16/11/2023
The Saint Bartholomew Church, Wusasa, Zaria, Kaduna state was built in 1929. The church might not have been the first church in Northern Nigeria, since people could have been gathering to pray in houses and other places. But without any doubt, St. Bartholomew Church, Wusasa, of the Anglican communion, is the first church to be erected in entire Northern Nigeria. Despite the St. Bartholomew Anglican Church, Wusasa, Zaria was built in 1929 with local materials & in the traditional Hausa architecture, but the church is still standing in its original shape.
When Sunday Tribune visited Wusasa, where Christianity was said to have begun in Northern Nigeria. According to Rt. RV. Dr. Buba Lamido, the bishop of Wusasa Diocese & head of the church, came to be built in Wusasa Zaria in 1929, when a young missionary doctor from Cambridge, Walter Miller, who came through the Church Missionary Service (CMS).
Dr Miller founded a Hausa band 1896, with an aimed of starting Christianity in Kano, but was rejected by local authorities in Kano. “In 1902, he came to Zaria to build a church, a School & a hospital. Then, the church existed in wall city of Zaria. The school began with about 33 boys; the mission expanded & for lack of space, a spacious was sought & one square mile was given to the Christians. The mission was moved to Wusasa in 1929, so he built the church, which is still standing, with the traditional Hausa architecture in 1929,” the Bishop stated. The Prince of Wales himself, Prince Charles visited the church in 2006. What a historic piece.
