Aminu Kano

Mallam Aminu Kano
President-General of People's Redemption Party
In office 1978–1983
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Khalifa Hassan Yusuf
Federal Commissioner for Health
In office 13 January 1972 – 1974
Preceded by	Joseph Eyitayo Adetoro
Succeeded by	Emmanuel O. Abisoye
Federal Commissioner for Communications
In office 12 June 1967 – 13 January 1971
Preceded by	Raymond Njoku
Succeeded by	Joseph Tarka
Deputy Government Chief Whip
In office December 1959 – 30 December 1964
Succeeded by	Mohammed Muhtari A. U. D. Mbah A. F. Odulana
Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives
In office December 1959 – 30 December 1964
Succeeded by	Mahmud Dantata
Constituency	Kano East
President-General of Northern Elements Progressive Union
In office 1953–1966
Preceded by	Abba Maikwaru
Succeeded by	position abolished
Personal details
Born	Mohammed Aminu Yusufu 9 August 1920 Sudawa, Kano (now in Gwale, Kano State)
Died	17 April 1983 (aged 62) Kano
Resting place	Mambayya House 12°0′54.342″N 8°30′20.4912″E
Political party	People's Redemption Party
Other political affiliations	Northern Elements Progressive Union Northern People's Congress Northern Progressive Front
Spouses	Umma ​ (m. 1939⁠–⁠1940)​ Hasia ​ ​ (m. 1940, divorced)​ Shatu ​ (before 1983)​
Alma mater	Kaduna College University of London
Occupation	Teacher, politician, poet, writer

Mallam Aminu Kano (9 August 1920 — 17 April 1983) was a Muslim politician from Nigeria. In the 1940s he led a socialist movement in the northern part of the country in opposition to British rule. The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and the Aminu Kano College of Islamic Studies all in Kano, are named after him. He was a relative to the father of former Head of State Murtala Mohammed, former Minister of Defense Inuwa Wada and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Aminu Bashir Wali.

Early life and education

Aminu was born on 9 August 1920 to Rakaiya and Mallam Yusufu of the Gyanawa, a Fulani clan known for their Islamic scholarship, particularly in Islamic law. Of his mother's six births, he was the only one to reach the age of 15. Both of his parents were well learned in Islam, and his father later served as the Acting Chief Alkali of Kano. His grandmother was given the Fulani title of Modibbo, typically reserved for respected Islamic scholars.

According to local tradition, Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, himself appointed a relative of Aminu to the position of Kano's chief Alkali. Since then, the Gyanawa have been sought after to occupy legal positions such as alkalis, walis and muftis.

Aminu's maternal lineage also had several learned men and women dating back centuries. They were Fulbe who emigrated from Kukawa in the Bornu empire to Kano. Among them was a mallam who served as a personal adviser to the then Emir of Kano, Sulimanu. This mallam supported himself by breeding and selling pigeons, earning the nickname Mallam Mai Tattabari ('the mallam who raises pigeons'). This nickname became an official title in the Kano palace and has been passed down to his successors, serving as the emirs' personal Imams and advisers on Islamic law.

As an infant, Aminu began his education with his first teachers being his mother and grandmother, who both taught him the Arabic language and how to read the Quran. His mother died shortly after. He relocated to his uncle's home to live under the care of his maternal grandmother, who lived there. Consequently, Halilu, his uncle who was later appointed 'Mallam Mai Tattabari', became responsible for his Koranic education. Aminu was further enrolled into Shehuci Primary School, a western school, where he was taught how to read and write in English. He adopted the name of his birthplace, Kano, as his surname, a common practice among western educated Northern Nigerians at the time.

In 1933, Aminu began attending Kano Middle School (later renamed Rumfa College, Kano), a boarding school. There, in 1935, he led one of the first student strikes in Nigeria against a shortage of soap, poor food, "too many restrictions, and too severe a code of behavior". He then proceeded to Kaduna College (later renamed Barewa College) where he obtained a diploma in education in 1942.

