mosques such as the Olosun Mosque, Alagbayun Mosque, Taiwo Eko Mosque and the Salvador Mosque.

Some of the Muslim repatriates after they had settled in their initial areas, of disembarkation (Lagos and Badagry), soon remembered their former towns and homes farther inland and, after some earnest enquiries, succeeded in moving over to them. Thus they were to be found in small numbers about the Yoruba country in Ibadan Ilesa and so on. One reunion of such repatriates is expressed vividly in the story of Buraimo Aina. A native of Otta, he had been taken as a slave but was liberated in Sierra Leone where he redeemed himself, marrying and settling down till 1838 when everybody began to go back to his own country. Consequently, Buraimo Ainia remembered his own people, got himself ready, and collected all his family in to a ship en route for Lagos. When he arrived in Lagos in 1842, he bought a piece of land on which he built his house at a place now called Akanni Street. But Buraimo remembered his people at Otta and used to ask those from Otta who came to Lagos about his people at home. His perseverance was soon rewarded. Through the help of some Otta people, he came down to Otta itself in 1847. The vivid and dramatic language of the narration justify quoting the story in the author's own words:

Nigbati o de awon enia re ko tun mo mo, nitoripe won ti mu okan kuro lara re bi eniti o ti ku ti pe, ti a si ti se ofo re. Sugbon nigbati o ri awon enia re o mo won o si se apejuwe ara re fun won ki nwon to sese wa mo; sugbon nighati nwon mo gbogbo won bere si sunkun bituru ti o sese ku. Sugbon lehin eyi won tun berosi yo ayo nla won si bere pe nibo li o gbe de si, o si so fun won pj ni ita Akanni ni Eko.....

His was a reunion as memorable as it was deeply touching. It was nevertheless only one of the fairly numerous cases of Yoruba Muslim repatriates who returned home from Lagos.

It is true, however, that many more of these Muslim repatriates did not rejoin their people farther inland, but simply remained in Lagos. Some could not remember their original homes; some were born abroad and knew little of the interior; some held back because of dismaying tales of hardship, theft and the like which were told about the interior; and some simply preferred to remain in Lagos where they settled and carried on with their trade and religion. But even in the case of these people who remained in Lagos, there exists some evidence that they maintained beneficial contact with the Islamic communities inland. For example, the Shitta Bey family soon moved, around 1852, from Eadagry to Lagos, settling down at Martin street. Muhammad, his younger son, soon took to trade in the interior, where he served as the agent of the Pinnock B. Co. until he could stand on his own. Together with his brother, he later established at Egga a flourishing trade of his own. As he became well-off, he was very munificent in the cause of Islam not merely in Lagos but throughout the Colony, and as far away as Sierra Leone.

A pertinent question that arises here is the historical significance for the Muslim community of these immigrant Muslims from overseas. First, their return meant some accession in numbers to the Muslim community of the respective areas. This numerical increase immediately necessitated the expansion of the places of prayer such as Id al-Fitr grounds or, more often, the construction of new mosques in the town in order to cope with increased membership. Thus more mosques sprang up: in Lagos, for example there were the Alagbayun Mosque at Taiwo Street, the Brazilian Salvador Mosque at Bamgbose Street and the Horobay Mosque.

In spite of the existence of the two easily identifiable groups of Aguda and Saro Muslims, there is no evidence of any jealousy between them. Indeed, there was a remarkable amount of co-operation, facilitated by their different experiences and skill. Whenever there was any division among the entire Muslim community, it was, more often than not, on religious and political issues and did not necessarily follow communal lines.

More important was the value of the overseas Muslims to their religious group. This was significantly out of proportion to their number. Among them there were many tailors, carpenters, masons, master bakers and other skilled men. Their practical skill and talent enhanced their position in. the society and benefitted the Muslim community considerably.

For example, the building of the large central mosque in Lagos was at one time abandoned by the local architects, the work was, however, taken up and completed by Sanusi Alaka, a talented Muslim trainee of Senor Joas da Costa, the leading master-mason in Lagos. On completion, the mosque was generally regarded as one of the most stately buildings in Lagos.

Their contributions to the growth of the Muslim community were more than technical, however, for these overseas Muslims considerably boosted the confidence of the nascent Yoruba Muslim community. This development was very apparent in Lagos.

Islam, had of course, percolated into Lagos long before 1840. The Muslims were, however, few and had twice suffered expulsion from Lagos. They had gained favor with another prince, Kosoko; but on their return to this town in 1841, they still occupied an uncertain position. Many of them were 'foreigners' of lowly state Gambaris, and they could practice their religion only in the secrecy of their homes. Their position, however, soon began to improve, with the arrival of the overseas Muslims.

