Amazing Borno

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OUR HEROES:- LATE ALHAJI WAZIRI KYARI MOHAMMED ...... - 22nd OCTOBER, 2005Alhaji Waziri Kyari Mohammed (often referred t...
02/07/2025

OUR HEROES:- LATE ALHAJI WAZIRI KYARI MOHAMMED ...... - 22nd OCTOBER, 2005

Alhaji Waziri Kyari Mohammed (often referred to as Waziri Mohammed) was a distinguished Nigerian public servant and business leader who made significant contributions to the country's railway infrastructure.

Late Waziri Mohammed’s tenure at the helm of the Nigerian Railway Corporation is remembered for vigor, visionary leadership, and a deep commitment to national service. His sudden death in 2005 cut short a promising mission to uplift Nigeria’s railways. The renaming of Apapa Station in his honor stands as a testament to his enduring impact.

Detail Information.-

Position: Chairman of Nigerian Railway Corporation.

Tenure: 2001 until his death in 2005

Known for: Nationwide railway assessments; passionate public-service leadership.

Station named in his honor: Apapa Railway Station (later contested renaming).

State of origin: Borno State.

Tribe: Kanuri.

Death:- 22 October 2005, Bellview Flight 210 crash near Lisa, Ogun State.
Legacy: Remembered as a visionary. whose early reforms drove railway revival.

Early Career & Leadership:-

Appointed Chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) (aka Railway Board) in 2001, under Nigerian Presidency Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. His selection — as an influential PEOPLE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PDP figure — was celebrated as a potential game-changer for the rail sector.

A passionate reformer, he personally embarked on nationwide railway tours to assess infrastructure and engage with state leaders, aiming to catalyze modernization.

His leadership was widely praised. Railway workers highlighted his "unquenchable passion and enthusiasm for a better railway and happier workers," noting that his vision brought rail transport to national prominence.

🎖️ Legacy & Recognition:-

Posthumously, his contributions were honored: Apapa Railway Station was renamed "Waziri Mohammed Railway Station" in his memory. In 2020, railway workers petitioned to retain the name after it was reassigned .

Colleagues remember him as a “visionary leader” and a tireless advocate for railway modernization.

✈️ Tragic Death:-

On 22 October 2005, Waziri Mohammed was aboard Bellview Airlines Flight 210 traveling from Lagos to Abuja. The Boeing 737-200 crashed near Lisa Village, Ogun State, killing all 117 people on board — including Waziri, other dignitaries such as the Post Master-General Abubakar Musa Argungu, and ECOWAS Deputy Secretary-General Cheick Oumar Diarra .

Investigations were hampered by looting and inability to recover the flight recorders. Though sabotage and in-flight fire were considered, no conclusive cause was established, and no explosive residue was found.

Some speculated a political motive, suggesting the crash was orchestrated to prevent his ascent in national politics, but no proof emerged.

May ALJANNATU FIRDUS BE HIS FINAL ABODE. AMEEN

👏

OUR HEROES:- ENGR. MUSTAPHA BULAMA 1954 - 2012Engr Mustapha Bulama was a Civil/Structural Engineer with outstanding acad...
25/06/2025

OUR HEROES:- ENGR. MUSTAPHA BULAMA 1954 - 2012

Engr Mustapha Bulama was a Civil/Structural Engineer with outstanding academic background and experience that spans 32 years. He had his Civil Engineering Degree from Ahmadu Bello University in 1977 and M.sc in Structural Engineering, Imperial College London.

He was a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and a past President of the Society. He served as a member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He has served as the Chairman of Regulation and Control, Education and Training of COREN Committees.

Late Mustapha Bulama brought global standards of engineering to Nigeria through elite education, leadership, and unwavering service. As NSE President, COREN leader, and WFEO committee member, he shaped regulations, infrastructure, capacity building, and professional education.

Professional Career & Achievements

Early Career:

Served his NYSC and initial professional years at Etteh Aro & Partners (1978–1982), a firm renowned for structural consulting .

Consultancy Experience:
After earning his Master’s, he founded his own consultancy and was responsible for major projects, including:

Structural design for National Hospital Abuja (1996);

Rehabilitation schemes under the Petroleum Trust Fund (1996);

Multi-storey buildings for Nigerian Labour Congress, Unity Bank, Federal Mortgage Bank in Abuja;

Bridges in Abuja’s Jahi and Kafe districts (2003–2007);

Concept work for the dualization of the Kano–Maiduguri highway (600 km).

International Involvement:

Represented Nigeria on the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Capacity Building Committee, based at UNESCO, Paris .

**Vision 2010 Committee:**

Appointed in 1996 for national development roadmap.

Personal Life & Legacy

Honors & Recognitions:

Awarded national honour (OON) and recognized for professional excellence and patriotism .

Reputation:

Known for personal financial support to NSE activities and uncompromising integrity .

Passing:

Passed away in Egypt (May 2012) and was laid to rest in Maiduguri. His death was widely mourned by fellow engineers, including tributes from COREN and NSE officials calling him “a great patriot… selfless and committed to engineering” .

Survived by his wife, seven children, and brothers interalia Arch Waziri Bulama

OUR HEROES:- LAMINU NJITIYA  ....- 1871  Laminu Njitiya was a 19th-century Shuwa Arab aristocrat who served as an influe...
18/03/2025

OUR HEROES:- LAMINU NJITIYA ....- 1871

Laminu Njitiya was a 19th-century Shuwa Arab aristocrat who served as an influential adviser to Umar bin Muhammad al-Kanemi, the Shehu of Bornu. He was often described as the most powerful figure in Bornu during the second reign of Umar (1854 to 1881).

Initially a highway bandit, Laminu became a follower of influential courtiers of the Shehu, including Mallam Tirab, and later his son, al-Hajj Bashir. As the chief assistant of Bashir, he was infamous for carrying out the dirty work of his master, which he did with ruthless efficiency. After Bashir's death in 1853, Laminu became Umar's closest adviser. This position granted him considerable influence and wealth in Bornu. He was known for his competence as an administrator and is remembered as the greatest 19th-century fief-holder in Magumeri.

Laminu Njitiya was of mixed Shuwa Arab and Kanembu descent. He began his career as a highwayman in Magumeri, a fief of Mallam Tirab, an influential adviser to Muhammad al-Kanemi, the Shehu of Bornu. Njitiya eventually abandoned banditry to follow Mallam Tirab and quickly rose through the ranks of Tirab's large following. After Mallam Tirab's death in 1846, his son al-Hajj Bashir succeeded him on the Shehu's council, inheriting Tirab's influence and followers, including Njitiya.

Laminu became the most trusted companion of al-Hajj Bashir, who appointed him as Wakil (chief assistant). Bashir frequently relied on Laminu for executing his dirty work, which he performed with "complete loyalty and ruthless efficiency." Dr Heinrich Barth, a German explorer who visited Bornu in the 1850s, described Laminu as the "shameless left hand of the Vizier," condemning him for his "hard-heartedness and total want of gentle feelings."

Bashir became a very influential member of Shehu Umar's council, eventually assuming the role of Waziri (Vizier). Shehu Umar's dependence on Bashir granted him immense power, which drew animosity from the other courtiers, particularly Abdurrahman, Umar's brother, who wanted to become Shehu. This tension led to open conflict in November 1853, forcing the Shehu to impose a curfew in Kukawa, Bornu's capital. Laminu was tasked with enforcing it, leading a contingent of the Waziri's slaves and followers. While carrying out this assignment, he got involved in a skirmish with the supporters of Abdurrahman, suffering a broken hand.

This skirmish further escalated the discontent in Kukawa. The two factions eventually clashed in battle, resulting in a defeat for the Shehu's faction. Consequently, Abdurrahman was quickly installed as Shehu, while Bashir fled the capital, and Laminu went into hiding.

