Distance learning from purdah in nineteenth-century northern Nigeria: The work of Asma'u Fodiyo

Abstract

Asma'u Fodiyo is a major figure in African history. Born in 1793 at Degel, she was the daughter of Shehu an Fodiyo, who let his approval of her be known. Her scholarship and organizational skills were put to use by her brother, Caliph Muhammad Bello, who realized that some of the next generation would be born to slave mothers captured in the jihad. Many of these mothers were followers of a spirit cult and had but a hazy knowledge of Islam. Asma'u was put at the helm of women's education and wrote easy-to-learn poetry to teach her students how to be good Muslims. From her home she identified women leaders in rural areas and devised a way of banding women together so they could travel in safety to meet her, receive instruction, learn her songs and take them home to put to use in the community. She died in 1863 and was buried close to her father.