Aminu Kano

==== Northern People's Congress ====
Due to the successes of Aminu's teacher's union, other notable learned men around the region approached him regarding the establishing of a similar organisation. During late 1948, various organisations in Zaria, Kaduna and Bauchi merged to form the Jam'iyyar Mutanen Arewa or [[Northern People's Congress]] (NPC). In June 1949, the organisation's inaugural meeting was held at the Green's Hotel in Kaduna with about 500 in attendance. The founding members included Dr. [[R. A. B. Dikko]], [[Yahaya Gusau]], [[Abubakar Imam]] (editor of ''[[Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo]]''), [[Maitama Sule|Yusuf Maitama Sule]], [[Aliyu Mai-Bornu|Aliyu Mai Bornu]], Aminu Kano, [[Isa Wali]] (Aminu's cousin) and [[Sa'adu Zungur]], who was the general secretary of the [[National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons]] (NCNC) at the time.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=111}}<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=358}}<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Frederick August Otto |url=http://archive.org/details/nigeriatribesnat00schw_0 |title=Nigeria: The Tribes, the Nation, or the Race - The Politics of Independence |others=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-19018-3}}</ref>{{Rp|page=75}}

In its first general meeting in December 1949, the leaders of the congress, Dikko and Gusau, declared that the congress did not intend to subvert the colonial and aristocratic government and that the:<blockquote>''Jam'iyyar'' does not intend to usurp the authority of our Natural rulers; on the contrary, it is our ardent desire to enhance such authority whenever and wherever possible. We want to help our Natural rulers in the proper discharge of their duties...We want to help them in enlightening the ''Talakawa'' [common people].<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=358}}<ref name=":13" />{{Rp|page=75}}</blockquote>A district officer, representing the [[Resident minister|Resident]] of Kano, cautioned the attendees that they could only bring about their desired reforms if they moved "slowly with caution" and that "one must learn to walk before one can run". Aminu responded by asking him to report to his superiors that:<blockquote>If we go on foot, we will not walk, we will run. And if we fall, we will pick ourselves up and run again. But mark you, we will not go on foot. You might tell us to go by camel, or horse, but we will even skip the motor car and go by plane. And the British had best not deny us the choice of our means of transportation, no matter how fast.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=121-122}}<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=93}}</blockquote>Several Northern rulers, such as the Sultan, [[Abdullahi Bayero|Emir of Kano]] and the [[Zazzau|Emir of Zaria]], approved of this 'harmless' and 'deferential' attitude of the congress. However, younger members like Maitama, Aminu, and Zungur believed the congress was too uncritical of both the emirs and British authorities, emphasising the need for political reform in the North. Finally in August 1950, some radical NPC members in Kano formed the [[Northern Elements Progressive Union]] (''Jamiyar Neman Sawaba''), the first declared political party in Northern Nigeria.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=94}} NEPU was influenced by Zungur's openly radical Northern Elements Progressive Association.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=359}} They had the support of Aminu, who was unable to join the party at the time as he was still employed by the government and could not openly join a political party.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=123}}<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=94}}