Teaching career

After graduating from Kaduna College in 1940, Aminu opted for a career in law rather than following the path of his classmates who mostly chose teaching. This choice was uncommon as Sharia courts, more popular than the parallel magistrate courts in Kano among Muslims, did not allow lawyers. Additionally, his interest in studying medicine in England was hindered by the requirement to attend King's College and Yaba Higher College, both in Lagos in Southern Nigeria, for some years. However, due to ongoing student unrests, the principal of King's College was reluctant to admit Aminu, who was known for leading student protests. Aminu also attempted to join the army and the police force but was rejected from both as he was five feet four, an inch shorter than the minimum height requirement. At Kaduna College, many continued to advise him to pursue a teaching career but it was his science teacher, Dr. R. E. Miller, who convinced him to take up teaching as a profession. Miller's argument was

Look, I'd advise you to join the teaching class. With the war going on, and the Germans advancing on all fronts, it isn't inconceivable that Hitler may temporarily take over Nigeria. In such a case, you would need a professional hiding place, and what better place than teaching? Besides, I would take you as the sole teacher-in-training for science—one of your great loves, right?

During his teacher training, Aminu was assigned to various towns for teaching assignments. In his second year, he spent five months each in Bauchi and Zaria and an additional two months "visiting schools in the south". It was in his final year of training in 1942 that his burgeoning radical political views became apparent. He began writing for the few newspapers and magazines available at the time, like Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo and the West African Pilot, and developed a keen interest in politics. It was also during this year that he penned his pamphlet 'Kano Under the Hammer of Native Autocracy,' a critique of the Native Authority.

Towards the end of his time at Kaduna College, he met Sa'adu Zungur, who was to "influence Aminu's thinking profoundly". Zungur, older than Aminu and an earlier proponent of radical politics, served as the head of the School of Pharmacy in Zaria. Aminu often had long discussions with Zungur, frequently visiting his home after classes. Their acquaintance dated back to 1935 when Zungur visited Kano, leaving a lasting impression on Aminu with his radical and progressive views. Aminu maintained sporadic correspondence with Zungur until their reunion in Zaria.

Bauchi

Upon completing his teacher training, Aminu relocated to Bauchi, assuming the role of a junior teacher at Bauchi Middle School. His colleagues at the school included Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Yahaya Gusau. Aminu's amicable relationship with Balewa, who later became Nigeria's only ever Prime Minister, began during their time teaching in Bauchi. It was during this period that Balewa gave him the nickname 'Molotov' after Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet statesman. Zungur also moved to Bauchi during this time, having returned to his hometown due to a lung disorder he got in Zaria.

Aminu was well-respected among the students at the school. They often gathered at his home after school hours for discussions and other extra-curricular activities. He occasionally organised plays and shows for the students, sometimes using Abubakar Imam's works. To supplement his lessons, he composed songs and poems for his students. He was also active in various student societies including drama, debating, and science.

His close assossiation with the students and his radical ideas made him unpopular with the school's administration and other teachers. On one occasion, the entire student body staged a strike over issues such as lack of uniforms and blankets, withheld pocket money, and poor food quality. The one student left, the head boy who was Balewa's younger brother, acted as their spokesman. The senior students, among them was Sule Katagum, lead the other students towards Maiduguri. The Emir of Bauchi and several teachers caught up with them, attempting to negotiate, but the students insisted on speaking only with Aminu. Later, Aminu arrived with Yahya Gusau, and "reassured them that their complaints would get proper airing" and convinced them to return to their domitories. Following an investigation into the complaints, they were validated, resulting in the replacement of the headmaster with Balewa, "who righted the pre-existing wrongs".

