Three Things You Probably Didn't Know About Northern Nigeria

We all know that northern Nigeria is a thrilling place to be but did you know there used to be dragons and talking elephants in the region? No? That’s because it never existed. This list on the other hand is to enlighten us of three (3) lesser known facts of northern Nigerian or its influence. (Note: The order does not show order of relevance but how wowed I got as I searched into each topic)

Number 1: The Kano Chronicle

Note: Not Actual Image
Believe it or not, the north is not as illiterate as many think going by the true sense of the word. While most ethnic groups only relied on oral history, the Hausas have one of the oldest or the oldest known of written history in Nigeria dating back to the 10th century AD called The Kano Chronicle. The chronicle is usually often used to refer to the early history of the Hausa ethnic group as a whole, it consists of a list the rulers stretching back to the 10th century AD in the region now Kano. It also tells of the tale of eleven clans of animists among other things. There are two versions of the Chronicle with the latest being suspected to be written in 1890s which is the combination of earlier works. The original copy is still with the descendants of Malam Idris al-Khilawiy in Kano.

Number 2: The Eternal Knot symbolizing the Northern Identity used to be a symbol Christian Cross

The Northern Nigerian Identity Symbol

The Celtic Knot

I know it is easier to believe that Islam started in northern Nigeria and spread to the rest of the world. On the contrary, the northerners were animists and polytheists before identifying with the now popular Abrahamic religion. This discovery might show that there was a significant Christian population in the north even before Islam became widely practiced.

Historically, there was a king who was referred to as Sarkin Gobir Mai Sak’andami meaning, Gobir king who wore a cross. There used be Christians known as Isawa the term, I think, might have come from the Arabic form of Jesus, which is Isa. It is also possible that Muslims named them so after learning of what they stood for faith wise. The Muslims named many others like Maguzawa and so on.

However, it is not uncommon to find a Christian northerner whose name is Musa refer to God as Allah and refer to Jesus as Isa like their Arab Christian counterparts.

Number 3: The Nigerian Army’s motto is written in Arabic script

Nigerian Army Emblem

Remember when I mentioned earlier that Hausas aren’t as illiterate as we might think? Well, the Hausas used an Arabic script known as “Ajami” for documentation which was later replaced by the colonial British with Boko script. The transliteration of the Arabic script on the Nigerian Army logo is “Nasrunminallah” which can be translated to mean “Victory Comes From God Alone.”

The motto was formerly used by Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. But how did his motto get into the Nigeria’s Army emblem? Western historians often regard to the conquer of Sultan Attahiru I in 1903 as the formal battle in the fall of “Nigeria”, the symbolic flag was captured by the British as trophy.

Arabic was choosen because Federick Lugard identified Arabic as the only written “indigenous” language anywhere in Nigeria/West Africa, particularly among the widely spread Hausa trader class across the region. (See Lugard report to Parliament, 1919) Arabic inscriptions were, therefore, used as symbols, not only for currency but even on official West African Frontier Force badges etc… which persist until today.