The reign of Abdurrahman was very short. After he killed al-Hajj Bashir, his courtiers eventually came to despise his rule, viewing him as a tyrant. Since the main objection to Umar's rule was his reliance on Bashir, who was now dead, the courtiers launched another coup, leading to Umar's restoration as Shehu in early September 1854.

After Abdurrahman was deposed, Laminu returned to Kukawa to serve directly under Shehu Umar. Laminu grew close to Umar and eventually became a member of his council. Following the death of al-Hajj Bashir, Abdurrahman had confiscated his properties and slaves, but after Umar's return to power, Laminu was granted a large portion of Bashir's fief, leaving only a few villages to Abba Salih, Bashir's younger brother. This reward was given in recognition of Laminu's loyalty and exceptional leadership abilities.

Due to his growing wealth, Laminu amassed a large following, consisting mostly of former supporters of al-Hajj Bashir. Contrary to his reputation during his time doing Bashir's dirty work, Laminu became very popular in Kukawa. He was known for his competence as an administrator and is remembered in Magumeri as its greatest 19th-century fief-holders, with the district's population more than doubling under his leadership. He led several expeditions, which resulted in the Bornu army conquering large portions of the Marghi country, located to the south of the kingdom.

Laminu's popularity, combined with Shehu Umar's confidence in him, made Laminu one of the most powerful and effective leaders in Bornu. Although he became as influential as his former master before his death, he seemed to have managed to handle it better. Despite having powerful enemies, he always maintained a larger number of friends.

Laminu died on 4 February 1871. 4 February 1871. Gustav Nachtigal, a German explorer who was in Kukawa at the time, considered his death a great calamity for Bornu and for Umar who had lost his only 'honest adviser'.

According to Nachtigal, Laminu left an estate of: "several thousand slaves, nearly 1,000 stallions and many broodmares, some thousand head of cattle, 27 rooms with stores of cloth and other market goods, about 1,000 swords, 500 shields, several hundred muskets and carbines, 200 coats of mail and 20,000 Maria Theresa dollars in cash."



NOTE:
Brenner, Louis (1973). The Shehus of Kukawa : a history of the Al-Kanemi dynasty of Bornu. Internet Archive. Oxford : Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821681-0.

OUR HEROES:- AFAKRIYA ADUWA GADZAMA mni  1953  - TO DATE Afakriya Aduwa Gadzama was born on 22 November 1953 at Lassa in...
10/03/2025

OUR HEROES:- AFAKRIYA ADUWA GADZAMA mni 1953 - TO DATE

Afakriya Aduwa Gadzama was born on 22 November 1953 at Lassa in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. He attended Barewa College, Zaria from (1968–1972), then School of Basic studies Zaria. He later proceeded to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree (BA) in Political Science (1977). In 2001, Gadzama attended the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies(NIPSS) Kuru, Jos.

Gadzama started his career in 1978 with the Ministry of Finance in Borno State and transferred to the National Security Organization as a Principal Officer in 1984. He rose through the ranks of the NSO and the subsequent State Security Service which was carved out of the NSO when it was dissolved.

Director of Security, Plateau State (1989–1991)
Director of Security, Federal Capital Territory (1991–1993)
Director of Security, Kaduna (1993–1997)
Director of Operations, SSS National Headquarters (1997–1998)
Director of Programmes, SSS National Headquarters 1999
Director of Intelligence (2001–2002)
Director of Operations (2002–2003)
Director of Administration and Logistics, National Headquarters (2004–2005)
Director of Corporate Services, National Headquarters (2006–2007).

Gadzama served as the Director General, SSS between 2007 and 2010.

On December 16, 2019, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Gadzama as the Chairman of the National Institute Policy and Security Studies.