Bauchi General Improvement Union

In 1943, Aminu, alongside Zungur, Balewa and Gusau, formed the Bauchi General Improvement Union (BGIU), where they held discussions critiquing British colonial policies and the Native Authority. This organisation was likely influenced by a similar organisation Zungur had founded while in Zaria, the Northern Provinces General Improvement Union (NPGIU). Aminu and Zungur wrote letters and articles attacking the British 'directed labour' policy, which they saw as a disguised form of conscription. With Britain requiring significant quantities of food, tin, and soldiers for World War II, colonial officials exerted pressure on Native Authorities to 'direct' specified quotas of food and manpower. Britain extensively used unregulated forced conscription in Northern Nigeria to support its war effort after its military misfortunes in the Far East in 1942. One of Aminu's unsigned articles was read by the senior District Officer, A J Knott, in the West African Pilot, who traced it back to the BGIU. This discovery led to the dissolution of the union and its replacement with the Bauchi Discussion Circle (BDC) or Majalisar Tadi ta Bauchi, sponsored by colonial authorities. The BDC was designed as a sanctioned platform for open debate encompassing 'any and all ideas'.

Bauchi Discussion Circle

BDC held weekly discussions, attracting various attendees like department heads, administrators, merchants and teachers. The number of participants surpassed that of the previous Bauchi General Improvement Union (BGIU), attracting moderates who felt more at ease given the government's sanction. Aminu, as secretary, was in charge of sending out invitations and choosing the topics to be discussed. These topics discussed included economic development, democracy, medicine, war and religion. When the topic was freedom of the press, Aminu and Zungur highlighted the contradiction in British policy, arguing that on the one hand they suppressed and privately condemned the only voices independent of the emirs and on the other hand, they publicly encouraged independent thought and initiative.

In a discussion on indirect rule, he argued that "it had outlived the purpose for which it was originally intended" and that it was "the most exploiting system of colonial administration the world had ever known". He further pointed out that at the time of the British takeover, the Sokoto Caliphate and its emirates had morphed into a system unintended by Shehu Usman dan Fodio, its founder. Aminu argued that the succession of caliphs was meant to be based on merit rather than birth and that the autocratic system of governance was against the teachings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and the Shehu. Balewa, being more of a moderate than Aminu, lightly defended the indirect rule system, arguing that the maintenance of law and order was essential in securing the foundation on which desired reforms could be carried out. Zungur, bedridden during the session, in response to Balewa, wrote his own arguments in a letter which was delivered to the discussion circle by Aminu during the following session. In this letter, he bolstered Aminu's arguments while adding a few of his own. He urged Balewa to reconsider his "ill-conceived" defence of indirect rule and further argued:

The selection of its [the Native Authority's] gutter elite is being made neither on the basis of intelligence nor capacity, but simply by denial of the decent citizen's outlook. Members of the ruling minority have the readiness of desperadoes to gamble, with nothing to lose but everything to gain.

During another meeting, Aminu posed a question to Officer Knott: 'What determines an emir's salary?' Knott responded that it depended on the extent of his duties and the weight of his responsibilities. Aminu then pointed out that despite having fewer constituents and responsibilities compared to the Emir of Bauchi, the Lamido of Adamawa received a higher salary. Following this exchange, the meeting abruptly ended. Soon after, Knott announced the termination of the BDC, citing that the discussions were 'getting off the rails'.

Bauchi Community Center

To replace the BDC, Aminu and Zungur established another political organisation, the Bauchi Community Center. Starting with about 20 members, their first meeting took place at the Native Authority Library, near the emir's palace. During this meeting, accompanied by a policeman, Balewa approached them at the emir's request, asking them to disband as "all unions (organizations) are forbidden". Zungur then told him to tell the emir that they were not going to disband. After Balewa left, they decided to deliver a letter to the senior political officer telling him what had happened, claiming the emir was tresspassing on their rights.

Three days later, the organization's members were invited to meet with the emir. The emir denied ordering their disbandment, and claimed that he had only forbade them from using "the Native Authority Library typewriters and facilities". Despite Balewa complaining that he delivered the message given to him accurately and Zungur ready to exploit this contradiction, the matter wasn't pursued further, and the organization accepted the emir's decision. Shortly after, an elderly man named Mallam Waziri offered them the use of his roofless hall for meetings, provided they roofed it themselves. They pooled their money together and roofed it.  Not long after, the British government offered Aminu one of seven scholarships to study in England starting from September 1946, which he accepted. 

