Mary Slessor ‘the white queen of Okoyong’
Mary Slessor not only played a role in setting up the Hope Waddell Institution, but mastered Efik, had a great sense of humour, and was just 28 when she first arrived Calabar.
It is time to take another look at the life and career of Mary Slessor, the bold Scottish Missionary who worked in the Calabar area, of what later became Nigeria, in the 19th Century. Interestingly, she died on January 13th 1915 which means we are close to her hundredth anniversary, just as we are now marking Nigeria’s Centenary. Perhaps, a point in between the two celebrations can be a good time to reflect on the late missionary, who played an unforgettable role in raising the quality and complexion of life in Calabar.
Wikipedia is rich with information on the career of the famous missionary in Calabar. Born on December 2nd 1848, she was the second of seven children born to Robert and Mary Slessor. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother was a skilled weaver. Mary Slessor’s interest in matters of faith seemed to have streamed from her mother who “was a devout Presbyterian who read each issue of the Missionary Record,” according to Wikipedia. She was 27 when she heard that David Livingstone, the famous missionary and explorer had died, and she had a burning enthusiasm to follow in his footsteps.
She was only 28 when she arrived in Calabar. The ritual killing of children, twins in particular was very common in Calabar at that time, but Mary Slessor saw Calabar as a field for very good work, and so she forged ahead working in the missions in Old Town and Creek Town. Then she had an attack of Malaria, which forced her to return to Dundee, Scotland in 1879. She was there for 16 months. Then she returned to Calabar, and this time she went further into Calabar, three miles inside. An ordinary person won’t have ventured so deep after a major attack of Malaria.But she did. She made many sacrifices while there, and she had to subsist on the indigenous meals, for she
A good time to reflect on the late missionary, who played an unforgettable role in raising the quality and complexion of life in Calabar.
had to leave a large portion of her salary for her the upkeep of her mother and sisters.
Mary Slessor had to challenge many shocking practices in the communities where she worked. One of these was the “widespread human sacrifice at the death of a village elder, who, it was believed, required servants and retainers to accompany him in the next world, and the lack of education or any status for women. The birth of twins was considered an evil curse. The belief was that the father of one of the infants was an evil spirit, and that the mother had been guilty of a great sin.” Mary Slessor adopted every single child that she found abandoned. She once adopted a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, but the boy did not survive. She took the girl as her daughter and called her Jamie. She also raised the status of women in the communities around Calabar.
Then malaria struck again,and Mary Slessor had to travel back to Scotland. This time she was away for three years, and while in Scotland she went to many Churches telling congregations many stories about Africa. She returned to Africa again, and continued the good work which she had already started among the people, saving hundreds of twins through her efforts.In August 1888 she travelled to Okoyong,a place where missionaries had previously been killed.She eventually lived there for 15 years.
According to Wikipedia “Her insistence on lone stations often led her into conflict with the authorities and gained her a reputation as somewhat eccentric, but she was heralded in Britain as the ‘white queen of Okoyong.’ In 1905 she was named vice-President of Ikot Obong native court. She learned to speak Efik,lived among the people, and had a rich sense of humour.”
Wikipedia states “Mary Slessor was a driving force behind the establishment of the Hope Waddell Training Institute in Calabar.” Three girls were admitted into Hope Waddell for the first time in the year 1906.
E.U. Aye in his Hope Waddell Training Institution (1894-1978) writes on the passing of Mary Slessor in these words “The coffin, covered with the Union Jack, was carried by eight Institutution Beach boys and the road lined by the police and by school children from Duke Town School. Hope Waddell boys were drawn up at Queen beach and followed the coffin to the cemetery.” (p.61)In Calabar today, there is a school, the awe inspiring Mary Slessor roundabout,and the Mary Slessor avenue, all named in honour of the formidable lady who once strode through and worked in and around Calabar.