Aminu Kano
Encyclopedia
Aminu Kano was a Muslim
politician from Nigeria
. In the 1940s he led an Islamic movement in the north of the country in opposition to British
rule. The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport
and the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, both in Kano
, Kano State
, are named after him.
at the Alkali
court in Kano. He attended Katsina College and later went to the University of London
's, Institute of Education, alongside Tafawa Balewa. He earned his teaching certificate after completing his studies at Katsina
College and subsequently became a teacher; he started teaching at the Bauchi
training College.
While in Bauchi, he spoke freely on political issues and extended his educational horizon by engaging in some various political and educational activities beyond his formal teaching duties. He wrote a pamphlet
, 'Kano, Under the Hammer of the Native Administration, and along with Balewa, was a member of the Bauchi General Improvement Union. He was also a secretary of the Bauchi Discussion Circle, a group whose activities were later constricted as a result of an attack on indirect rule
by Aminu Kano. In 1948, he became the head of the teacher training center in Maru, Sokoto
and was also the secretary of the Northern Teachers Association.
During this period, he established an organization to improve the quality of Koranic schools in the north.
. However, in 1950, he led a splinter group of young radicals
from Jam'iyyar Mutanen Arewa, and formed the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). Notably, a few years earlier, an Igbira man and trader, Habib Raji Abdallah had founded an organization called the Northern Elements Progressive Association in Kano. The organization was founded along the nationalistic political thoughts of Nnamdi Azikiwe
. In 1949, a few of Azikiwe's supporters were jailed including Abdallah, leading to the breakup of the organization
Nevertheless, a new progressive union led by Aminu Kano and composed of progressive leaning teacher
s and some radical intellectuals such as Magaji Dambatta, Abba Maikwaru and Bello Ijumu emerged to fill any vacuum in political radicalism in the region. The members were largely connected together in their opposition to the management style of the native administration in Northern Nigeria. In 1951, the party contested for seats in the Kano primary elections and was fairly successful. However, with the formation of the Northern People's Congress, Mallam Aminu began to face formidable challenges especially in two federal elections. In 1954, Aminu lost a federal House of Representative seat to Maitama Sule
and in 1956, he failed to clinch enough votes to win a seat on the Northern Regional Assembly. It wasn't until the 1959 parliamentary election that he succeeded in gaining a major regional seat. He won the Kano East federal seat as a candidate of NEPU, which was already in alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons
. While in the Federal House of Representative, he was a deputy Chief Whip.
After the first republic was cut short by a military coup. Aminu Kano later served in the military government of General Yakubu Gowon
as a federal commissioner for health.
. In the following months, five newly formed parties began to emerge: the Nigerian People's Party
, the Unity Party of Nigeria
and three others. Among them was the People's Redemption Party
, led by Aminu Kano and Sam Ikoku. The party leaned towards a populist framework and enjoyed the support of prominent labor leaders such as Michael Imoudu. In 1979, the party presented Aminu Kano as its presidential candidate but he could not muster enough votes to win. Nevertheless, the party won two gubernatorial seats.
including the emirs, who were mostly Fulanis. The potency of his platform was strengthened partly because of his background. His father was an acting Alkali in Kano who came from a lineage
of Islamic clerics, Aminu Kano also brought up Islamic ideas on equity
in his campaign trails during the first republic. Many talakawas (commoners) in Kano lined up behind his message and his political stature grew from the support of the Kano commoners and migratory petty traders in the north. Many of the tradesmen later manned the offices of NEPU. He also sought to use politics to create an egalitarian Northern Nigerian society.
Another major idea of his in the prelude to the first republic was the breakup of ethnically based parties. The idea was well received by his emerging support base of petty traders and craftsmen in towns along the rail track. The men and women were mostly migratory individuals searching for trade opportunities and had little ethnic similarities with their host communities. He also proposed a fiscal
system that favors heavy taxation of the rich in the region and was notably one of the few leading Nigerian politicians that supported equal rights
for women.
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
politician from Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. In the 1940s he led an Islamic movement in the north of the country in opposition to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rule. The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport is located in Kano, a city in the Kano State of Nigeria. It is the main airport serving northern Nigeria and was named after Nigerian politician Aminu Kano. The airport consists of an international and a domestic terminal. Both terminals share the same...
and the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, both 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...
, Kano State
Kano State
Kano State is a state located in North-Western Nigeria. Created on May 27, 1967 from part of the Northern Region, Kano state borders Katsina State to the north-west, Jigawa State to the north-east, Bauchi State to the south-east and Kaduna State to the south-west...
, are named after him.
Life and early career
Aminu Kano was born to the family of an Islamic scholar, Mallam Yusuf of the scholarly Gyenawa fulani clan, who was a muftiMufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
at the Alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
court in Kano. He attended Katsina College and later went to the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
's, Institute of Education, alongside Tafawa Balewa. He earned his teaching certificate after completing his studies at Katsina
Katsina
Katsina is a city , and a Local Government Area in northern Nigeria, and is the capital of Katsina State. Katsina is located some 160 miles east of the city of Sokoto, and 84 miles northwest of Kano, close to the border with Niger. As of 2007, Katsina's estimated population was 459,022...
College and subsequently became a teacher; he started teaching at the Bauchi
Bauchi
Bauchi is a city in northeast Nigeria, the capital of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. The city has a population of 316,173...
training College.