London

At the Institute of Education in London, Aminu delved into the works of figures like Harold Laski, George Bernard Shaw, and Karl Mannheim, whose teachings is "the source of many of Aminu's ideas on the ideal human society". He established relations with several left-wing figures and organisations in London, including the Socialist Labour Party, the Student Socialist Society, and the Young Socialists, and met and befriended some left-leaning Members of Parliament and "top leaders" of communist organisations. He was also influenced by leading Labour politicians of the time, such as Aneurin Bevan and Fenner Brockway.

After being exposed to these ideas and influences, Aminu attempted to blend the political philosophies of early French and American revolutionaries with Shavian Fabian socialism and the teachings of Usman dan Fodio, all while still under the influence of Sa'adu Zungur's radical ideas. He also witnessed the eve of India and Pakistan's independence struggles through the students from both nations. Aminu, alongside students from various British colonies, welcomed Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru, leading figures in the independence movements of Pakistan and India respectively, during their London visit in 1947. These experiences likely contributed to his interest in the Gandhian form of resistance.

During his course, Aminu taught in local primary schools and spent weeks in the Welsh countryside as a guest of the Young Farmers' Club. To fund his planned tour of the British countryside, he took on a part-time Hausa language translator role with the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Unexpectedly, he was invited as a delegate to the World Boy Scout Jamboree in Rosny, allowing him to tour Europe at a discounted rate. Just before his journey to France, the entire boy scout contingent visited Buckingham Palace. Aminu was shocked the see the king and queen chatting and mingling freely with the boys which was a stark contrast with the way the British officialdom behaved back in Nigeria. This contradiction left him optimistic, interpreting it as a sign of the colonial empire's impending collapse.

Northern Teachers' Association

In March 1948, while still studying London, Aminu formed the Northern Teachers' Welfare Association (later Northern Teachers' Association), the first region-wide organisation and labour union in Northern Nigeria, alongside other teachers from the region, like Salihu Fulani, Z. Y. Dimka, Yahaya Gusau, Shettima Shehu Ajiram and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The union focused on issues like rights and welfare of teachers, an improved syllabus, differences in salary between the North and the South and the eligibility of teachers in Christian Mission Schools for membership.

The union grew rapidly, having about 200 members in its first month and 25 branches within its first year and was later influential on the region's nationalist organisations that came after it. The union continued being the most dominant teacher's union in Northern Nigeria until is merger with the Nigerian Union of Teachers, the dominant teacher's union in southern Nigeria, in 1972.

Return to Bauchi

With the end of his course in 1948, Aminu returned to Bauchi to resume his teaching career at the Bauchi Middle School. A few months later he was transferred to the Bauchi Teachers' Training College.

During this time, Sir John MacPherson, the newly appointed Governor of Nigeria, was gearing up for a tour across the region. He was to tour the major cities of the North, but excluded Bauchi. Aminu and Zungur suspected that this omission was a deliberate move by the Governor and his advisors to avoid confronting the city's outspoken radicals and their list of demands and grievances. The two approached the Emir of Bauchi and informed him of the government's plan to avoid his domain, claiming it was because of Bauchi's poor school system, roads, and economy. They managed to convince him to permit them to organise a mass rally to protest the Governor's ommission. This mass rally, which was the first ever held in Northern Nigeria, amassed about a thousand people.

Aminu, at the time still a junior teacher, was invited to Kaduna to meet with A J Knott (the district officer who had organised the BDC in 1943), now the Chief Secretary to the Government, and Sir MacPherson. During this meeting, the governor, addressing Aminu, had reportedly said:

You have indicated that you think we intentionally keep the North backward, and the North and South divided—that you want us to go so that your country may have independence. You're a man from an important Kano family, young and full of spirit, but you must realize that we don't intentionally prevent changes and keep the country from progressing.

