UpNorthBlog

Sir Ahmadu Bello was born in Rabah, 1910 to the family of Mallam Ibrahim Bello, his father was a district head of Sokoto and he was also a direct descendant of Shehu Uthman Dan Fodio the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, a great-grandson of Sultan Muhammad Bello and grandson of Sultan Atiku na Raba.    He received Islamic education at home where he learnt the Qur'an, Islamic Jurisprudence and the traditions of Muhammad. Like most of his mates he later attended Sokoto Provincial School and the Kastina Training College, during his school days he was known as Ahmadu Rabah. He finished school in 1931 and subsequently became a teacher in Sokoto Middle School.    In 1934, Bello was made the District Head of Rabbah by Sultan Hassan Dan Mu'azu, in 1938 he was promoted to the position of Divisionary Head of Gusua which is in present day Zamfara State. In the same year he tried becoming the Sultan of Sokoto at the age of 28 but he lost to Sir Siddiq Abubakar III who ruled

       Abdulsalami Abubakar GCFR, is a Nigerian statesman and retired army general who served as head of state from 1998-1999, he was also Chief of Defense Staff from 1997-1998. Abubakar, an ethnic Hausa, was born on 13 June 1942 to his father Abubakar Jibrin and mother Fati Kande Mohammed, in Minna, Niger State Nigeria. He joined the army in 1966 as an officer cadet and through the course of his 39 years career Abubakar rose through the ranks to become Chief of Army Staff appointed by General Sani Abacha in 1997. Upon Abacha's death on 8 June 1998, Abubakar held a meeting with the members of the Supreme Military Council where he reluctantly agreed to become the Military President and Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.   A few days after assuming office, Abubakar promised to hold elections to bring back civilian rule within a year. He set up the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appointing former Supreme Court Justi

                          MKO Abiola   Over 7 years into his rule as Military President, Babangida started putting together plans to return to civilian rule in 1992. He removed the ban on political activities and legalized the formulation of political parties and the country adopted a two-party presidential system. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republic Convention (NRC) were formed and Nigerians were urged to join any of the two parties, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, popularly known as MKO Abiola a business tycoon emerged as the presidential candidate of the SDP while Alhaji Bashir Tofa also a business tycoon was the presidential candidate of the SDP. The formation of the Third Republic was full of hope and promise as their was no regionalism, both candidates were Muslims, one from the west and the other from the north and they both needed to win votes from the grassroots upto the federal level in each state.   On 12 June 1993, the presidential el

 Perhaps the most controversial leader in the history of Nigeria, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida GCFR is a retired General and stateman who served as military Head of State from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks from a junior officer to his appointment in 1984 as the Chief of Army Staff, after which he went on to seize power in a bloodless coup from General Muhammadu Buhari.   Babangida was born on 17 August 1941, in Minna to his father Muhammad Babangida and mother Aisha Babangida. He received early Islamic education before attending primary School from 1950 to 1956. From 1957 to 1962 babangida attended Government College Bida, together with his classmate and long-time friends Abdulsalami Abubakar, Mamman Vatsa and Sani Bello. Babangida joined the Nigerian Army on 10 December 1962, where he attended the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna. Babangida attended several military academies and rose to the rank of lieutenant, after which he was p

  A lot of people will only envision the last eight years when Buhari's rule is brought into view, but in 1984/85, Buhari ruled in one of the most memorable two years for Nigerians. 1983 saw the collapse of Nigeria's Second Republic and the military took over with Buhari spear-heading the new military administration. Buhari's regime is definitely one of the most if not the most authoritarian regimes in the history of Nigeria,most of his Decrees were mainly focused on crime but some still served the only purpose of extending his rule.   In Decree Number 2 of 1984, the state security and the Chief of Staff were given the power to detain without charges individuals deemed to be a security risk to the state for up to three months. Strikes and popular demonstrations were banned and Nigeria's security agency, the National Security Organization (NSO) had unlimited powers which they abused just like the now defunct SARS in Buhari's first tenure as President. The

