Life without Malam Aminu Kano -Surviving Widow

Weekly Trust: Could you please tell us about yourself? Hajiya Shatu: I’m Shatu Malam Aminu Kano. I was born and bred in Fagge Quarters of Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State. My father was the political associate of Mallam. WT: How long was your stay with Malam as his wife? Haj. Shatu: I stayed […]

Weekly Trust: Could you please tell us about yourself?

Hajiya Shatu: I’m Shatu Malam Aminu Kano. I was born and bred in Fagge Quarters of Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State. My father was the political associate of Mallam.

WT: How long was your stay with Malam as his wife?

Haj. Shatu: I stayed with him for over 20 years.

WT: Were you his only wife?

Haj. Shatu: As at the time he died, I was his only wife, but before me, he had married about six to seven other women. Some he divorced and one died.

WT: Did you have children with him?

Haj. Shatu: No.

WT: As the closest person to Malam, how would you describe him?

Haj. Shatu: Malam was a very simple man who was so particular about giving his family their rights. In fact, not only his family; he is a person that didn’t play with other people’s rights. He was a strong man who always stood by his words and had struggled till the end of his life for the cause of the down trodden.

WT: What were the challenges of being a wife of a political stalwart like Malam Aminu Kano?

Haj. Shatu: It wasn’t easy. We suffered in so many ways as a result of his political activities. At a point during the Second Republic under the PRP platform, our house was completely razed by thugs with our belongings destroyed. The area was sprayed with teargas, so that for about two weeks, it was just chaos and his only offence then was that he was going to contest for an election under the platform of the PRP. They were accusing him of not paying his tax for three months. And surprisingly, the money was not more than the equivalent of our today’s N200 You can see that it was not an offence that warranted such action.

Because of his principle of leading a simple life similar to the life of the poor people, we did not enjoy social amenities like other families that were far below his status. I can remember that when he retired from government work, we had no generator in the house, no ordinary fan for us, even as some other people enjoyed air-conditioners.

I remember once when Malam was ill and the former governor of Kano State, the late Sabo Bakin Zuwo paid him a visit and saw his condition – no electricity and there were too many mosquitoes, so the governor offered to put a ceiling fan for him, but he refused. The governor was so worried that he sought my advice over the fact that Malam would not allow him to put ceiling fan in our house.

It was then that I advised Zuwo to postpone his offer till Malam travelled, so that he could then order for the installation of the fans. That was how we came about having fans in the house. As for a generating set, we never had because Malam chose to experience what the poor people were going through then.

WT: How would you describe him as a civil servant?

Haj. Shatu: He was a truthful and trustworthy man who took his work seriously. He was a minister for seven years. He spent three years in Communication and one year in Finance, but resigned from the position and said he wouldn’t work there. He was then asked to choose the ministry he wanted to work in and he chose Health. He spent just two years there and retired from service. It was two years after his retirement that the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, was ousted out of office in a coup.

WT: What were his assets after retirement?

Haj. Shatu: Even when he was a minister, he spent all the seven years without living in the house that was given to him to stay temporarily before the house meant for the minister was completed. He refused to pack to the minister’s house even after its completion. It was a three-bedroom house with no air-conditioner and was renovated only once. We had not a single spoon that was government’s property in the house.

And his only house that he built, he did not for once change anything in it – no air-conditioner, only a single table fan. We were living like that until Sabo Bakin Zuwo installed those ceiling fans against the wish of Malam. They also offered to put a generating set for us, but he gave condition that it had to provide power to all the houses around the area. That was how we could not have generator in the house till he died.

WT: How did you cope then?

Haj. Shatu: We got used to his lifestyle, so it was not a problem for us. Even now that I’m in this house, there is no AC and no generator. If PHCN gives us power, fine, if not, we stay like that.

WT: What did Malam struggle to achieve?

Haj. Shatu: All the hardship, the harassment, the attacks and all other unpleasant things that happened to him were because of him championing the cause of the downtrodden. He fought for truth and the emancipation of the talakawa (poor people) and the love of his country. I’m sure everybody is aware of the cause for which Malam lived and died.

WT: Would you say Malam achieved in that respect?

Haj. Shatu: Of course, he achieved. Even from the way his name is being upheld, with reference made to him and many things that are happening to immortalise him, one can say he really achieved. Not only he; even Tafawa Balewa and Sardauna all succeeded, because all of them owned one house each. To cut it short for you, the lifestyle led by these people cannot be compared to the type of life we are seeing now.

WT: How would you compare politics now and the way it was during his time?

Haj. Shatu: It is incomparable. The type of politics played by Malam was such that party differences were no causes for personal enmity. His belonging to a party different from Sardauna did not make him to allow his followers to insult Sardauna. In fact, he had high regard for both Sardauna and Tafawa Balewa. When he was a teacher in Bauchi, he stayed in Tafawa Balewa’s house and his holy trip to Saudi Arabia was sponsored by Sardauna. So their politics was different from today’s politics.

Malam did not oppose any leader from the North. If there was any act of opposition, he was compelled by circumstances. When Sardauna was killed, Malam was highly bitter about it and vowed not to agree. Their politics was not as dirty as it is now where the younger ones are not respecting their elders.

WT: Some people view Malam as a rebel who was against the traditional rulers of his time. Was he truly a rebel?

Haj. Shatu: You know at that time, I was just a minor; I was not married to him then. So I cannot say precisely what it was like, but I know that from what our parents told us, he was not fighting the rulers per se; rather, he was just fighting the cause of the talakawa. And he was among those that fought for the independence of this country.

WT: Have you ever received assistance from Kano State government, past and present?

Haj. Shatu: Some have assisted while others have not, but praise be to God, I’m not living a bad life either.