Knott proceeded to inform Aminu that they had been paying attention to his critiques of the government, stating, "We really like men like you, who are ahead of your countrymen". They offered him a position which would allow him to monitor and participate in the "financial section of the government" or even as the next editor of Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo. After returning to Bauchi, Aminu, after considering these offers and discussing them with Zungur and others, concluded that these offers were an attempt by the government to disrupt their activist activities. Consequently, Aminu rejected the offers, informing Knott and MacPherson that he preferred to remain a teacher. He also later turned down a job as a lecturer in Hausa at the Oxford University.

However, some months later, in their ongoing efforts to disperse the Bauchi radicals, the British government transferred Aminu to Maru in Sokoto, appointing him as the headmaster of a newly constructed teachers' training college.

Sokoto

Sokoto had served as the capital of the 19th-century Sokoto Caliphate, established through the jihad of Usman dan Fodio. The caliphate covered a large majority of Northern Nigeria and most of the emirs owed allegiance to the Sultan of Sokoto. After the colonisation of the state by the British during the early 20th-century, Sokoto became a province and the Sultan's status was reduced; the other emirs answered directly to the British government, no longer to the Sultan. However, it retained its significance as the center of traditional and religious authority in the region. Hence, it was considered the most conservative section of a very conservative North. Maru (now located in Maru, Zamfara state), a village in the province, had a population of 8,256 in 1964. It was clear that Aminu's transfer to Maru was not only meant to distance him from Zungur but also to isolate him and impede his activities. Upon his arrival, he attempted to set up a disscussion circle but there were too few educated people around him and the nearest large town to Maru was 35 miles away, "over terrible, barely passable roads". The Sultan, Siddiq Abubakar III, was also monitoring him, as Aminu later discovered. He learned that an elderly man he regularly gave alms to was a spy for the Sultan several weeks into his stay in Maru.

During this period, he established an organization to improve the quality of Qur'anic schools in the north.

Throughout his time in Maru, Aminu found himself in confrontations that regularly put him at odds with the Sultan.It started when Aminu dismissed the Sultan's Yan Labari, or spies, after his arrival. Later, he sent a letter of complaint to the British authorities, alleging that funds intended for the farmers, whose land was used for the school, had not reached them. Another dispute arose when Aminu and Abubakar Gumi, a colleague of Aminu and later influential Islamic Scholar, almost caused a Qadiriyya-Tijaniyya feud in the province when they prevented their students from attending a Friday service due to an issue with the Imam's ablution. Despite their concerns and complaints, the Sultan, responsible for appointing and removing imams, declined to dismiss the Imam.

At that time, Aminu shared a cordial relationship with Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, who held a rivalry with the Sultan. When the Sultan's court convicted Bello of jangali tax ('cattle tax') misappropriations in 1943, Aminu contributed a significant portion of his Bauchi teaching salary to Bello's defense fund. With Aminu now in Maru, Bello saw him as a potential ally against the Sultan. Bello frequently visited Aminu in Maru, and during a visit by Aminu to Sokoto for a provincial constitutional conference, he stayed at Bello's residence. During this period, the Sultan extended a private invitation to Aminu, likely seeking reconciliation. He requested a discreet 2 a.m. meeting, but upon learning that Aminu had told Bello about this invitation, the Sultan grew furious and canceled the meeting.

Northern People's Congress

Due to the successes of Aminu's teacher's union, other notable learned men around the region approached him regarding the establishing of a similar organisation. During late 1948, various organisations in Zaria, Kaduna and Bauchi merged to form the Jam'iyyar Mutanen Arewa or Northern People's Congress (NPC). In June 1949, the organisation's inaugural meeting was held at the Green's Hotel in Kaduna with about 500 in attendance. The founding members included Dr. R. A. B. Dikko, Yahaya Gusau, Abubakar Imam (editor of Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo), Yusuf Maitama Sule, Aliyu Mai Bornu, Aminu Kano, Isa Wali (Aminu's cousin) and Sa'adu Zungur, who was the general secretary of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) at the time.

