Daga Salahuddeen Muhammad
Shekaru 130yrs da suka gabata, a ranar Juma’a, 26 ga watan Yuni, na shekara ta 1891, John Alfred Robinson, wani Bature malami a Kwalejin (Christ’s College) ta Cambridge, ya mutu a garin Lokoja.
Wannan Bature, wadda ya fahimci Hausa daidai gwargwado, ya na cikin mutanen da suka fara fahimtar amfanin nazarin Harshen Hausa.
Watanni kaɗan bayan rasuwar wannan Bature, sai wasu Turawa suka haɗu a wani Otal da ke birnin Landan mai suna (Charing Cross Hotel) don tattauna yadda za a ci gaba da aikin da John ya fara a kan Harshen Hausa don “Fara nazarin yaren a doron kimiyya da fassara littattafan addini da wasu Littattafai masu amfani, don ƙaruwar Bahaushe.”
Turawan da suka haɗa wannan ƙungiya ta Hausa sun haɗa da; Farfesa Max Müller, da Farfesa Peile, da Farfesa Margoliouth, da Farfesa Robertson Smith.
Sauran sun haɗa da; Mista MacGregor Laird, da Mista Francis Galton, da Mista FRS, da Manjo Darwin, da wakilin hukumar ‘West African Enterprise’ kuma gwamnan ‘Royal Niger Company’, wato Lord Abedare, da kuma mataimakinsa, Sir. George Taubman Goldie.
Waɗannan Turawa sun yi shawarar nemo mutumin da zai ta fi ƙasar Hausa ya yi cuɗanya da Hausawa, kuma ya nazarci yarensu da al’adunsu.
Bayan an yi shekara ana shela a jaridu da mujallu na ƙasar Birtaniya, kwamitin ya samu takardu daga waɗanda ke sha’awar wannan aiki. Amma sai dai duk waɗanda suka nema, ba su samu cancantar da kwamitin ke buƙata ba.
A ranar Asabar, 5 ga watan Nuwambar, 1892, wasiƙa ta iske Charles Henry Robinson, ya na kan aiki a garin Truro na shiyyar Cornwall da ke ƙasar Ingila, cewa ana neman amincewar a saka sunansa a cikin waɗanda za a tantance a matsayin ɗalibin Hausa (Hausa studentship).
Bayan da Robinson ya yi nazarin wasiƙar, sai ya ga cewa, ya dace da ya ƙarasa aikin da ɗan’uwansa ya fara. Shi Charles ƙani ne ga John, wancan Bature da ya rasu a Lokoja.
Bayan kwamitin ya tattauna da shi don tabbatar da dacewarsa, daga bisani aka tabbatar da shi a matsayin ɗalibin Hausa na farko.
Ƙa’idojin aikin sun haɗa da, fara zuwa Kano da wasu manyan garuruwan Ƙasar Hausa, amma saboda yanayin rashin sabo da yanayin Ƙasar Hausa, sai aka bada shawarar ya fara zuwa birnin Tarabulus na Ƙasar Libiya ko birnin Tunis na Tunisiya, don fara koyon Hausa da Larabci a can, daga bisani sai ya zarce Ƙasar Hausa.
A ranar Lahadi, 30 ga watan Afrilu, na shekarar 1893, ya baro Ƙasar Ingila zuwa birnin Tarabulus, ya isa cikin kwanaki 40.
A wancan zamanin, akwai kimanin mutane 36,000, a birnin Tarabulus, kuma daga cikin su akwai 600, da ke jin yaren Hausa.
A cewar Robinson, akasarin masu jin Hausar sun zo ne a matsayin bayi ko
barori, kana kuma akwai mahajjata da hanya ta biyo da su, suka yada zango. Ya ce, akwai dubunnan Maniyyata Aikin Haji daga ƙasar Hausa da ke yada zango a wannan gari kafin su wuce garin Suakin da ke Sudan don tsallaka tekun Maliya zuwa Jiddah.
Cuɗanyar Robinson da irin waɗannan Maniyyata ta sa ya fara koyon harshen Hausa. Amma bayan ya yi watanni shida a birnin Tarabulus, sai ya fahimci cewa ratsa Sahara don zuwa Ƙasar Hausa ba abu ne mai sauƙi ba.
