KADUNA IS GBAGYI LAND
BY
DAVID S. MADAMI
THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD “KADUNA”
It is indicative that the name, Kaduna, was taken up by Lord Frederick Lugard and his colonial colleagues when they moved the capital of the Northern Region from Zungeru to Kaduna city in 1917. However, there appear to be a persistent contra-factual impression about the etymology of the “Kaduna”. According to Amalo Shekwo, the word 'Kaduna' etymologically is suggestively a corruption of a Gbagyi word/name 'Odna' for a river (48). Another version claims the origin of the name, Kaduna, is linked to the Hausa word for crocodile. However, the latter narrative is disputed by the Gbagyi, the indigenous group, acknowledged to have lived in the area for centuries unknown (philiphayab.blogspot.com).
Abdullahi M. Ashafa quoting Oyedele said that the mantra about naming Kaduna is that it is derived from the Hausa reference of the river as “Kogin Kadduna”, presumably that there were crocodiles in abundance in the river. However according to Ashafa, Kadodi, Kaddana, Kadandu, Kadadduna, Kadadawa and Kadandanu are not the standard and correct Hausa plural of crocodiles in Hausa. The standard and most acceptable Hausa plural is Kadoji (Ashafa 24). Most importantly there does not seems to be any corresponding evidence of the existence of a cohesive Hausa community in Kaduna area at any early historical period compared to the Gbagyi settlement which was since the 14th century (Lock and Partner 19).
The snail theory according to Ashafa appears plausible both historically and culturally from the Gbagyi’s ‘Okadudna’ from which Kaduna must have originally derived its name. According to him, the Gbagyi root of the name ‘Kaduna’ is from ‘Oka’ (which means snail), ‘du’ which means to cross), ‘udna’ (which means river), which put together means, “crossing the river of snail” (24). The River thus according to him appears central or fundamental in the etymology of Kaduna town from either the Gbagyi’s ‘Okadudna’ or from the Hausa ‘Kadduna’, ‘Kwaduna’ and even ‘Koduna’. Both “Okadudna’ and ‘Koduna’ are snail related and perhaps according to him the latter was due to the semantic pressure of the Hausa over the Gbagyi within a historical period (24).
Oyedele makes the point clearer when he presented proofs that Gbagyi people were the earliest inhabitants of Kaduna. He thus said:
…With specific reference to the Kaduna area, the Gbagyi are the earliest inhabitants of the area. All available primary sources- oral accounts, colonial records, linguistic evidence and other sources, independently indicate that the Kaduna area was inhabited by the Gbagyi and is also not part of the territory referred to as Hausaland. This is contrary to the views of Dr Yusuf Nadabo Abdullahi in his book Tarihin Garin Kaduna and the claims of Late Alhaji Yusuf Dantsoho (secretary, Kaduna Peoples Association) that have been well refuted by Rev (Dr) Baba Fada of the Gbagyi Association. The point being made here is, although, Kaduna was established in 1913 by the British as the capital of Northern Nigeria, it was not empty or ‘virgin’ land or uninhabited before the date as some will want us to believe (6).
Barde assert that the indigenous writers from the Gbagyi extraction who are generally believed to be the original inhabitants of Kaduna town differ on the meaning of “Kaduna” which the Hausa claim is the plural for crocodile (Barde 8-9). He further went to present the argument of Makama that Kaduna is a rendering of a Gbagyi word „okadudna‟ which means crossing the river of snails. Makama states that during colonial era a disease called “shistosomiasias” caused by snails ravaged the residents of the town. This disease, he further argued became endemic, a situation the Gbagyi people ascribed to the drinking of water forbidden by their gods. He maintains that Gbagyi settlements such as Kukugyi is now called Kakuri, Mashikuci is now Kurmin Mashi, Bidnaoo became Barnawa and Kakai is now pronounced as Kakau. All these places with the exception of Kakau, are now ruled by the Zaria Emirate.
