Ibrahim Tahir (died December 9, 2009) was a Nigerian sociologist, writer, and politician during the Second Republic and a prominent member of the

Kaduna Mafia The Kaduna Mafia ( not a criminal organisation) is a loose group of Nigerian businessmen, civil servants, intellectuals and military officers from Northern Nigeria, who resided or conducted their activities in Kaduna, the former capital of the r ...

. Prior to his entry into politics, he was a sociologist who was renowned for his

traditionalist conservative Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political philosophy, political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which ...

views.

Life

Tahir was born in Tafawa Balewa, and received his early education at Kobi Primary School. In 1954, he attended

Barewa College Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British Governor General Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College. It switched its name to Kaduna College in 1938 and to Government College, ...

graduating in 1958. He then proceeded to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

on a regional government scholarship where he earned a bachelor's and doctorate degree in

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

. In 1967, he took up appointment as a sociology lecturer at

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

. He founded the Gamji club, a social club in honour of Premier

Ahmadu Bello Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto (12 June 1910–15 January 1966), knighted as Sir Ahmadu Bello, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who masterminded Northern Nigeria through the independence of Nigeria in 1960 and served as its first a ...

. At the university, he was considered a foremost conservative who frequently clashed with progressives

Bala Usman Yusufu Bala Usman (1945 – 24 September 2005) was a Nigerian historian and politician, who was one of the scholars who shaped Nigerian historiography. He was the founder of the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training at Ahm ...

and Patrick Wilmot. Following the fall of the First Republic, he advocated for

Northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the United Kingd ...

's core value of respect for constituted authority with progressive values of an

open society Open society (french: société ouverte) is a term coined by French philosopher Henri Bergson in 1932, and describes a dynamic system inclined to moral universalism.Thomas Mautner (2005), 2nd ed. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy'' Open so ...

. In this he shared confidence with a group of Northerners known as the

, who were intellectuals, civil servants and

military officers An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

. In 1978, Tahir was a founding member of the National Party of Nigeria and later became the party secretary. In the Second Republic, he was appointed chairman of the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation and later became communications minister. He later participated in the National Political Reform Conference, and headed the Red Cross Society in Nigeria.

Death

Tahir died on December 8, 2009, in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

following a protracted illness.

Works

* ''The Last Imam'' (1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahir, Ibrahim 2009 deaths People from Bauchi State Year of birth missing Nigerian politicians Nigerian writers Barewa College alumni Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Academic staff of Ahmadu Bello University