Garin Tarabulus a lokacin ya na ƙarƙashin Daular Turkiyya, kuma Pasha (gwamnan garin) ya karɓi ‘oda’ daga babban birnin Daular, wato Constantinople (wanda a yanzu ake kira Istanbul) da ka da ya bari Turawa su wuce mil 10 daga garin. Dalili kuwa shi ne, ƙabilun da ke kan hanyar, musamman Abzinawa, su na far wa Turawa.
Da Robinson ya fahimci tarnaƙin keta Sahara ta birnin Tarabulus zuwa Ƙasar Hausa, sai ya ta fi birnin Tunis don gwadawa ta can.
Saukarsa ke da wuya a garin Gabes tare da shi da Mista Harris, sai ya sa yi raƙuma guda biyu. Haka ya yi makonni uku ya na zarya a wata Hamada da ke tsakanin Kudancin birnin Tunis da Aljas.
Bayan da ya gama rangadin, sai ya dawo Tunis. Daga nan ne sai ya koma Ingila ya yi wata shida ya na koyon aikin Likitanci (don shirya wa zuwa ƙasar Hausa), kana kuma ya halarci tarurruka na ‘Hausa Association’ da aka kira.
Robinson, ya sake komawa dai birnin Tunis, in da su ka yi tsawon watanni shida tare da shi da Dakta. TJ Tonkin (abokin tafiyarsa zuwa Kano), su na koyon Hausa da Larabci.
Da suka sake fahimtar cewa, tsallaka Sahara abu ne mai tsananin wuya, a watan Yunin, shekara ta 1894, sai suka sake dawowa Ingila don zuwa ƙasar Hausa ta teku, zuwa Kogin Kwara. Dab da garin Turabulus, Robinson ya ƙara samun abokin tafiya, wato Mista John Bonner, wanda ya koyi Larabci a dalilin zamansa na shekaru biyu a Turabulus.
Da ya koma Ingila, an yi taro sau biyu na ‘Hausa Association’. Taron farko an yi shi a ranar Talata, uku ga watan Yuli a ɗakin taro na Majalisar Kasuwanci ta Landan (London Chamber of Commerce).
Taron waddda Sir A. Rollit ya jagoranta, ya samu bayanai daga Mista HH Johnson, da Mista HM Stanley waɗanda suka ba da bayanai a kan haɗuwar su da Hausawa.
Mista Johnson ya ce, “A yawoce-yawocen da na yi a ƙasashen Afrika, na fi haɗuwa da Bahaushe a kan kowace ƙabila, kuma harshen Hausa ya fi kowane harshe yaɗuwa a arewacin Afrika. Saboda haka, duk kuwa ƙasar da take son mallakar ƙwaryar Afrika (Central Soudan), to kuwa dole sai ta mallaki Bahaushe. Ina fatan wata rana za a samu Farfesoshi a Jami’unmu na fannin Hausa da Suwahili.”
Shi kuwa Mista Stanley, ya yi magana ne a kan wani Bahaushe da ya haɗu da shi a ƙasar Kwango. Ya ce fiƙirar Bahaushe da son Littafi daban ta ke, da yadda jahilci da camfe-camfe su ka yi wa ƙabilun Kwango katutu.
A taro na biyu, wadda aka yi a ranar Juma’a, 13 ga watan Yuli, a ɗakin taro na Liverpool Town Hall, Sir George Taubman Goldie da sauran mahalarta taron sun yi jawabai.
Bayan wannan taro na biyu ne, gari na wayewa Robinson da shi da Dakta Tonkin, da Mista Bonner, da Salam (wani Balarabe mai hidimta masu) su ka hau jirgin ruwa mai suna SS Loanda don zuwa gaɓar Kogin Kwara.
(Wani lokaci za mu kawo labarin zuwan Robinson Kano da haɗuwarsa da Sarkin Kano Alu da kuma yadda wannan Bature ya rubuta ƙamus na Hausa zuwa Turanci na farko. Mun tsakuro wannan labari daga littafin CH Robinson mai suna ‘Hausaland: Or 1500 Miles Through Central Soudan).
