2. SIR AHMADU BELLO (The Sardauna
of Sokoto) Even 47 years after his death at the
age of 55, Sir AHMADU BELLO is still
venerated by millions of Nigerians. The
largest university in West Africa and
the second largest in Africa is named
after him while his picture is graciously perched on one of Nigeria’s highest
currencies -the N200 note... Here are facts about his personal life -
most of which - you probably never
heard before... - He was a descendant of Uthman Dan
Fodio, who is still an idol to millions of
Nigerians today even if millions of his
compatriots, especially from the
Southeast still despise him. - The late Sardauna was born on the
12th of June, 1910 in the village of
Rabah, some 20 miles from Sokoto - His father, Ibrahim Bello, was the Head
of the District and also prince of the
Sokoto Caliphate as his great-grandfath
er was the legendary Sultan Muhammed
Bello who was the father of Sultan
Abubakar Atiku. - At the age of six, his father died.
Young Ahmadu first schooled at the
Sokoto Provincial School, which
happened to be the only modern
school in the entire province of Sokoto. - He finished at the age of 16 top of
the class. - He attended the Teacher’s Training
College, Katsina (later became the
famous Barewa College) (1926-1936)
where he was a School Prefect and
Class Captain and graduated as a
Teacher in 1931 with a credit equivalent Grade III result. - After studying there for five years, he
was appointed by the Sultan of Sokoto
to work as a teacher at the Sokoto
Middle School - He was the only surviving son of his
father and mother, Mariyamu. - In 1932, he married Hafsatu, his first
wife and the daughter of the Waziri
Maccido. Some records indicated he
married Hafsatu when she was nine
while another stated twelve. - Hafsatu later battled with
childlessness. With time, he married two
more wives, Kande and Amiru (divorced
them in 1938) and later married Amina
and Jabbo in 1940 and 1952
respectively. - In 1952, his five-day-old son from
Jabbo died and back in 1936, he had
also lost a two-year-old son,
Mohammed Tambari, from his divorced
wife, Kande. - He was a simple man despite being an
aristocrat. He was temperamental but
easily forgot issues after sometime. - His humility was exemplary, He was a
man of the people. He always sat on
the floor in his house, to eat food with
his bare hands, from the same bowl with
his drivers and relatives. He maintained
an open house, and anybody who wanted to see him got audience. He
listened to people’s problems and
helped both the high and the lowly - He never had material accumulation
instincts, did not accumulate wealth and
gave out whatever came into his
possession. He was scrupulous and
prudent with public finance but
generous with his own money. - He constantly toured the length and
breadth of the Northern Region, always
on the move persuading, cajoling,
mobilizing, urging, inspiring people to be
disciplined and law abiding, to work
hard for common goals, to measure up to their potentials - In 1960, he met with musician and
Jazz legend, Louis Amstrong - In 1938, at the age of just 28, he
made attempts to become the Sultan
of Sokoto but was not successful,
losing to Sir Siddiq Abubakar III who
reigned for 50 years until his death in
1988. - He was put in charge of the Sokoto
Province to oversee 47 districts and
by 1944, he was back at the Sultan’s
Palace to work as the Chief Secretary
of the State Native Administration. - In the 1940s, he established the
Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa which would
later become the NPC in 1951. - In 1948, he got a government
scholarship and was off to England to
study Local Government Administration
which broadened his understanding and
knowledge of governance. - In 1943, a drama played out when he
was thrown before the Sultan’s court
for misappropriating jangali (cattle) tax
for the Gusau region where he was the
Councillor. - He was sentenced to one year in
prison. - There was a rivalry simmering below
the robes between him and the new
Sultan. But with the aid of the other
‘Barewa guys’ like Shehu Shagari, Aminu
Kano and Ibrahim Dasuki, he filed for an
acquittal after he had already spent three months in jail. - Upon arriving from the United
Kingdom, he was nominated to
represent the Sokoto Province at the
regional House of Assembly. - When the first elections were held in
1952, he won a seat in the Northern
House of Assembly and was appointed
a Minister of Works in the Regional
Executive Council - In 1954, Sir Ahmadu Bello became the
first Premier of Northern Nigeria and in
1955, he made his first pilgrimage to
Mecca, Saudi Arabia. - Five years late in 1959 federal
elections, he led the Northern People’s
Congress (NPC) to victory in the
parliament. - Later, his party formed an alliance with
the National Council of Nigeria and the
Cameroons (NCNC) headed by Dr.
Nnamdi Azikiwe and they came up with
the very first indigenous federal
government in 1960 which eventually secured Nigerian independence from
the British colonial masters. - In 1959, Queen Elizabeth II made him
a Knight of the British Empire (KBE),
and that explains the ‘Sir’ in his title. - Since he was the President General of
the NPC (later the largest political
party in the country), he chose to
remain the Premier of Northern Nigeria
and gave the position of Prime Minister
to his hand-picked candidate, the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who was
his Deputy. - He never sought the leadership of
Nigeria, once stated that he would
rather be the Sultan of Sokoto than to
be the leader of Nigeria - In ensuring that the North would not
be sidelined, he sponsored the Bank of
the North (now Unity Bank), the
Northern Nigerian Development
Company and capped it all by
establishing the 16,000-seater Ahmadu Bello Stadium Kaduna, The Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna and
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. - his relationship with the Ibos was a
very turbulent one even if he had
worked hand-in-hand with an Ibo, Dr.
Nnamdi Azikiwe to ensure Nigerian
gained independence - He once referred to the Ibos as the
‘Jews of Nigeria’ whose sole purpose is
to dominate wherever they find
themselves. - He also said that he would rather
have a non-Nigerian do a job than give
it to a non-northerner. - You can therefore understand the
carnage and massacre that was to
follow his assassination on the 15th of
January 1966 by an Ibo major, Patrick
Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. - All the tensions gradually accumulated
and resulted in a full-blown civil war the
following year, with millions of Nigerian
lives sacrificed to the senseless orgy
of violence. - He was more preoccupied with the
agenda of a more united North than a
stronger Nigeria. However, this does
not diminish his contributions in
ensuring Nigeria became free from
British imperialism. - Upon his assassination, his first and
eldest wife - Hafsatu - threw herself at
him in a final embrace. They were both
shot dead. - It wasn't untill the next day that he
was buried and two women later
carried Hafsatu’s body from where she
was killed to a bathroom, and very few
people know of her story as till today. - The chaos of that day is yet to
disappear till this day as the ghosts of
those killed in that coup still loom large
over the Nigerian nation. ...hmmm...this was definitely a man with
immense flaws but one can still draw a
major lesson from his life - HUMILITY
AND SELFLESSNESS - HE HAD THE
OPPORTUNITY TO RULE THIS NATION
BUT WILLFULLY GAVE UP THE CHANCE...*that isn't something we see
these days... ...to be human is beautiful...

Don't Just view, reply and say something about this great Nigeria

Who cares.