Located at the Kofar Kwaya area of Katsina metropolis, the Dan Marina cemetery is arguably the most prominent graveyard in the state, serving as final resting place for a former president, his father, brother and many other prominent personalities. Daily Trust Saturday visits this historic cemetery.
Dan Marina got its name and prominence, not because it serves as the resting place of a president, vice president and many other prominent people, but from one of its occupants, a highly revered Waliy Dan Marina (Saint Dan Marina), who was himself believed to have been born in a graveyard when his mother was buried.
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The presence of the tomb of Waliy Dan Marina is what gave credence to the cemetery so much that prominent people would book a space for themselves in order to enjoy that vicinity and perhaps share in the blessings of the saint as people from within and outside the country still pay a visit to the tomb, and in the process, pray for other occupants of the graveyard.
According to Wikipedia, Masanawa neighborhood in the famous city of Katsina is where the great saints, Wali Dan Marina and Wali Dan Masani, who have shown miracles, existed in the 17th century.
It is said that the full name of Saint Dan Marina is Muhammad Ibn Al-Sabbagh. His father was an Arab from the Middle East, who came to Katsina and was accommodated in the house of an Islamic scholar and a rich man who specialised in dyeing of clothing materials, named kayaba.
Kabaya was believed to be very close to the then Emir of Katsina Mamuda and his family as he was responsible for dyeing their cloths.
One day, the father of Waliy Dan Marina saw the daughter of the emir, called Barak and immediately fell in love with her. He asked for her hand in marriage and she was given to him on a dowry of six pieces of gold.
About two months after the marriage, Dan Marina’s father returned to where he came from, leaving behind his pregnant wife, Baraka. However, Baraka passed away before giving birth to her son, so she was buried near a dye pit under a tree.
It was believed that Dan Marina was born in that grave and was taken to one Wali Dan Masani, named Mallam Abduljalil for his upkeep and proper upbringing. This Wali Dan Masani was the one from whom the late Dan Masani of Kano, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule, adopted his title of Dan Masanin Kano.
The state of the cemetery
According to Islamic standards which sanctioned that graveyards are not decorated, Dan Marina cemetery is well maintained. It is clean, by graveyard standard, as there are no grasses or other things to litter the area.
Since it is located in the city centre, it is regularly taken care of, and there are always grave diggers, cemetery attendants or simply visitors.
When our correspondent visited the cemetery, there were some foreign nationals who were there to visit some tombs, including that of Waliy Dan Marina, but they did not make any comment.
Prominent personalities buried at Dan Marina
Ahmadu Tijjani, popularly called Kaburra (graves), is one of the grave diggers at Dan Marina. He told Daily Trust Saturday that apart from prominent Nigerians, the cemetery also contained some foreign nationals from Sudan, Morocco and other countries.
“We have prominent personalities, such as Sherrif Jadeef, a Morocan, Dan Waire, a popular Hausa musician and former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, among many others.
“We also have prominent Islamic scholars and imams here, including the renowned Salihu Gatarin Baki and Malam Ala. There are also other prominent business people like Maikudi Abdullahi, Alhaji Zubairu Shakka and Audu Fari,” he said.
Daily Trust observed that where the tomb of Waliy Dan Marina is located within the cemetery is fenced, and within the fence, his tomb is within a room, where people go to visit.
Also within the fence are the graves of some of the prominent personalities as mentioned earlier, including the late President Yar’ adua , his elder brother, General Shehu Musa Yar’adua and their father, Matawalle Musa Yar’adua.
Other members of the Matawalle family were buried all around the same area, just next to each other, including the son-in-law to the president, Badamasi Kabir Usman, who was also the son of the late Emir of Katsina, Kabir Usman. There are also people like Alhaji Shehu Shema, the father of the former governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema.
A guide who took our correspondent round the cemetery, Abubakar, pointed at some pieces of land within the demarcated area, which he said were booked by some prominent people, including former governors, where they would want to be interred when they pass away.
On the upkeep of the graveyard, Kaburra said there was a committee dedicated to sweeping and other forms of maintenance of the cemetery, saying the government was trying in terms of taking care of the place, including application of spray weed killer.
“There is also a member of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Ali Abu Albaba, who is doing his best, not only in the upkeep of this graveyard, but all other graveyards in Katsina. They have a committee particularly on that and they are doing very well in this regard,” he said.
Asked if the cemetery is facing challenges, Kaburra said there was no serious challenge.
He said the only problem they are facing is how domestic animals such as sheep and goats roam within the graveyard, and in the process, cause problems on some graves, particularly during the rainy season.
He said another issue was the one caused by rain water, which is natural and general as it affects all other graveyards that are not fenced, and therefore, cannot easily be controlled.
Kaburra said that like other cemeteries, Dan Marina also had some extraordinary moments and sights. Among the miraculous things he saw was where they found people in some graves looking as if they were alive, including those who had hairs all over their bodies.
“There was a time we were digging graves, and in the last one out of the four we dug, I saw something I thought was the root of a tree. I decided to touch it with my hand before cutting it. When I touched it, I was frightened by what I felt. I drew the attention of my colleague, who also touched it and confirmed that it was a human hand with a lively texture. So we just pushed back the sand and changed to another location.
Also, sometimes we will dig a place without knowing that there is a grave there, but by the time you go a bit in you will see fresh human bodies with their shrouds intact and clean as if they were buried that moment,” he said.
However, a member of a committee set up by the state government to look after cemeteries, Hassan Ishaq Bara’u Albaba, lamented that those of them on government’s payroll were grossly underpaid.
“My father was one of those who used to take care of cemeteries; and when he died, I replaced him. He used to receive a N14,000 monthly allowance during the administration of the late Umar Musa Yar’adua as governor of the state, but somewhere along the line, that amount has been drastically shrinking, to the extent that we now receive only N2,000 monthly.
“We know it is only Allah that will pay you in this kind of work, but since the government has agreed to give us that allowance, they should please look into the matter and review it upward as that will give us more encouragement,” he pleaded.
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