Compared to any other community in Kaduna area, the Gbagyi appear to have settled much earlier. They found it convenient to name their various settlements after things found in abundance in the area (Kaduna inclusive). These include Kukugyi, Mashi kuchi, Kaina, Bidnoo and Apalaita. Others included Jima, Kadi Kakau, Kadupe and Gwasonu among others (Salau 1; Oyedele II 63).
Kukugyi was an early settlement known today as Kakuri Gwari. Its name is derived from a bush rat called by that name common in the area then. Mashi Kuci on the other hand, was located in the present Kurmin Mashi area and derived its name from wooden valley the settlement was situated in. The Bidna seetlement located in the present Barnawais said to derive from Gbagyi exclamation Bidna oo!Bidnaoo! Meaning “Iam stucked! Iam stucked!! (Salau 11). Ashafa quoting Salau said that the founder of the settlement was said to have made the exclamation when stucked in the swampy bank of the Kaduna river. Kaina settlement was situated in the present Air Force Base. When displaced they founded the present Ungwar Gwari and a settlement in Barikallahu, a settlement opposite the National Teachers Institute (NTI) along Kaduna-Zaria road. It got its name from a prominent edible rock-outcrop abundantly found in the area. Apalaita on the other hand, was located in the present day Abubakar Gumi Central Market. It is derived from Palai tree. Apalaita thus means “under the palai tree” (Ashafa 28).
Kupei was another settlement situated in the present location of the Kaduna prison yard, while Kakau was located in an area presently along the Kaduns-Abuja Express way. It is derived from Kakai the oracles that intermediate and appeased the gods diseases (Salau 11). All these Gbagyi settlements related with one another socially and economically and this bind them together. Oyedele reveal that there are several evidences to prove that Kaduna was not empty or ‘virgin’ land or uninhabited before it became the capital of the colonial government of Northern Nigeria as some will want us to believe. He presented the evidences as thus:
First, according to him, it is clear from the terms of reference to the committee set up by Lord Lugard to recommend on the choice of a capital for Northern Nigeria, that the colonialists among other things did not want their capital to be in a place with a large indigenous population and in Hausaland. This can be gleaned from the report of the committee on the recommendation of the Kaduna site which reported: Without actually establishing a capital in the Hausa country proper, the region of Kaduna affords a site which has a Hausa environment and which will be in close touch with the east of the protectorate when that portion of the country is linked up by railway (Oyedele 6).
Secondly, he states that the report of M. Cameron Blair, a senior sanitary officer, who stayed in the Kaduna area in 1912, revealed that there were Gbagyi settlements in the area. Also the military report of 1912 listed several Gbagyi settlements scattered within the Kaduna area, especially along the banks of Kaduna River. These settlements include: Kurmin Kaduna, Afago, Rido, Birnawa, Kawo, Kurmin Mashi etc. The other settlements identified from oral sources were: Kupei-the area around the Kaduna Prison, Hospital, and Bank roads. In fact, a well which pre-dated 1900 was identified along Kanta Road, in the premises of the First Infantry Battalion Officers’ Mess. Another settlement was Palahi situated in the area of the present Mamud Gumi International Market (6).
Thirdly, he said that several colonial records list the following Gbagyi settlements within 30 kilometers radius of Kaduna: Dan Hono, Tokache, Bugai, Kujama, Gwazunu, Kan-rafi, Ruhoji, Kudanda, Kaban, Rafin-Kura, Kawu, Gwaraji, Katura, Togwaye, Kamasu, Gadani, Kakaudaji, Kapaya, Rido, Gaina, Waje, Gora, etc. Resident Arnette in his annual report of 1906 reported that the country south and north of Kaduna was inhabited almost entirely by the Gbagyi. Fourthly, he assert that there is the reference to Gbagyi settlements in the Kargi manuscript, a source which attempts an explanation of the process that led to the state of Zazzau is a pointer to the antiquity of the Gbagyi in the area. The manuscript states:
“Kar was Gwari, Makurdi (in Ikara) was Gwari Kurmi (in Ikara) was Gwari, Kwari (in Ikara) was Gwari, Pala (N.E. of Gadas) was Gwari, Tal (S.E of Gadas was Gwari, Shor (East of Haskiya was Gwari. (Karji manuscript qtd in Oyedele).
