Aliyu Akilu was a Nigerian poet and writer and one of the greatest Hausa

Hausa language

Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...

 poets of the twentieth century. Aliyu was born in Jega, in present day Kebbi State

Kebbi State

Kebbi State is a state in north-western Nigeria with its capital at Birnin Kebbi. The state was formed from part of Sokoto State in 1991. Kebbi State is bordered by Sokoto State, Niger State, Dosso Region in the Republic of Niger and the nation of Benin. It has a total area of...

. For his early education, he was trained in a Koranic school in Kano

Kano

Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...

, under the Tijaniyya brotherhood, and later went to Borno

Borno

-Places:Italy* Borno, Lombardy, a comune in the Province of BresciaNigeria* Borno State* Kanem-Bornu Empire Other:Borno may also refer to a commonly used spam on Xbox live deriving from a game of scrabble...

 to study under prominent Islamic scholars from the northeastern part of the country. He was an erudite poet who wrote in Hausa and Arabic, and his recitals drew great acclaim among many Hausa speakers. He started writing Arabic poems in the 1930s.