    On 29th July 1975, General Yakubu Gowon was overthrown while attending the 12th summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Kampala, Uganda. After his overthrow the second in charge Murtala Mohammed took over as the new military Head of State, Brig.Obasanjo and Brig.T.Y.Danjuma were appointed Chief of Staff and Chief of Army Staff respectively.   Mohammed was a highly respected member of the Nigerian Army who, as a federalist regretted the first coup that overthrew civilian government in Jan 1966, he was the mastermind of the counter-coup and was temporarily in charge until Gowon his superior took over. In 1975 he overthrew Gowon in a bloodless coup and took over. Murtala Mohammed had a charismatic authority and cult of personality, he ruled with more power than any Nigerian leader before or after him. Also his regime developed from an authoritarian regime to a consensus with Obasanjo and T.Y. Danjuma taking part in decision making, this softened dictatorship a

  Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was born on Nov, 4, 1993, Zungeru Nigeria and died Nov, 26, 2011, London, England. A Nigeria military leader and politician who was head of the secessionist State of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War.   Ojukwu was the son of a wealthy Igbo businessman, after graduating from the University of Oxford in 1955, he returned to Nigeria to serve as an administrative officer. After two years, however, he joined the army and was rapidly promoted thereafter. In January 1966 a group of largely Igbo junior army officers staged a coup that overthrew the civilian government, due to the somewhat unsuccessful coup d'etat the junior officers were forced to hand over power to the highest ranking military officer, Maj.Gen.T.U. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi who then appointed Lieut.Col.Ojukwu as the Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria. However Hausa and Yoruba army officers were scared of a government dominated by the Igbo, therefore in January 1966 northern o

                Lt.Col Yakubu Gowon      Yakubu Dan-Yumma "Jack" Gowon, is a retired Nigerian army general and military leader. An Anglican Christian from a minority tribe Ngas of northern Nigeria, Gowon is a Nigerian nationalist and a believer in the unity and oneness of Nigeria. Gowon's rise to power followed the July 1966 counter-coup and cemented military rule in Nigeria. Consequently, Gowon served for the longest continuous period as Head of State of Nigeria ruling for almost nine years until his overthrow in the coup d'etat of 1975 by Brigadier Murtala Mohammed.    As head of state of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian civil war and delivered the famous "no Victor no vanquished" speech at the end of the war to promote the rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation program. The Nigerian Civil War is listed as one of the deadliest in modern history, with some accusing Gowon of crimes against humanity and genocide. Go

                         Aguiyi Ironsi Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi (3 March 1924-29 July 1966) was a Nigerian military officer who was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He assumed power during the ensuing chaos of the 15th January 1966 coup which effectively ended the first republic. He ruled from 16th January 1966 until his assassination by a group of northern soldiers led by Murtala Mohammed and included Captain Theophilus Danjuma, Lieutenant Sani Abacha, Lieutenant Muhammadu Buhari and Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida. Among these men only one failed to rule Nigeria during the military era, the revolt they led against ironsi's government is known as the July counter coup or the January rematch.   Ironsi's six months in government was characterized by intense scrutiny from northerners, apart from the fact that Igbo victims in the January 15th coup was basically non-existent which drove the suspicion of northerners, the arrowhead of the January co

Aminu Kano, (9 August 1920 - 17 April 1983) was a Muslim politician born at Sudawa, Gwale local government and was a resident of Gwammaja, Dala local government Kano. Aminu Kano has three monumental sites named after him in Kano namely, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and the Aminu Kano College of Islamic Studies.   Aminu Kano was born to the family of an Islamic scholar, Mallam Yusuf who worked at an Alkali court. His father was of the Gyanawa Fulani clan, a lineage who are known for producing judicial scholars. Aminu attended the Kastina College and later earned a scholarship to University of London's Institution of Education, along side seven others including Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria's first and only Prime Minister. After earning his teaching certificate upon finishing Kastina College, he started teaching at the Bauchi training college.   Aminu Kano believed that the faculty of reasoning bestowed upon man

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa KBE (Dec 1912- Jan 1966) a native of Bauchi was Nigeria's first and only Prime Minister. He was a lover of British culture and he favoured maintaining close ties with the British, a move which endeared him to the colonial masters. Sir Abubakar was also a defender of the North's special interest and an advocate of Nigerian unity.    Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day Bauchi State in Northern Nigeria Protectorate. His father Yakubu Dan Zala was a slave who worked in the house of the district head of lere a district within the Bauchi Emirate. Balewa began his education at a Quranic school in Bauchi; during the second British administration, colonial administrators pushed for Northern Nigerian natives to attend elementary school. Therefore after Quranic school Balewa was among the children sent to Tafawa Balewa Elementary School. Like many of his political contemporaries he later studied at Barewa college then known