Preservation and Conservation Efforts of Ajami Manuscript in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the efforts of preservation and conservation of Ajami Manuscript. It reports the role of Ajami not only as an ethnic or national but also a regional system of writing for information and communication. The study underscores the assumption that Ajami is no longer a preserve of the Muslim Hausa speaking people of the Hausaland. It is indeed one of the systems of graphic for use in education and information communication purposes. Hausa was committed to writing as far back as the 13th Century when Islam was established in the Hausaland. During this time Arabic letters were adopted in writing Hausa, and the system was referred to as AJAMI. A lot of literature has been written with this system. Up till now, AJAMI is being used in Hausa especially by Islamic scholars. However, Ajami is now endangered; it runs the risk of being threatened for extinction as an "outdated" medium of education and information communication. The attenuating intrusion and influences of Western Colonialism,  civilization and education are seen as contributing factors of detraction. Specifically therefore, this study aims to reflect the urgent need for  preservation and conservation of Ajami Manuscript; most especially in the present dispensation of information and communication technology, with the hope that it would be prospective and valuable as evidence of written
records for historical reference. Hence the necessity to provide functional techniques of preservation and conservation of the Ajami Manuscript.