While in Bauchi, he spoke freely on political issues and extended his educational horizon by engaging in some various political and educational activities beyond his formal teaching duties. He wrote a pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
, 'Kano, Under the Hammer of the Native Administration, and along with Balewa, was a member of the Bauchi General Improvement Union. He was also a secretary of the Bauchi Discussion Circle, a group whose activities were later constricted as a result of an attack on indirect rule
Indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of government that was developed in certain British colonial dependencies...
by Aminu Kano. In 1948, he became the head of the teacher training center in Maru, Sokoto
Sokoto
Sokoto is a city located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of 427,760...
and was also the secretary of the Northern Teachers Association.
During this period, he established an organization to improve the quality of Koranic schools in the north.
Pre-Independence and first republic
While in Sokoto, he became a member of Jam'iyyar Mutanen Arewa, a Northern Nigeria cultural association that later evolved into a political party and became the dominant party in Northern Nigeria during the Nigerian First RepublicNigerian First Republic
The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution.-Founding :...
. However, in 1950, he led a splinter group of young radicals
Radicalization
Radicalization is the process in which an individual changes from passiveness or activism to become more revolutionary, militant or extremist. Radicalization is often associated with youth, adversity, alienation, social exclusion, poverty, or the perception of injustice to self or others.-...
from Jam'iyyar Mutanen Arewa, and formed the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). Notably, a few years earlier, an Igbira man and trader, Habib Raji Abdallah had founded an organization called the Northern Elements Progressive Association in Kano. The organization was founded along the nationalistic political thoughts of Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe , usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe and popularly known as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism who became the first President of Nigeria after Nigeria secured its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960; holding the...
. In 1949, a few of Azikiwe's supporters were jailed including Abdallah, leading to the breakup of the organization
Nevertheless, a new progressive union led by Aminu Kano and composed of progressive leaning teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s and some radical intellectuals such as Magaji Dambatta, Abba Maikwaru and Bello Ijumu emerged to fill any vacuum in political radicalism in the region. The members were largely connected together in their opposition to the management style of the native administration in Northern Nigeria. In 1951, the party contested for seats in the Kano primary elections and was fairly successful. However, with the formation of the Northern People's Congress, Mallam Aminu began to face formidable challenges especially in two federal elections. In 1954, Aminu lost a federal House of Representative seat to Maitama Sule
Maitama Sule
Yusuf Maitama Sule is a Nigerian politician, intellectual, acclaimed orator and diplomat. In 1976, he became the Federal Commissioner of public complaints, a position that made him the nation's pioneer ombudsman. In early 1979, he was a presidential candidate of the National Party of Nigeria but...
and in 1956, he failed to clinch enough votes to win a seat on the Northern Regional Assembly. It wasn't until the 1959 parliamentary election that he succeeded in gaining a major regional seat. He won the Kano East federal seat as a candidate of NEPU, which was already in alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons
National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons
National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons , was a Nigerian political party from 1944 to 1966. The name included 'Cameroons' because Cameroon had become an administrative part of Nigeria in 1945. Cameroon had been a colonial territory of Germany...
. While in the Federal House of Representative, he was a deputy Chief Whip.
After the first republic was cut short by a military coup. Aminu Kano later served in the military government of General Yakubu Gowon
Yakubu Gowon
General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon was the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. He took power after one military coup d'etat and was overthrown in another...
as a federal commissioner for health.
Second republic
After 12 years, the military government in September 1978, lifted its proscription of political partiesPolitical Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
. In the following months, five newly formed parties began to emerge: the Nigerian People's Party
Nigerian People's Party
The Nigerian Peoples Party was one of the major political parties that contested elections in the Nigerian Second Republic. The party was made up of three major groups: the Lagos Progressives, Club 19, and the Nigerian Council of Understanding....
, the Unity Party of Nigeria
Unity Party of Nigeria
The Unity Party of Nigeria was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic. The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical but effective administrator. However, the party's main difference with its...
and three others. Among them was the People's Redemption Party
People's Redemption Party
The People's Redemption Party was a political party in Nigeria. Often considered the Second Republic incarnation of the Northern Elements Progressive Union, the party was created by the late Mallam Aminu Kano. The PRP was highly regarded as a progressive left of center political party. Some well...
, led by Aminu Kano and Sam Ikoku. The party leaned towards a populist framework and enjoyed the support of prominent labor leaders such as Michael Imoudu. In 1979, the party presented Aminu Kano as its presidential candidate but he could not muster enough votes to win. Nevertheless, the party won two gubernatorial seats.
Reformist ideas
Aminu Kano co-founded the Northern Elements Progressive Union as a political platform to challenge what he felt was the autocratic and feudalistic actions of the Native Northern Government. He geared his attack on the ruling eliteElite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
including the emirs, who were mostly Fulanis. The potency of his platform was strengthened partly because of his background. His father was an acting Alkali in Kano who came from a lineage
Lineage (Buddhism)
An authentic lineage in Buddhism is the uninterrupted transmission of the Buddha's Dharma from teacher to disciple.The transmission itself can be for example oral, scriptural, through signs, or directly from one mind to another....
of Islamic clerics, Aminu Kano also brought up Islamic ideas on equity
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
in his campaign trails during the first republic. Many talakawas (commoners) in Kano lined up behind his message and his political stature grew from the support of the Kano commoners and migratory petty traders in the north. Many of the tradesmen later manned the offices of NEPU. He also sought to use politics to create an egalitarian Northern Nigerian society.
Another major idea of his in the prelude to the first republic was the breakup of ethnically based parties. The idea was well received by his emerging support base of petty traders and craftsmen in towns along the rail track. The men and women were mostly migratory individuals searching for trade opportunities and had little ethnic similarities with their host communities. He also proposed a fiscal
Fiscal policy
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy....
system that favors heavy taxation of the rich in the region and was notably one of the few leading Nigerian politicians that supported equal rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
for women.