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Secondary school in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British Governor General Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College.[1] It switched its name to Kaduna College in 1938 and to Government College, Zaria in 1949 before settling on Barewa College.[1] It is one of the largest boarding schools in Northern Nigeria and was the most-celebrated post-primary schools there up to the early 1960s. The school is known for the large number of elites from the region who attended and counts among its alumni include Tafawa Balewa who was Prime Minister of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966, four heads of state of Nigeria. The school is located along Gaskiya road in the Tukur -Tukur area of Zaria.[2]
Barewa College | |
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Address | |
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Gaskiya Road, Zaria Zaria, Kaduna State | |
Coordinates | 11.085278°N 7.698889°E |
Information | |
Type | Secondary school |
Motto | Man Jada Wajada (He Who Strives Shall Succeed) |
Established | 1921 |
Founders | Sir Hugh Clifford, G. A. J. Bieneman |
Gender | Boys |
Age | 11 to 18 |
Houses | Bello Kagara, Lugard, Clifford, Dan Hausa, Mallam Smith, Nagwamatse, Bienemann, Mort, Jafaru, Suleiman Barau |
Colour(s) | White and Navy Blue |
Former pupils | Old Boys |
![]() Gate of Barewa College Zaria |
Hugh Clifford, a British governor-general, founded Katsina College in 1921. Its name was then changed to Kaduna College in 1938 and then to Government College, Zaria in 1949. When some of the provincial secondary schools were poised to become full secondary schools in 1956, the college was renamed Zaria Secondary School.[2] According to Clifford, the reason the college was founded in and named after Katsina was that:
...Katsina in ancient days was held in high repute throughout the Muhammadan Emirates as a seat of learning and of piety; and it is good, I think, that this tradition should be perpetuated. My second reason was that Katsina, though it is an important town and the administrative capital of an important Emirate, is not as yet so close to the railway and to the commercial centres of Nigeria as to make it unsuitable for that quiet and tranquillity and that freedom from distractions which are so necessary for young men who are devoting their lives to study.[3]: 28
It is Northern Nigeria's first secondary school, initially catering to children of royalty and a select few from the aristocracy. Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the first Premier of Northern Nigeria and an alumnus of the college, described it in his autobiography as a training ground for princes, likening it to the schools set up by the British in India.[3][4]
Memorable names of the dormitories include Bello Kagara House, Lugard House, Clifford House, Dan Hausa House, Mallam Smith House, Nagwamatse House, Bienemann House, Mort House and, later, Jafaru House and Suleiman Barau House, which were called New House A and New House B during their construction.[5] These dormitories housed up to a thousand pupils at any one time, in the vast landscape east of Tudun Wadda.
Notable alumni of Barewa include: