hajia

Well, well. Above is the picture of Gobarau Minaret (aka Gwabrau) in Katsina. I promised publishing this picture a long time ago. This edifice was first built more than 600 years ago by Mohammadu Korau. This man was reputed to be the first muslim Emir of Katsina and he reigned in the 1300s. Later of course the rulers abandonned the religion and a Jihad had to be carried out by the Fulanis. This Minaret was part of the central mosque at the time but when Ummarun Dallaje, the flag bearer during the Jihad, seized the town and settled down, he moved the Palace to its present location at Kangiwa. The mosque and minaret had all suffered neglect since then. Dallaje's central mosque was sutuated at the present lower court premesis near old central office. Dikko on taking over the throne moved the mosque to its present location.
But what irks me most is the utter neglect of this historical building. Successive Emirs and state governemnts all paid lip service to this edifice. This allowed encroachment of all sorts and collapse of the top sections. The height has become reduced as a result. This building ought to have been declared a national monument by now.
If you examine the picture again you will notice how the primary school by the right has taken a chunk of the original premises of the mosque. Also the houses on the right have encroached too close to the building.
Monuments as old as this and even older have been preserved all over the world for historical reasons. Are we bereft of any historical sense. Remember the Chinese wall was built around 2000 years ago and it is still standing today. Thanks to the foresight of the Chinese. Americans revere anything as old as mere 200 years and they preserve them like pets.

But lest we forget while Korau was busy building the Minaret, Mansa Musa was on his trip to Makkah in Saudi Arabia, the British and the French were engaged in the bloody 100 year battle, Ibn Khaldun was expounding his theories on world history, Ibn batutta had embarked on his travels round the world in search of knowledge.