NOTE:
Vanguard News Nigeria Newspaper. Retrieved 14 January 2020

OUR HEROES:- ALI CHIROMA OON 1933 - 2024Ali Chiroma OON mni (27 February 1933– 2 April 2024) was a Nigerian trade unioni...
05/03/2025

OUR HEROES:- ALI CHIROMA OON 1933 - 2024

Ali Chiroma OON mni (27 February 1933– 2 April 2024) was a Nigerian trade unionist who was president of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) from 1984 to 1988. He was forced out of the position by the military government when it dissolved the union in 1988. During Abacha's regime, he was brought back into labour matters as the sole administrator of NUPENG.

Chiroma spent his early years in Maiduguri, Borno State. He attended Yerwa Elementary School and Borno Middle School (1945–1949). He trained as a medical field assistant and worked in Jalingo and Mubi. In 1977, he was principal School of Health Technology, Maiduguri. Chiroma joined trade unionism at the age of seventeen and was president of the Rural Health Workers Union in 1960. In 1978, after many smaller trade unions were coalesced into forty two industrial unions, Chiroma became deputy president of the Medical and Health Workers' Union of Nigeria. At the NLC congress in 1981, he was voted as the union's deputy president. He was voted president in 1984, succeeding Hassan Sunmonu.

As president, one major responsibility of Chiroma was to keep the union united as NLC like many of its predecessors was split into ideological groups pulling it in different directions and a military president was beginning to influence some union leaders. Chiroma's tenure began at the onset of a change in government from a democratic administration that was ended by a military coup in December 1983. He had the difficult task of managing the union while austerity measures provided reason for workers to be sacked without adherence to disengagement rules and wages were frozen by the new military administration. As head of the central working committee of NLC, he was also involved in protest concerning changes in minimum wage regulations and acceptance of IMF loan terms. In 1986, a new military president proposed changes to the minimum wage act that will increase the employee threshold for businesses to be bound by the act, the proposed change was from employers with 50 employees to a new threshold of 500 employees. NLC developed a consistent campaign against the amendment with threats of a national strike which led the proposal to be shelved. However, his tenure was more known for the protest against the removal of fuel subsidy. The adoption of a structural adjustment programme (SAP) by President Babangida which favored market forces meant subsidies for fuel consumption was likely to be removed. Chiroma's NLC coordinated rallies with state chapters in protest against the removal of subsidies while Chiroma criticized and opposed many of the elements of SAP. In December 1987, leadership of NLC were detained and the government increased pressure on NLC to withdraw its opposition to the elements of SAP. In 1988, division within the NLC provided the opportunity for the government to disband the leadership and elect a sole administrator.

Chiroma died on 2 April 2024, at the age of 91.



NOTE:

Agbese, rew; Ahmadu-Suka, Maryam; Mustapha, Hafsat; Kaduna (8 October 2017). "Reminiscences with Comrade Ali Chiroma". Retrieved 12 January 2019.

OUR HEROES:- PROF. ABDULLAHI MAHADI 1945 - 2022Prof. Abdullahi Mahadi CON (December 1945 – 16 December 2022) was a histo...
05/03/2025

OUR HEROES:- PROF. ABDULLAHI MAHADI 1945 - 2022

Prof. Abdullahi Mahadi CON (December 1945 – 16 December 2022) was a historian, an accomplished educationist, and former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Gombe State University. He is also a former Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU).

Abdullahi Mahadi from Gwoza, Borno State was born in December I945. He started his education at Warrabe Primary School. He went on to attend Gwoza Centthe School, Government Craft School, Maiduguri.

He attended Mubi Teachers’ College for his secondary education and the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in History and subsequently MSc and Ph.D in the same field.

He began his teaching career at Gadamayo Primary School, Gwoza, 1967 as an Assistant Headmaster. He was appointed Headmaster, Hambagda Primary School in 1968 and Assistant Education Officer by the North-Eastern Government in 1971.

Abdullahi Mahadi began his lecturing career in 1984 as a senior lecturer in History at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He served the university in several capacities.

