The North’s early graduates

Two years ago, I wrote on this page the story of Ambassador John Mamman Garba, whom I referred to as ‘The North’s second graduate’. Just before he died in 1989, he had completed writing a biography titled ‘The Time Has Come – – Reminiscences and Reflections of a Nigerian Diplomat’. The book traces his life […]

Two years ago, I wrote on this page the story of Ambassador John Mamman Garba, whom I referred to as ‘The North’s second graduate’. Just before he died in 1989, he had completed writing a biography titled ‘The Time Has Come – – Reminiscences and Reflections of a Nigerian Diplomat’. The book traces his life from his hometown in Geidam, where he was born in 1919. The book followed the peripatetic lifestyle of his family from Geidam to Maiduguri to Kano, where Christian missionaries adopted and educated him. He attended CMS Grammar School and Igbobi College, both in Lagos, and earned his degree in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1950.

The story elicited plenty of interest, and many requested a copy of the book he authored. Even though the book had long been out of print, the publishers were obliged to grant private requests for a reprint. Since then, the story has remained alive in the media, and many arguments have arisen over my suggestion that Mamman Garba was the second graduate from Northern Nigeria. There is general agreement that Dr Russel Aliyu Barau Dikko was the first Northerner to obtain a degree, qualifying as a medical doctor in 1939 from the University of Birmingham. However, many have argued that, in the 1940s, many northerners had obtained degrees before Mamman Garba.

There is, for instance, Abdulaziz Atta (1920-72), a scion of the famous Attah family of Okene. His father, Ibrahim Atta (1884-1964), the Ohinoyi of Igbirraland from 1917 to 1954, had a forensic appreciation of the new Western education system and ensured that his many children partook of it. Abdulaziz Atta went to Balliol College, Oxford University and graduated with a degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) in 1947. He became the first Nigerian District Officer in Northern Nigeria. He joined the federal service and rose to become the first Secretary to the Military Government and Head of Service during the General Yakubu Gowon regime.

The Ibrahim Atta family was quite remarkable. Many other distinguished Nigerians came from the family. Besides Abdulaziz Atta, there was his elder brother Abdulmalik Atta (1914-69), who, at Nigeria’s independence, became the first High Commissioner to the UK with concurrent accreditation to many other European countries. There was also Dr Abdulmumini Atta, who became the second medical doctor from the north to qualify after Dr Barau Dikko. There was also Adamu Atta, who was the Executive Governor of Kwara State from 1979 to 1983.

Also from the family was Judith Sefi Atta, the first female education officer from the north. She later became the Nigerian Ambassador to UNESCO and Italy. She was also the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and later in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was also the first Minister of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, when the ministry was newly created. Aliyu Atta, Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police from 1990 to 1993, is also from the family.

There are many more, including Mahmud Atta, a one-time Chairman of First Bank. He was also famously the protocol officer of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region. There is also Regina Scott, the first qualified nurse from the north; Ambassador Abdullahi Atta, reputed to be the first to head Nigeria’s external intelligence arm; and the current Ohinoyi of Igbirraland, Ado Ibrahim.

From much of the discourse, I learnt that the Kabba Province of the defunct Northern Region was way ahead of the rest of the provinces, perhaps due to its proximity to the Western Region, which benefited from receiving Western education first. A mention was made of A B Oyediran (1909-1966) from Offa, who had graduated in 1936 from Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. The college, founded in 1827, was the first university in sub-Saharan Africa. Oyediran was a prominent educator who mainly served as a teacher and principal in the Methodist Boys High School in Lagos. He was so highly regarded as an educator that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) created an award in his name for outstanding performance in Nigeria. The award still subsists.

From my perspective, there is a need to streamline this narrative of the early graduates of the North, ideally in book form, to serve as a repository and source of inspiration for the coming generation. While we are at it, we would also seek early graduates in various fields. I know, for starters, the first Veterinary Surgeon in Nigeria was Dr Bukar Shaib, who graduated from Liverpool University, UK, in 1954. He had an extensive field career in Sokoto, Katsina and Kano before becoming a Permanent Secretary in the Northern Region Ministry of Animal and Forest Resources. He later had a flourishing career in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, serving as its Permanent Secretary (1968-1978) and Minister (1984-1985).

The first engineer from the north is Katsina-born Mahmud Uwartu Armiya’u (1919-2000), a product of the UK’s Loughborough College. He was a pioneer in the Northern Region Ministry of Works, serving as Chief Engineer and Permanent Secretary. The first Nigerian to earn a degree in forestry was A.J.K.G. Imam, who earned the degree from Aberdeen University in Scotland, UK, in the 1950s. He became the first Nigerian to be the Chief Conservator of Forests in the Northern Region.

This is a work in progress, and contributions from readers are welcome.