By Jamilu Uba Adamu
When Mallam Aminu Kano died on 17 April 1983 I am barely one year old so just like many of my contemporaries that we are in the same age group don’t know him but we grow up hearing so much about his name, his legacy and many of his accomplishment, and teachings.
So a couple of years ago, I laid my hands on a book written about his biography. The book was titled “Mallam Aminu Kano A Political Phenomenon: A Biography of Mallam and Ideas, Thoughts and Teachings, the book was authored by Emeka Ejiofor.
The author described Mallam Aminu as a “People’s Hero, a legend who came before his time, a social anthropologist, and a political philosopher, and one of the architects of modern Nigeria, whose vision was sacred.”
A proponent of education, he sent many people to school, his relations and non-relatives alike many well-known western-educated people in Kano State owe their education to Mallam Aminu Kano.
Mallam Aminu Kano was among the few philosophers who combined the task of teaching with that of action. He believed fervently that the process of emancipation must start with the individual who possesses the necessary self-confidence and self-assurance, who must liberate his mind from fear, ignorance, and all forms of complexes, must become an active agitator and participant in the task of educating others.
Dr. Muhammad Uba Adamu In his book Confluence and Influence’s: The Emergence of Kano as a City-state wrote “Mallam Aminu Kano opened the brain of the common man, his orientation brought the common man out of the jungle. He was unique because he was the only educated politician in the north that was trained to be a scholar in Oriental and Occidental education, therefore he was at home with both Islamic and Western education.
He was one of the ulamas, able to interpret the holy Koran, therefore as a role model, he could ridicule and influence changes in the people. People now bathe every day, clean their environment, wear clean clothes, and clean haircuts and if on top of that, you can speak English, you get the title “Dan Spikin”, meaning you are as neat as a European.
In his zaure university, meaning sitting room university, Mallam Aminu was the professor of practical political science, and the method of teaching was by debates, discussions, questions and answers, and interpretations of political news. Mallam thought the people how to speak and argue and listen to world news which he interpreted in Hausa. People were told what was happening in the UN (United Nations), Buckingham Palace, Russia, and all over the world. Many were inspired as a result of Zaure’s experience to attend formal education that has produced professionals in different fields of Human endeavour.”
In fact, Mallam Aminu Kano lived and died for the welfare of the common people. During his lifetime he always stood for justice and looked for the betterment of ordinary people. There is no surprise Kano International Airport and many other roads and schools were named in his honor.
Allah ubangiji ya Jikan Mallam, Allah ubangiji ya sabunta rahama a gareshi. Ameen