Between 1998-2004, he served as Vice Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was subsequently appointed as pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Gombe State University; and Gombe state university of science and technology.

Professor Mahadi was honored at the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Headquarters, Rabat, Morocco in 2017 by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on “The Environmental Management and Protection in the Islamic World”.

His son, Professor Musa Abdullahi Mahadi is the current Director, Division of Agricultural Colleges (DAC), Ahmadu Bello University.

He has authored and Co-authored several books among which is History of Nigeria for Schools and Colleges, Books I-II, (Longman, 1988). His hobbies include reading and jogging.

Prof. Abdullahi Mahdi was instrumental in the greening of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and the ecological transformation of the institution.

A lover of nature, ABU Zaria, Gombe State University, and Gombe State University of Science and Technology remains his environmental babies that he nurses simultaneously.

His legacy at ABU has taken root with many followers. Prof Abdullahi Mahadi has created a zoological garden at Gombe State University and this has attracted many lovers of nature.

During his reign, the Universities were turned to be the best in Nigeria in terms of Environmental Beautification and Discipline. The Universities were made to be a reference point for all other Universities at that time from within and outside Nigeria to come and see for themselves how a University should look like.

He said, “On several occasions, Universities send their delegates to him with the aim of copying the beautiful environment and lecture them on how he achieved it”. Even as of today ABU and GSU stand tall in terms of Environmental Beautification.

Mahadi died in Gombe on December 16, 2022. Aged 77. His funeral prayer according to Islamic rites took place at the Gombe Central Masjid, the emir's palace Gombe.

NOTE:
Adeolu (2017-03-10). "MAHADI, Prof. Abdullahi". Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022

OUR HEROES:- AISHA BELLO MUSTAPHA 1966 - 2023Aisha Bello Mustapha (born 1966 in Maiduguri, Borno State – died 11 Decembe...
03/03/2025

OUR HEROES:- AISHA BELLO MUSTAPHA 1966 - 2023

Aisha Bello Mustapha (born 1966 in Maiduguri, Borno State – died 11 December 2023) was a Nigerian media personality and television journalist. She worked as a correspondent for Nigeria Television Authority for over 35 years. Aisha was a popular face on the local television network in the 1990s and 2000s.

Aisha Bello acquired a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication and Media Studies from Ahmadu Bello University.

Aisha Bello worked at the Nigerian Television Authority for 35 years as a journalist, television production, broadcaster, editor, the assistant director of news and later as the general manager of NTA Parliamentary where she retired in May 2022.

Aisha Bello died in December 2023. Her legacy in broadcast journalism lives on in the rich news archives she leaves behind and the contributions she made to the development of broadcasting in Nigeria. She brought news to life and will continue to be a beacon to inspire generations in the beautiful art of broadcasting.

In a statement, President Tinubu said, "She brought news to life and will continue to be a beacon to inspire generations in the beautiful art of broadcasting."

OUR HEROES:- IBRAHIM ABATCHA 1938 - 1968Ibrahim Abatcha (1938 – February 11, 1968) was a Chadian revolutionary and polit...
02/03/2025

OUR HEROES:- IBRAHIM ABATCHA 1938 - 1968

Ibrahim Abatcha (1938 – February 11, 1968) was a Chadian revolutionary and political leader who played a key role in the early stages of armed resistance against the government of Chad. Abatcha was a Marxist-Leninist activist. His political activity started during the decolonization process of Chad from France, but after the country's independence he was forced to go into exile. While in exile, he was one of the founders of the Front de Libération Nationale du Tchad (FROLINAT), an organization established in 1966 to oppose the rule of President François Tombalbaye.

Abatcha was Influenced by socialist and anti-colonial movements. He sought to unite various opposition factions in Chad to fight against perceived government corruption, ethnic discrimination, and neocolonial influence. Under his leadership, FROLINAT launched guerrilla operations against government forces, marking the beginning of a prolonged insurgency in Chad. Abatcha was killed in combat in 1968, but his ideas and movement continued to shape Chadian politics, influencing insurgent groups and conflicts in the country.

Originally from Borno (a province of the British colony of Nigeria), Abatcha was born into a family with a Muslim background in the French colony of Chad at Fort-Lamy (today N'Djamena) in 1938, and learned to speak French, English and Chadian Arabic, but not to write Classical Arabic, as he did not study in a Qur'anic school. He found work as a clerk in the colonial administration and became a militant trade unionist.

He entered in to politics in 1958, becoming a prominent figure in the new radical Chadian National Union (UNT), mainly a split from the African Socialist Movement (MSA) by promoters of the No-vote in the referendum on Chad's entry in the French Community. The party's followers were all Muslims, and advocated Pan-Africanism and socialism.Towards the end of the colonial rule Abatcha was jailed for a year either for his political activities or for mismanagement in the performance of his duties.

He and his party staunchly opposed after independence in 1960 the rule of President François Tombalbaye, and the UNT was banned with all other opposition parties on January 19, 1962. After that Abatcha was briefly imprisoned by the new Chadian government.

After his release, the UNT cadres decided that if the political situation in Chad became too unbearable to allow the party to survive, it would be wise to send some party members out of the country so that the organization would in any case maintain its existence. Thus Abatcha, who held the position of second adjutant secretary-general of the UNT, was sent in 1963 to Accra, Ghana, where he was later joined by UNT members Aboubakar Djalabo and Mahamat Ali Taher. By going into exile the UNT members also meant to ensure their personal safety and organize abroad an armed revolt in Chad.
Abartcha proclaimed the Islamic Republic of Chad in exile and wrote and published a Maoist-oriented political statement entitled Toward a United National Liberation Front, which will serve as a kind of draft of the official program of the future FROLINAT. In this statement Abatcha declared class war, war against Tombalbaye, against Western imperialism and against French neocolonialism and called for the Islamic revolution.

Abatcha led the typical life of the Third World dissident in search of support in foreign capitals, first residing in Accra, Ghana, where he received his first military training and made friends among members of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon that had found asylum there. These Cameroonians helped him attend conferences organized by international Communist groups.

After leaving Accra in 1965, Abatcha started wandering to other African capitals always searching support for his project of beginning an insurgency against Tombalbaye. The first capital he reached in 1965 was Algiers, where the UNT had already a representative, probably Djalabo. His attempts were unsuccessful, as were those made from there to persuade the Chadian students in France to join him in his fight. From there he traveled to Cairo, where a small secret committee of anti-government Chadian students of the Al-Azhar University had formed. The students in Cairo had developed a strong political sensitivity because they had come to resent that the degrees obtained by them in Arab countries were of no use in Chad, as French was the only official language. Among these students Abatcha recruited his first supporters, and with the help of the UPC Cameroonian exiles contacted the North Korean embassy in Egypt, which offered him a military stage. Seven Cairo students volunteered, leaving Egypt in June 1965 and returning in October; these were to be with Abatcha the first military cadres of the rebels. Abatcha with his "Koreans" went then to Sudan in October 1965.

Once in Sudan Abatcha found fertile ground for further recruitment, as many Chadian refugees lived there. Abatcha was also able to enroll in his movement former Sudanese soldiers, including a few officers, of whom the most distinguished was to become Hadjaro Senoussi. He also contacted Mohamed Baghlani, who was in communication with the first Chadian insurgents already active in Chad, and with the insurgent group Liberation Front of Chad (FLT).

This merger was negotiated during the congress at Nyala between June 19 and June 22, 1966, in which the UNT and another rebel force, the Liberation Front of Chad (FLT) combined, giving birth to the FROLINAT, whose first secretary-general was agreed to be Abatcha. The two groups were ideologically ill-fitted, as they combined the radicalism of the UNT and the Muslim beliefs of the FLT. FLT's president, Ahmed Hassan Musa, missed the conference because he was imprisoned in Khartoum; Musa suspected with some reason that Abatcha had deliberately chosen the moment of his incarceration to organize the conference due to his fear of FLT's numerical superiority over the UNT. As a result, once freed Musa broke with the FROLINAT, the first of many splits that were to plague the history of the organization. Thus Abatcha had to face from the beginning a level of considerable internal strife, with the opposition guided by the anti-communist Mohamed Baghlani.

