Audu Bako: Recollections of a loyal police orderly
Police Commissioner Manya Dogo’s book on his benefactor, Commissioner of Police Audu Bako, the pioneer Military Governor of Kano State, 1967-1975, is a testimony of diligent research and abiding loyalty. The book took over 45 years to write, as in the words of the author, ‘weaving information from memory, archival materials, literature, and other sources […]
Police Commissioner Manya Dogo’s book on his benefactor, Commissioner of Police Audu Bako, the pioneer Military Governor of Kano State, 1967-1975, is a testimony of diligent research and abiding loyalty. The book took over 45 years to write, as in the words of the author, ‘weaving information from memory, archival materials, literature, and other sources into a book, however, took longer than I had expected.’
General Yakubu Gowon, Head of State 1966-75, who appointed Bako to the gubernatorial seat, wrote the foreword, and a host of Governor Bako’s cabinet members and civil servants who had worked closely with him contributed to the book with their insights into how the governor functioned and why he succeeded. There were also lavish tributes from the more recent governors of both Kano and Jigawa states, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Ibrahim Shekarau, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, Abba Kabir Yusuf and Umar Namadi.
Destiny brought them together when, in July 1966, Manya Dogo was selected to be Bako’s orderly. Manya was a constable, and Bako was already an Assistant Commissioner of Police. When Bako was appointed governor, a year later, he retained Manya as his orderly and kept him till the end of his tenure. Manya was with Bako day in and day out, and it is from this vantage position that he was able to observe, record and recall all Bako’s doings as governor and what befell him after.
According to Manya’s accounts, one of the first things Bako did to signal he would have a successful tenure was to quickly assemble an inclusive, broad-based cabinet. He took representatives from the two antagonistic political parties, the NPC and NEPU. Stalwarts like Maitama Sule and Sani Gezawa from NPC and Tanko Yakasai from NEPU came on board. Bako also picked commissioners from representatives of the traditional rulers, such as Muhammadu Magajin Garin Kazaure and Muhtari Sarkin Bai, as well as from the business community, Aminu Dantata and Baba Danbaffa. It was a shrewd mix that enabled the governor to effectively mobilise the community, particularly in support of the ongoing civil war.
With the war over, the cabinet supported him in pursuing many development projects that still survive today. Manya depicts his boss as a restless workaholic, the can-do type who was always on the move. Even before becoming governor, besides the official police work, Audu Bako was a big-time farmer and hunter. As governor, he laid emphasis on building infrastructure for the budding state – he had his fingers in every pie, be it building dams, roads, schools, hospitals, irrigation projects, or hotels and zoos. He built both the Bagauda and Tiga Dams, and 20 other smaller ones spread across the state, with a view to providing water for citizens’ consumption and all-year-round farming.
In the picturesque surroundings of Bagauda Lake, Bako built a resplendent resort that became one of the best in the country, attracting tourists from within and outside the country. That, along with Daula Hotel and the inimitable Magwan Water Restaurant in Kano City, made the state attractive to visitors. He built roads and provided streetlights in Kano City. He built hospitals and health centres across the state. His imprints were everywhere, in building schools, oil mills, textiles, flour mills, forestry woodlots, cattle ranches, abattoirs, etc. He initiated the Kano State Development Plan 1970-75, which faithfully implemented the projects he had in mind.
Manya’s book also covered what happened to Governor Bako at the end of his tenure. Bako was retired, along with his governor colleagues, as a result of the July 1975 coup. He lost his commission and was divested of all his properties, including the farms and houses he had before becoming governor. He had neither gratuity nor pension. It was a blighted, inglorious end to an otherwise brilliant police career and impactful tenure as governor. Manya visited him at his abode at Dan Marke, where Bako had an undeveloped farm, the only property that the new government allowed him to keep. He found him broken in spirit.
Manya wrote: ‘- -the base cruelty of his victimisation moved me to tears. I was gutted by the manner in which he was treated after thirty years of service to the nation, and over eight years of meritorious service to the people of Kano State. We both wept at his ill-treatment and the manner in which the new regime haunted him out of Kano, to Kaduna, and then to Dan Marke.’ Reprieve was a long way to come to Audu Bako, and unfortunately, it didn’t come during his lifetime. He succumbed to death in 1980. In due course, government after government cleared him of wrongdoing, leading to the rehabilitation of his name and the restoration of his commission, dues, and properties.
From my perspective, the author has done a magnificent job of producing this book, which has enriched us about the happenings of that period in our nation’s life. I share the same sentiment as expressed in General Yakubu Gowon’s foreword to the book commending Manya Dogo, ‘for his show of loyalty, love, and respect for his boss; and telling us who he was, what he was, and how he was.’