An English friend in Nigeria has sent me a copy of the Birmingham Weekly Post in which a letter appeared from a missionary, stating, apropos of the prohibition of conversionist activity among the Moslems of Kano Province:
“... It will now be generally known that the Government have shown themselves in their true colours, and not only England but the whole Christian world will now see that the English Government in Africa, Egypt and West Africa especially is distinctly anti-Christian and pro-Mohamedan. In all the large towns in Northern Nigeria schools are to be opened by the Government, in which Mohamedanism is to be taught and fostered. We hear, too, that in Bauchi the Pagan tribes are being put under Mohamedan Emirs, which practically means that the Government intend to force Mohamedanism on the Pagans and compel their law Courts to be based on Mohamedan law.”
My friend has asked me to write him what I think of the communication. As I have no time for private correspondence I sent a postcard saying, as comment on the missionary testimony, “The 9th Commandment.” It is distressing to find a gentleman who is a teacher of religion and an exponent of ethics delivering himself of half-truths mixed with facts in a way to give an entirely wrong impression.[2]
Let the public at home understand the situation in all its bearings. Mohamedanism may sit lightly on a section of the population, but once allow the idea to take root with the inhabitants that this faith of theirs is being menaced and you produce the cohesive influence which will bind the population together in a resisting, very likely an aggressive, mass. Now the Government does no more than leave the people and their religion alone.
There is perfect freedom of thought and practice. The native clerks and artisans from Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Lagos who are Christians can, and do, have their churches and chapels and worship as they please. To admit active propagandist methods in such a Moslem centre as Kano would be tantamount to waving a lighted torch in a magazine.
Do not speak of its being done tactfully and without ruffling the susceptibilities of a population ever suspicious of interference with its national faith, the faith on which its laws are based. Picture the result of projecting among such a population a fanatic of the type of some missionaries. No doubt their intentions are good enough. These intentions put into practice at Kano would pave the way to making it correspond to a place the way to which, a proverb says, is also paved with good intentions.
Further, a solemn promise would be violated by allowing missionaries in Kano against the expressed wish of the native rulers, who are opposed to the intrusion on the ground that it would be a danger to peace. When Sir Frederick Lugard formally extended the authority of Great Britain over the territory he pledged his word that no interference should ensue to the religion of the people.
It shows a total absence of knowledge of local circumstances to argue that there is no interference by allowing missionaries to come in, the native being free to listen or not, as he desired. The native of Northern Nigeria looks upon every Englishman as above himself, as one to whom he must listen and obey. A missionary would be regarded by many in the same light, but the strain on the loyalty of others—of the great majority of the leaders and thinkers—would be too great. They would likely resent it with as much fanaticism as that which the missionary advocate shows in his epistolary fighting, with this difference, we should realise in their case that the sword was a more practical protest than the pen.
Of course, if the British nation is prepared to impose missionaries on its Moslem fellow-subjects of Kano against the advice of every disinterested native and European whose word is worth anything—opinion I found unanimous, even among devout Churchmen—then do so; but count the cost. You will need a considerable force of white troops permanently stationed in a distant tropical land where preservation of health is a serious thought for each European living there. You must have the little army in a country where at present it is not necessary to maintain a single white soldier, except for a term as instructor to native troops. If the British public are prepared for all this and the attendant danger, to please those who agree with the gentleman whose letter was published, by all means do it. But count the cost.
There are a number of other aspects of life in and around Kano upon which a great deal could be written, but a message is to hand stating that the long-expected transport carriers from Rahama to the Bauchi Plateau will be ready by the time I arrive at the former spot.