Fifteen classrooms and one staff room of 91-year old Barewa College, Zaria, were razed down by fire this afternoon. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Fifteen classrooms and one staff room of 91-year old Barewa College, Zaria, were razed down by fire this afternoon. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Barewa College is one of Nigeria’s most famous colleges. Its written history describes it as “is one of the largest boarding schools in Northern Nigeria and was the most celebrated post primary school in Northern Nigeria up to the early 1960s. The school is known for the large number of elites from the region that passed through the school's academic buildings.”
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Among its illustrious alumni are five former Heads of State and Governments: Murtala Mohammed, Yakubu Gowon, Shehu Shagari, Tafawa Balewa and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
It was founded in 1921 as the Katsina Training College and officially opened in 1922. In 1929, its name was changed to Katsina Higher College, and again nine years later to Kaduna College when its location was moved to Kaduna.
After a decade in Kaduna, the school was again moved to Zaria and became the Government Secondary School, Zaria. It also took the name, Government School, Zaria, before its present name, Barewa College, was chosen in 1971.
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According to the account, “The college was founded as the first post-primary school educational institution in Northern Nigeria and to be a training college for Muslim students tutored in the Western style of education for the future role as teachers in the Northern Nigeria region. In a few years, the college grew in reputation and included training classes for nurses; it was then improved to the status of a higher college in 1929 with the intention to expand the classes towards training professionals to mann administrative posts in the civil service.”
Some other notable alumni include: Ibrahim Dasuki; Justice Mamman Nasir; Iya Abubakar; Umaru Dikko; Jibril Aminu; Ibrahim Alfa; Ibrahim Coomassie; Abu Gidado; Lema Jibrin; Umar Sanda Ndayako; Ahmadu Kurfi; Justice Mohammed Bello; Adamu Fika; Bala Usman; Ango Abdullahi; Idris Legbo Kutigi; Tijani Dagazau; Adamu Ciroma; Umaru Shinkafi; and Nasir El-Rufai.
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