The unity was stronger on the field, with Abatcha and his so-called Koreans passing to Eastern Chad in mid-1966 to fight the government, and El Hadj Issaka assuming the role of his chief of staff. While his maquis were badly trained and equipped, they were able to commit some hit-and-run attacks against the Chadian army, mainly in Ouaddai, but also in Guera and Salamat. The rebels also toured the villages, indoctrinating the people on the future revolution and exhorting youths to join the FROLINAT forces.

The following year Abatcha expanded his range and number of operations, officially claiming in his dispatches 32 actions, involving prefectures previously untouched by the rebellion, that is Moyen -Chari and Kanem. Mainly due to Abatcha's qualities as both secretary-general and field-commander, what had started in 1965 as a peasant uprising was becoming a revolutionary movement.

On January 20, 1968, his men killed on the Goz Beida-Abéché road a Spanish veterinary and a French doctor, while they took hostage a French nurse. Abatcha disavowed this action and ordered his men to free the nurse, but due to these actions, on February 11, he was tracked down by the Chadian army and killed in a clash.

Abatcha's death was the end of an important phase in the history of the FROLINAT and more generally of the rebellion. Abatcha had been the one generally acceptable leader of the insurrection; after him the FROLINAT was more and more divided by inner rivalries, making it more difficult to provide the insurgents with a coherent organization.

OUR HEROES:- MUHAMMADU MAI MAINA OON 1874 - 1964Muhammadu Mai Maina OON (1874–1964) was the first chief of Askira. He wo...
27/02/2025

OUR HEROES:- MUHAMMADU MAI MAINA OON 1874 - 1964

Muhammadu Mai Maina OON (1874–1964) was the first chief of Askira. He worked as an interpreter for the Northern Nigeria colonial government from 1895 to 1913, when he was appointed Chief of the Margi District in Bornu. In 1917, he resigned from this position and worked as a trader in Potiskum. Later, he founded the town of Askira and was appointed its chief in 1921, a position he held for over forty years. In 1958, he published Labarin Maimaina Na Jega, Sarkin Askira, a memoir about his early career as an interpreter. In 1961, he became a member of the Northern Region House of Chiefs.

Mai Maina was born in Jega in 1874. His father, Yerima Abdu, was the grandson of the chief of Gimbana, Abdussalam, and a descendant of Abdullahi dan Fodio, the founder of the Gwandu Emirate. His mother, Salamatu, was the daughter of the chief of Lokoja, Abbega, a Marghi man who was noted traveller who had accompanied Dr. Heinrich Barth on his exploration of West Africa. Mai Maina's father died shortly after his birth. His mother took him back to Lokoja, where he was brought up by his grandfather Abbega.

In 1894, Mai Maina was taken as a servant by a military officer of the Royal Niger Company. He was one of the few servants employed by the company at the time. Because to his knowledge of English, Nupe, and Hausa, he was employed as an interpreter for the company. His first assignment in this role was during the company's war on Bida in January 1897, which was the Royal Niger Company's first military campaign against the emirs of the Sokoto Caliphate.

On Abbega's recommendation, Mai Maina was selected for a reconnaissance mission to Kano. His task was to determine if the Emir of Kano had a "well-disciplined army" and to "discover whether, as was said, he had sent some of his slaves to Lokoja to join the army there who, after their training, had returned to Kano and were now instructing the Emir's men in the arts of European warfare." He arrived in Kano in 1901 disguised as an itinerant trader. He stayed with a longtime friend who lived in the city. This friend introduced him to the Wambai of Kano, Mahmuda, who was the brother of the Emir, Aliyu Babba. After trading his goods with the Wambai, Mai Maina befriended him. Upon completing his assignment, he concluded that the Emir "certainly had a lot of rifles but no disciplined army.