These did not just increase the number of Muslims; as respected men of talent and overseas experience, they injected a strong dose of confidence and courage into the Muslim group. Soon enough, open worship of Islam was permitted around 1841 when the first Friday congregational prayer was held publicly on a spot later known as Animasaun Lane. No doubt with the patronage of Kosoko, a community was formed praying under the leadership of Salu, a Hausa Mallam in Kosoko's retinue. In August 1845 Kosoko assumed power in Lagos, a factor which further helped the community to develop roots in the society.

As the overseas Muslims built their own mosques, the religion waxed stronger still. But misfortune struck when, in 1850, Kosoko was exiled from Lagos, and many Muslims, including the Chief Imam Salu and other eminent leaders, followed in,  The position of Islam had become so strong, however, that this defection did not obliterate Islam from Lagos. Another capable mallam was appointed to lead the prayers and act as Imam for the community, Mallam Nafiu Gana, and the community continued to worship as before. When Burton visited Lagos around 1860 and met the Muslim community, he estimated the number to be between 700 and 800 at the least. Evidently, the survival of the Lagos Muslim community in the period 1841 to 1862 owed much to the influence of these Muslim immigrants.

By 1871, Muslims were about 10,600 out of a total population of about 60,200; and by 1891, the figure had risen to 14.295 representing some 44 percent of the entire African population of 32,508, of the town and harbor of Lagos. The accuracy of these figures may be open to question in view of the small staff of enumerators, poor calculation system and other handicaps. Furthermore, the raw statistics cannot show the nature and quality of the faith of these believers. But as the figures stand they can be taken as reflecting the growth of the Muslim community especially since the numerical increase was attested to by both contemporary Christian and Muslim observers.

In step with the numerical growth of the adherents of Islam, there was a substantial increase in the number of mosques built and used by the community. In the preceding decades there were in Lagos only a handful of them; one of which, the Animasaun Mosque at Shitta Street, served as the central mosque until about 1864 when the Mosalasi Jimo at Victoria Street was built.

By 1881, however, there were, in addition to the eight apen spaces which also served as places of worship, no fewer than twenty-one mosques. Six of these were built with good materials and covered with corrugated iron sheets. By 1887 the number of mosques had risen to thirty-six. The size, architectural style, etc. of these mosques are not precisely known. Neither do we have much information about their actual capacity.

But we can say that their proliferation was an indication not only of the spread of the religion but also of the enthusiasm and dedication of the builders. This development of the religion continued and, reached a landmark not only in Lagos but indeed in the whole of Muslim Yorubaland when in 1894 the famous Shitta Bey Mosque at Martin Street Lagos, was formally opened.

The case of Lagos appears special, in view of the constant migration into a town of traders and other people, especially from the Yoruba interland. However, this does not detract from the fact that there was a considerable expansion of the Lagos Muslim community all the more so since most of the migrants tendered to settle down permanently.

Begun in 1891, the mosque had been the sole individual enterprise of the renowned Muhammad Shitta, the successful Muslim merchant-prince and philanthropist". While it was still under construction, its fame had spread all over the Yorubaland, and across the seas to Sierra-Leone, England and Turkey. On completion, the mosque had a capacity for over 200 worshippers and, which was unique, provided quarters for the Imam and Muezzin. Altogether it cost about Pound 3,000 at that time. It was a magnificent building, and its formal opening on 4 July 1894 was a grand occasion attended by high-ranking government officials and representatives of Muslim communities and societies throughout Yorubaland. The Governor, Sir G.T. Carter, was present, and so was a special representative of the Sultan of Turkey in the person of Abdalah Quillam, the President of the Liverpool Muslim Association. The mosque was formally opened by the Turkish representative who, at the behest of the Sultan, conferred upon Shitta, the Muslim benefactor and stalwart, the honorary decoration of the order of the Medjidie of the third class with the title of Bey of the Ottoman Empire. It was not only a personal distinction it was also Islam's debut and stature in Yorubaland that was being granted international recognition.

Important as physical developments were, much more significant were the spiritual and educational progress that the community achieved. Indeed, the physical developments would appear to have been stimulated by an awakening spirit and love of the faith which also stimulated developments in these other directions.

Lagos Muslims demanded the establishment of Islamic Courts. At a meeting of Muslim elders and scholars, it was decided to petition the government about the manifest wishes of the Lagos Muslim Community. Accordingly, they forwarded a remarkable petition to the Governor of Lagos in July 1894 demanding that they should be made subject henceforth to Islamic law and custom, and that they should be judged in regard to their civil rights and grievances according to the law and usages of their faith. The petition, however, failed, primarily because of the Government's policy to rule according to native law and custom. The significance of the petition lay in its being an index of the extent that Muslims were willing to stretch themselves for their religious faith. The petition may have been ineffective as a subtle criticism of British policy and rule. It was, however, a clear indication of Islamic consciousness and Muslim solidarity and growth.