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| Sir Amadu Bello |
He also held the title of Sardauna of Sokoto. Bello and Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa were major figures in Northern Nigeria pre-independence politics
and both men played major roles in negotiations about the region's place in an
independent Nigeria. As leader of the Northern People's Congress, he was a
dominant personality in Nigerian politics throughout the early Nigerian
Federation and the First Nigerian Republic.
Bello received his education first at the Sokoto Provincial
School, then at Katsina Teacher Training College. Then, he was known as Ahmadu
Rabah. He finished school in 1931 and subsequently became the English master
teacher in Sokoto Middle School
Bello married three wives. His first wife was Hafsatu. He has
three survived children (female) with one wife who was Amina (Goggon Kano). The
first one is Inno, then Aisha and Lubabatu.
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| Sir Amadu Bello |
In 1938, at age 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. The new Sultan immediately made Sir
Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna (Warlord) of Sokoto, an honorary title and promoted
him to the Sokoto Native Authority Council, these titles automatically made him
the Chief Political Adviser to the Sultan. Later, 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 his early 1940s, he joined Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa which would
later become the (Northerner people’s congress),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.
As 'successor-in-waiting' to the throne of the Sultan, he wore the turban. 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
After returning from Britain, he was nominated to represent the
province of Sokoto in the regional House of Assembly. As a member of the
assembly, he was a notable voice for northern interest and embraced a style of
consultation and consensus with the major representatives of the northern
emirates: Kano, Bornu and Sokoto. He was selected among with others as a memebr
of a committee that redrafted the Richards Constitution and he also attended a
general conference in Ibadan. His work at the assembly and in the constitution
drafting committee brought him appreciation in the north and he was asked to
take on leadership positions within Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa. In the first
elections held in Northern Nigeria in 1952, Sir Ahmadu Bello won a seat in the
Northern House of Assembly, and became a member of the regional executive
council as minister of works. Bello was successively minister of Works, of
Local Government, and of Community Development in the Northern Region of
Nigeria.
As World War II drew to an end, Bello became involved in broader
political concerns. In 1945 he assisted in the formation of the Youth Social
Circle in Sokoto, a discussion group of Northern educators and civil servants.
In 1948 this organization affiliated with the newly founded Northern People's
Congress (NPC), originally conceived as a cultural organization but destined to
become the leading political party in Northern Nigeria. Bello became
increasingly active in the NPC and ultimately its president. In 1949 he was
elected by the Sokoto Native Authority to the Northern House of Assembly.
During the 1949-1950 discussions of constitutional reform he
became a leading spokesperson for the Northern view of federal government. In
1952 in the first elections held in Northern Nigeria, he was elected to the
Northern House of Assembly, where he became a member of the regional executive
council and minister of works. In the following year he accepted the regional
portfolio of community development and local government. In 1954 he became the
first premier of Northern Nigeria, a position he held until his death.
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| Legacy |
In 1954, Bello became the first Premier of Northern Nigeria. In
the 1959 independence elections, Bello led the (Northerner People’s Congress),
NPC to win a plurality of the parliamentary seats. Bello's NPC forged an
alliance with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe's NCNC (National Council of Nigeria and the
Cameroons) to form Nigeria's first indigenous federal government which led to
independence from Britain.
Bello as president of the NPC, chose to remain Premier of
Northern Nigeria and devolved the position of Prime Minister of the Federation
to the deputy president of the NPC, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
Death
In 1964 Bello led the (Northerner People’s
Congress) NPC into an alliance with the Nigerian National Democratic Party
(NNDP) of the Western Region. The coalition party, called the Nigerian National
Alliance, won a clear majority in the federal elections of 1964. In the fall of
1965 the NNDP claimed victory in a hotly disputed regional election, and the
Western Region lapsed into chaos.
Amadu Bello's attempt to support his political
allies on this occasion was the immediate, though not sole, cause for an
attempted coup d'etat in January 1966, during which Bello was assassinated.
Bello was assassinated on 15 January 1966 in a coup which
toppled Nigeria's post-independence government. He was still serving as premier
of Northern Nigeria at the time.
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