In its first general meeting in December 1949, the leaders of the congress, Dikko and Gusau, declared that the congress did not intend to subvert the colonial and aristocratic government and that the:

Jam'iyyar does not intend to usurp the authority of our Natural rulers; on the contrary, it is our ardent desire to enhance such authority whenever and wherever possible. We want to help our Natural rulers in the proper discharge of their duties...We want to help them in enlightening the Talakawa [common people].

A district officer, representing the Resident of Kano, cautioned the attendees that they could only bring about their desired reforms if they moved "slowly with caution" and that "one must learn to walk before one can run". Aminu responded by asking him to report to his superiors that:

If we go on foot, we will not walk, we will run. And if we fall, we will pick ourselves up and run again. But mark you, we will not go on foot. You might tell us to go by camel, or horse, but we wil even skip the motor car and go by plane. And the British had best not deny us the choice of our means of transportation, no matter how fast.

Several Northern rulers, such as the Sultan, Emir of Kano and the Emir of Zaria, approved of this 'harmless' and 'deferential' attitude of the congress. However, younger members like Maitama, Aminu, and Zungur believed the congress was too uncritical of both the emirs and British authorities, emphasising the need for political reform in the North. Finally in August 1950, some radical NPC members in Kano formed the Northern Elements Progressive Union (Jamiyar Neman Sawaba), the first declared political party in Northern Nigeria. NEPU was influenced by Zungur's openly radical Northern Elements Progressive Association. They had the support of Aminu, who was unable to join the party at the time as he was still employed by the government and could not openly join a political party.

Resignation

Aminu handed in his resignation letter on 16 October 1950 and departed from Maru for good on November 4 of the same year. Sheikh Usman Bida, who was a classmate of Aminu at Kaduna College, and Sule Katagum, Wazirin Katagum, both believed that he was forced to resign. Aminu himself had contemplated this move as early as April of that year. When the Deputy Director of Education for the North warned him that he would not be reappointed if he persisted in his political activities, Aminu noted in his diary, "All right, that's his problem. Mine is to resign by next year."

An article by Aminu explaining his reasons for resignation was published in the Daily Comet newspaper on 11 November 1950:

I resigned because I refuse to believe that this country is by necessity a prisoner of the Anglo-Fulani aristocracy—I resigned because I fanatically share the view that the Native Authorities ... are woefully hopeless in solving our urgent educational, social, economic, political or even religious problems—My stay in England...has hardened my soul in elevating truth, freedom and above all human rights for which the world fought off fascism—I had twice been threatened with the merciless fangs... while all around are piled corruption, misrule, political bluff, slavery under another garb, naked nepotism, tyranny, poverty...unnecessary retention of hereditary parasites, naked and shameless economic exploitation...I cannot tolerate these things because of their awful smell...I am prepared to be called by any name. Call me a dreamer or call me a revolutionary; call me a crusader or anything this imperialist government wills. I have seen a light on the far horizon and I intend to march into its full circle either alone or with anyone who cares to go with me. To these same suppressors of our people, I say this: Look Out! Africa is a sleeping giant no more! She is just about to shake off the stupor...?"

Political career

Pre-Independence and the First Republic (1950—1966)

After his resignation, Aminu returned to Kano and formally joined Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) party.  The stated goals of the party included the "emancipation of the talakawa"(commoners) through "reform of the present autocratic political institutions". During the second annual convention of the Northern Peoples' Congress (NPC) in December 1950, a resolution by NEPU, drafted by Aminu, called for the NPC to be declared as an "an explicitly nationalist political party". 

Nevertheless, a new progressive union led by Aminu Kano and composed of progressive leaning teachers 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 Kano 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. (NCNC) 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.

Second republic

After 12 years, the military government in September 1978, lifted its proscription of political parties. 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, Michael Imoudu, S.G. Ikoku, and Edward Ikem Okeke, other party members included Abubakar Rimi, Sabo Bakin Zuwo, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Umaru Musa Yar'adua , Sule Lamido and Ghali Umar Na'Abba. 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.