On his way back to Lokoja, Mai Maina received a letter from Abbega instructing him to travel to Bornu to meet Major Augustus McClintock, an early political officer in Bornu. McClintock had been directed by Frederick Lugard, Governor of Northern Nigeria, to contact Fadl-Allah, a son of the Sudanese warlord Rabeh az-Zubayr, who was the ruler of Bornu. After his father's death, Fadl-Allah was seeking to collaborate with the British to retake Bornu. Following the meeting, Mai Maina returned to Kano, where he was informed to go back to Bornu and meet Colonel Thomas Morland in Dikwa.

In 1902, Mai Maina continued his work as an interpreter in Bornu. He accompanied the colonial officers to Mafoni to meet the Shehu of Bornu, Abubakar Garbai, to formally recognise him as Emir of British Bornu. Afterwards, Mai Maina assisted in relocating the town of Mafoni to a site slightly south of the old one, where a new settlement was constructed. They also built a fort and two large houses, which later became the first Government Residential Area (GRA) in Maiduguri. Soon after, the first colonial political officers in the Bornu province, namely W P Hewby, Captain G C R Mundy, and Mr. Burdett, arrived in Mafoni.

Meanwhile, Shehu Garbai moved to Monguno, which served as his temporary capital. The Shehu inherited Rabeh's massive armoury, which in 1895 was the largest in West Africa.Hewby ordered the Shehu to surrender the weapons, to which the Shehu initially agreed. However, some of his high-ranking officials convinced him to ignore the order. According to Mai Maina, upon hearing this, he immediately went to the Shehu's 'nearest confidants' and warned them against rebelling against the British, arguing that even Rabeh had failed to defeat them. He then reported the situation to Hewby. The Shehu eventually surrendered the guns to Hewby.

Mai Maina accompanied the colonial officials in the Bornu to establish British control on the newly established province. This involved touring the province and 'pacifying' the inhabitants, including the Emirate of Fika and the formidable Chibuk people. He also witnessed the Battle of Burmi where Muhammadu Attahiru, the last independent Sultan of Sokoto, was killed by the British in 1903.

Mai Maina remained in Bornu, continuing his work with the colonial government. During his time there, the Kanuri inhabitants gave him the nicknames Mai Maina, meaning 'king-prince,' and Maina Turjiman, meaning 'prince of interpreters.' In 1913, the Resident of Bornu, Hewby, with whom Mai Maina had worked closely, retired and returned to Britain. Soon after, Mai Maina also left government service and was made Chief of the Margi District. This district was notoriously unsafe due to the Chibuk raiders. A senior administrator touring the area in 1916 described Mai Maina as "one of the most efficient natives I have ever had to do business with.

In 1917, the Margi District was reduced to a complex of mostly Chibuk villages after the colonial government decided that the Shehu of Bornu had legitimate traditional claims over some of the more important Margi villages in the district. Refusing this demotion, Mai Maina resigned his position as chief and retired to Potiskum in Fika to become a trader.

In 1921, after the boundary between the Bornu and Yola provinces was adjusted, a new district was created, and Mai Maina was appointed its chief. To build the headquarters, he selected a site in the bush about thirty-five miles northeast of Garkida. Upon its completion, he named the town Askira, derived from the Arabic root 'shukr,' meaning 'thankfulness.' He was installed as Sarkin Askira ('chief of Askira') on 2 February 1922.

In 1961, Mai Maina became a member of the Northern Region House of Chiefs. He died in 1964, shortly after his ninetieth birthday.

NOTE:

Kirk-Greene, A. H. M. (Anthony Hamilton Millard) (1971). West African travels and adventures; two autobiographical narratives from Northern Nigeria. Internet Archive. New Haven, Yale University Press.

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