Aminu Kano
| Aminu Kano | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament (Nigeria) | |
|
In office 1959–1966 |
|
| Minister for Health | |
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In office 1967–1974 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1920 Kano |
| Died | April 17, 1983 (age 62-63) |
| Political party | NEPU, People's Redemption Party |
| Profession | Teacher, Politician |
| Religion | Islam |
Aminu Kano (1920—April 17, 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 and the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, both in Kano, are named after him.
Aminu Kano was born to the family of an Islamic scholar, Mallam Yusuf of the scholarly Gyanawa fulani clan, who was a mufti at the Alkali court in Kano. He attended Katsina College and later went to the University of London's, Institute of Education, alongside Sir Abubakar 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.
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 Republic. 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
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