Legacy

Hausa cinema and plays

As a young boy, Aminu often composed plays which he used to act out "his complaints, criticisms, and aspirations in dramatic form". In these plays, he regularly reserved the leading role to himself and gave out the other parts to his playmates. Later as a student at Kano Middle School, he became the first to formally write drama works in the Hausa-language. While studying at the Kaduna College, he founded the Dramatic Society and wrote several plays in which he:

...criticized the exploitation of the masses and challenged the system of emirates in northern Nigeria. In the play, Kai wane ne a kasuwar Kano da ba za a cuce ka ba? ('Whoever you might be, you will be cheated at Kano market') he depicted the exploitation of country people by heartless merchants, while in Karya Fure take ba ta ‘ya’ya ('A lie blooms but yields no fruit') he raised the problem of excessive taxes levied upon the Hausa rural population. In the years 1939—1941 Aminu Kano wrote around twenty short plays for the use of schools in which he ridiculed some of the outdated local customs as well as the activities of the Native Authority in the system of indirect colonial administration.

In 1940, during the second annual general meeting of the Kaduna Old Boys Association (now Barewa Old Boys Association), a meeting where the alumni of the college "meet and have free discussions among themselves", Aminu, at the time still a student, staged his Kai wane ne a kasuwar Kano play for the KOBA attendees. According to Abubakar Imam, who was among the attendees, 'observers' viewed the play as "politically inspired, capable of doing more harm than good to the stability of the region, and more especially with a global war on". This led to the school's authorities refusing to host any future meetings and to associate with KOBA.

Aminu drew inspiration from notable writers such as Shakespeare, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Tom Paine, attempting to adapt their works for a Hausa audience. He often served as the playwright, actor, and director in his plays, sometimes converting prose into drama or using strictly original material. He and his colleagues constructed stages, inviting audiences to witness their shows, often during festivals like Sallah. These performances gained popularity, sometimes drawing the attendance of even the emir and district heads. Aminu made social commentary and criticisms through these plays and shows. One notable play, initially titled Kar Ka Bata Hajin Naka ('Don't Spoil Your Hajj'), later renamed Alhaji Ka Iya Kwanga ('Alhaji, You Know How to Dance the Conga'), cautioned Nigerians against being captivated by the superficial allure of Western ways, emphasizing that imitation was destined to fail. Instead, he advocated for change through education in their own customs.

Although he sent several of his plays to Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo, the government-run Hausa-language newspaper, none were accepted. According to Abdalla Uba Adamu, 'The traditional establishment was too entrenched to accept literary criticism, especially from one of them.' Nevertheless, Aminu Kano's plays were influential in Hausa cinema, with several of his plays adapted to film. He was particularly influential on Maitama Sule, one of Hausa cinema's early adopters. Sule mentioned attending Kaduna College after Aminu had graduated, recalling that almost all the plays he acted in were written by Aminu. He added that he remembered an occasion where:

...students swarmed to the railroad station to greet Aminu when they heard that he was enroute from Kano to Bauchi and would stop for a short time in Kaduna. The train was delayed for several hours, so they all trooped over to the field to perform a play of his on which they had been working. Aminu, when he arrived, joined the cast...

Sule played a pivotal role in founding one of Northern Nigeria's first film production companies, the Maitama Sule Drama Group.

Reformist ideas

Aminu Kano joined 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 elite 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.

Mallam Aminu Kano is highly respected politician in Northern Nigeria. He symbolized democratization, women's empowerment and freedom of speech. An airport, a college and also a major street are also named after him in Kano. His house where he lived and died and buried has been converted to Centre for Democratic Research and Training under the Bayero University Kano.

