Sa'adu Zungur (1915 - 1958) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician and poet who was among early scholars in

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 British No ...

to call for the reform of the society through education during colonial rule.

Early life and education

Zungur was born in 1915 in

Bauchi Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plate ...

. His father was the Limamin Bauchi. He began his elementary schooling at Bauchi Primary School in 1926 and attended Katsina Higher College in 1929. Zungur was at Yaba Technical College in

Lagos Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 f ...

in 1934.

Career

After leaving Yaba Technical College in

, Zungur became a teacher at the Kano School of Hygiene until 1940 and then at the Zaria School of Pharmacy where he became the head of the school in 1941. While in Zaria, he formed a Zaria Friendly Society and formed a close friendship and alliance with Aminu Kano. He returned to Bauchi after falling ill with lung sickness.

Politics

While at Bauchi, Zungur together with

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence. Early life Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day ...

Aminu Kano Aminu Kano (9 August 1920 — 17 April 1983) was a Muslim politician from Nigeria born at Sudawa, Gwale Local Government and resided at Gwammaja, Dala Local Government. In the 1940s he led a socialist movement in the northern part of the ...

and some Northern elites formed the Bauchi General Improvement Association, one of the first political organisation in Northern Nigeria. In 1949 Aminu kano and Tafawa Balewa were among the founders of the Northern People's Congress (NPC) which dominated the governments of the Northern region and of the Federation. The Bauchi General Improvement Association was an avenue for Zungur to express his radical views, opposed to the Emir's autocracy and the British indirect rule system. He called for modernisation through adoption of Western Education. Although Zungur never recovered his health fully, he entered nationalist party politics at an early stage and was a member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). In 1948 he was elected as General Secretary by the NCNC under the presidency of Dr Nnamdi Azikwe. Zungur worked in this post for a short time in Lagos and later joined the Jami'yyar Mutanen Arewa in 1949, the organisation which became the NPC, because he believed the NCNC was neglecting North's peculiar problems. He later left NCPC and worked for Aminu Kano's Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU).

Later life and death

Being too ill to play important role in Northern Nigeria's politics, Zungur remained influential behind the scenes for a while longer and was also a known poet. He died on 28 January 1958 before the independence of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

in 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zungur, Sa'adu 1915 births 1958 deaths People from Bauchi State People from colonial Nigeria Yaba Higher College alumni 20th-century Nigerian politicians Nigerian schoolteachers National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons politicians