National mosque: Symbol of local, international cooperation

The Makola Market in Accra that was demolished by the Armed Forces Revolution Council (AFRC) in 1979 must have been named after a Makola market in Lagos, Nigeria.

Tradition holds that the name of the Makola market was derived from a Ga word, “ma ko la” which, in translation, means “going to pick fire”.

It was believed that cows were driven through Cow Lane, a path in Accra, to a nearby place for sale.

Slaughterhouses were established at the place where the cows were put up for sale.

Some of the cows were slaughtered and “kebab” was made there for sale.

Early in the morning, according to tradition, women from surrounding areas would go to “pick fire” from the griddle to make fire for cooking at home.

The tradition appears not logical and not in accord with historical facts.

Hausa and Yoruba people from Nigeria, West Indians, Sierra Leonians and Gambians were among soldiers brought into the Gold Coast to fight alongside the British in the “Sagrenti” (Sir Garnet) war against the Asante kingdom in 1874. (W.E. Ward in his book, A Short History of Ghana (1954)).

Second, the Makola market was established in 1924, 80 years after the Bond of 1844 was concluded and signed.

That bond or treaty between the southern tribes and the British government formalised the establishment of the colonial administration of Britain in the Gold Coast that became independent Ghana in 1957.

Matches or safety matches were invented by a British pharmacist, John Walker, in 1827, and were put on sale at home and abroad.

A Swedish invented safety matches in 1855.

By 1924, when the Makola market was built, matches were available in Accra and elsewhere in the Gold Coast alongside other imported commodities, such as guns, gunpowder, gin, textiles, bicycles and motor cars.

It is certain that the ‘’kebab’’ makers at the Makola market used safety matches as their only source of fire.

There was, therefore, no reason for inhabitants of Ayalolo, Adedenkpo and other surrounding areas in central Accra, to go to the Makola market ‘’to pick fire’’ for cooking.

Hausa and Yoruba immigrants from Nigeria might have settled in the area and established the market that was named after a popular Makola market in Lagos.

This account leads to the building of the old national mosque in Accra in 1924.

Most of the Yoruba and Hausa settlers in the Makola area were Muslims.

Muslims pray five times a day and do so wherever they find themselves.

They must have built a mosque near their place of work, which is the Makola market space.

Makola market and the old national mosque co-existed until August 18, 1979, when the market was demolished by the defunct AFRC to make place for a park, named Rawlings Park.

Makola market was razed to the ground first.

Months later, the understanding was that the AFRC and the Muslim community leaders in Accra agreed that the old national mosque should also be destroyed and a new one built on a piece of land to be donated by the government.

The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) administration in 1995 gave out a 42-acre land at Kanda in Accra to the Muslim community for a new national mosque.

In 2006, President John Agyekum Kufuor laid the foundation stone for the national mosque at the site.

The Muslim community in Ghana contributed funds for the project.

It was not indicated that the PNDC government provided seed money for the project – as a form of compensation for the demolition of the old national mosque at the heart of the business centre of Accra.

Construction work halted after about 40 per cent of the project had been completed.

In 2013, construction work resumed.

A news report online dated June 20, 2013, published in Al Hajj by News Ghana provided the details.

“The (Ghana) government has facilitated the construction of a $10 million ultra-modern mosque by the Turkish government at Kanda, Accra.

“The project will house a school complex, a residence for the national chief Imam, a mosque to accommodate 15,000 people, a car park, a library, an Islamic school, a clinic, an administration block and a conference centre.

“Information available to Al Hajj has it that President Mahama donated 1,000 bags of cement at the initial stage when the Chief Imam constituted a national mosque planning committee to oversee the project.

“In his desire to ensure that the national mosque was completed and commissioned during the lifetime of the Chief Imam, Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu, led him to impress upon the Turkish government to woo Hudai Foundation (in Turkey) to aid in the construction of the project, during a working visit of the national Imam to Turkey in February, this year.”

The report added that the Hudai Foundation completed the project free of charge.

According to the news report, a Turkish delegation led by Prof. Hassan Kamel Tilmaz, Turkish Deputy President for Religious Affairs, was in Ghana to inspect the national mosque project.

At the inspection ceremony, the report stated that the then Vice President of Ghana, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, said, “This project is a brave example of a strong collaboration between Muslims and Christians.

“The government had, all along, been trying to create a similar situation, where we can bring Christians and Muslims together for national unity and development.

“We will, therefore, support this project to the fullest.”

The report stated further that the then President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, and the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had made reciprocated visits in 2013, probably, partly in connection with the project.

President Addo Danquah Akufo Addo commissioned the national mosque project after completion in 2021.

Built in an Ottoman architectural style with four minarets, the national mosque is the second largest in West Africa.

It stands in Accra as a symbol of national and international cooperation, collaboration and unity.

The defunct PNDC government, and governments of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) -- all contributed in some ways to get the project completed and commissioned.

The project was not, initially, a public-private one.

It was a private project initiated in 2006 by the Muslim community in Ghana on a 42-acre land donated by the PNDC government of the late President Jerry John Rawlings.

The reported facts are that the office of the national Imam persuaded the PNDC government to liaise with the Turkish government to assist financially with the completion of the project.

It was a Ghana-Turkey cooperation project. The role the Ghana government played was to liaise with the Turkish government and the Turkish Hudai Foundation to provide the funds for its completion.

I hope the construction of the national cathedral project in Accra would be accorded the same spirit of national unity and international cooperation and collaboration that helped in building the new national mosque.

Building of the national mosque was devoid of politicisation, partisanship and unwarranted criticism.

Both the NPP and the NDC governments played different roles in the beginning and completion of the national mosque – as a symbol of honour to Allah.

President Kufuor laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of the project.

I do not know whether President Kufuor made a token donation to the national mosque fund, after laying the foundation stone.

President Mahama donated 1,000 bags of cement and he liaised with the Turkish government on behalf of the Ghanaian Muslim community to get Turkish financial aid for the completion of the project.

President Akufo Addo commissioned the completed project in 2021.

It is on the records that the National Imam, Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has donated some money to the national cathedral project fund.

 Email: [email protected]