Women's empowerment

Aminu's deep concern for his mother and the societal constraints she faced led him to make women's empowerment a lifelong dedication. He refrained from having multiple wives, asserting that the Qur'an permitted a Muslim to marry up to four wives only if equal treatment was ensured, which he thought was impossible to achieve. He interpreted this as the Qur'an not advocating polygamy. A strong believer in education as a means of women's emancipation, he sponsored a school for women which convened at his home from 1952 until his death in 1983, offering courses in handicrafts, sewing, Hausa, and basic English literacy. During his two year course at the Institute of Education, he wrote all his term papers on "The Problem of Girls' Education in Kano".

Throughout his political career, Aminu consistently challenged the exclusion of women from public life and formal political processes. He evoked Islamic concepts of "freedom," "jihad," and "justice" to advocate for women's empowerment, positioning it as a fundamental concern within his political party. Alongside his cousin Isa Wali, he championed this cause in the 1950s and 1960s, a stance that was relatively rare during that period. During the 1970s and 1980s, with the return to democracy in Nigeria, the People's Redemption Party (PRP), under his leadership, emerged as the only political party in Nigeria addressing this issue, and Aminu became closely associated with advocating for women's rights more than any other politician in the country. He argued that the Qur'an gave Muslims the right to "have a direct say in the affairs of the state or a representative chosen by him or her".

Had he participated in the 1983 Presidential election, his running mate would have been Mrs. Bola Ogunbo, which would have been the first time a Nigerian woman was nominated for high national office. He advocated for the greater involvenment of women in public affairs, implementing large-scale education programs for women through his party PRP and appointed several women to public positions. In both the parties he led, the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) from 1953 to 1966 and the PRP from 1978 to 1983, women were encouraged to engage politically. However, while these parties established women's wings and addressed issues concerning education and voting rights, they often stifled female members' attempts to independently confront wider issues. The women's wings, though present, did not lead reformative or revolutionary changes for women.

Personal life

Chinua Achebe, the influential Nigerian novelist and PRP colleague of Aminu, described him as "a saint and revolutionary". He further added that:

...if Aminu Kano should discover that he had joined the ranks of the oppressor he would promptly and openly renounce his position and wage war on himself!

British journalist and historian Basil Davidson, who Aminu described as his friend, characterized Aminu as "the Teacher, the Rebel, the Crusader-Politician, and the Statesman-Parliamentarian". Adding to Davidson's description, Aminu described himself during a speech at the Bayero University's Convocation Ceremony in 1982 as "a democratic humanist committed to elevating humanity and upholding the dignity of women". Elspeth Huxley, British writer who met Aminu in the early 1950s, in her 1954 book "Four Guineas: A Journey Through West Africa", described Aminu as "a Cassius of a man, slight and fiery, fluent in English, his heart a scorpion and his tongue a whip". She further described him as "a demagogue—ready-tongued, fanatical".

Aminu's knowledge of Islam earned him the title of Mallam (a title reserved for learned men in Northern Nigeria). He was an expert in Islamic jurisprudence and tafsir, delivering widely popular lectures on these subjects, especially in Kano. His Qur'anic interpretations mainly focused on the Islamic principles of justice, the significance of education within Islam, and advocated for tolerance among the 'people of the book'—comprising Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

Political quotes

1. That the shocking state of social order as at present existing in Northern Nigeria is due to nothing but the Family Compact rule of the so-called Native Administrations in their present autocratic form.

2. That owing to this unscrupulous and vicious system of Administration by the Family Compact rulers, there is today in our Society an antagonism of interests manifesting itself as a class struggle, between the members of the vicious circle of the Native Administration on the one hand and the ordinary "talakawa" on the other.

3. That this antagonism can be abolished only by the emancipation of the "talakawa" from the domination of these conduits, by the reform of the present autocratic political Institutions into Democratic Institutions and placing their democratic control in the hands of the "Talakawa" for whom alone they exist.

4. All parties are but the expression of class interests, and as the interest of the talakawa (commoners) is diametrically opposed to the interest of all sections of the master class, a party seeking the emancipation of the talakawa must naturally be hostile to the party of the oppressors.

See also

• Northern Elements Progressive Union
• People's Redemption Party
• Sa'adu Zungur