The manuscript also stated elsewhere that “the reason the Gwari pagans left their homes and went to live on the rock of Kauru (west of Kudaru) was the war between the emir of Zazzau and Madaki Gungumi….” And although the word Gwari in Hausa connote a derogatory name for ‘pagan peoples’, it is clear that the Gbagyi had inhabited their present land area for a very long time. Fifthly, he said also in his autobiography- My Life, the premier of Northern Nigeria corroborated this fact thus:
For many years the problem of the administration of Kaduna had occupied the mind of the British government of Nigeria. Kaduna is a purely artificial town. In 1913 the great plains which now embrace our capital were virtually empty. There were a few very scattered Gwari villages but until the railway went through them on its way to Kano from the coast, there was no common link between them. Here the emirs of Zaria had raided for slaves in the old days (Sir Ahmadu Bello qtd in Oyedele).
Sixthly, he said even Prof. Mahdi Adamu, the doyen and authority on the history of the Hausa, showed clearly that the Kaduna area was Gbagyi land. For instance, he provided maps which delineated the territory of Hausaland and Kaduna as outside that boundary. These maps according to him tally with Ballard’s map on the linguistic geography of the Nigerian Middle Belt. Also commenting on the choice of Kaduna, Max Lock and Partners wrote:
Finally as a field administrative and military centre, Kaduna was set in pagan Gwari country in the heart of Zaria province, was isolated from existing towns and would therefore be free from local political complications (Max Lock and Partners qtd in Oyedele 8).
John Paden according to Oyedele also agrees with this view as he states: “From a ‘traditional African’ perspective, Kaduna had never been ‘uninhabited,’ but had been a major Gbagyi area, reflecting their segmented village structure. The name “Kaduna” comes not from the Hausa kada, but from the Gbagyi word kadudna, which means, “crossing the river of snails. Kaduna is a ‘Gwari’town, but these original people were pushed to the outskirts and the land taken from them.15 But when the Hausa came in contact with the Gbagyi, probably from the 18th Century, they found it difficult to pronounce Gbagyi, hence the common usage of Gwari. This variant has been given prominence in the colonialist literature. Also over time the word is often used loosely to denote non-Hausa people, and is denigrated as slave or pagans. (Oyedele 8).
Oyedele further went to state that the major settlements that had emerged in Chikun district by c. 1900 AD were: the Chikun village are – Kafayawa, Kabema, Kanfara and Chikun itself; in Gadani – Kobi, Likuru and Bashishi and Gadani itself; Katarma – Kajara, Dakunu and Gubani; Kugo-Wuya and Kwadara; Dutse-Kubusu and Chikuri; Gwarzunu – Kutalufe and Kasarami; Kakau – Chidunu, Gwanin gora, Ligari; Kasaya – Kunai Kurmin Wuya and Gwarso; Gayan – Jibada and Matari; Bugai and Kafari; Gwagwada; Kujama – Damisa and Panhaura; Tokache – Kakura and Magashanu; Kanrafi – Kudansa, Danhono, Kariga and Ungwan Mai Jema’a, and Koriga (oyedele 10).
Some of these settlements Bugai, Kujama, Kanrafi, Kashibo, etc. were important market centres. The markets held after 4 or 5 days, and were attended by Hausa, Kadara and Fulani traders. The Hausa in particular, settled in these settlements or close to them, as in the case of Chikun Hausa; Gwazunu Hausa; Gwanin gora Hausa; Gayan and Kasaya Hausa. As a result of this interaction, some Gbagyi were Hausanised, while some were assimilated into Gbagyi culture. The former process was more prevalent in the Gbagyi settlements to the northwest, such as Ifira, Afaka, Buruku, Riyawa and Birnin Gwari.
These towns and villages could have expanded further, especially in the 19th Century but for the factor of Gbagyi socio-economic system highlighted above – which drew them to congregate/settle in the fertile sections of their area; and the Jihad and conquest of Hausaland which stepped up slave-raidings in Gbagyi land and other communities in Southern Kaduna.
