Aminu Kano

=== Reformist ideas ===
Aminu Kano joined the Northern Elements Progressive Union as a political platform to challenge what he felt was the [[autocratic]] and [[feudalistic]] actions of the Native Northern Government. He geared his attack on the ruling [[elite]] including the [[emir]]s, who were mostly [[Fulani]]s. The potency of his platform was strengthened partly because of his background. His father was an acting Alkali in Kano who came from a [[Lineage (Buddhism)|lineage]] of Islamic clerics, Aminu Kano also brought up Islamic ideas on [[Justice|equity]] in his campaign trails during the first republic. Many talakawas ([[commoners]]) in Kano lined up behind his message and his political stature grew from the support of the Kano commoners and migratory petty traders in the north.<ref>M. G. Smith; Government in Kano, 1350-1950, Westview Press, 1997. p 492-493.</ref> Many of the tradesmen later manned the offices of NEPU. He also sought to use politics to create an [[egalitarian]] Northern Nigerian society.

Another major idea of his in the prelude to the first republic was the breakup of [[ethnic]]ally based parties. The idea was well received by his emerging support base of petty traders and craftsmen in towns along the rail track. The men and women were mostly migratory individuals searching for trade opportunities and had little ethnic similarities with their host communities. He also proposed a [[fiscal policy|fiscal]] system that favors heavy taxation of the rich in the region and was notably one of the few leading Nigerian politicians that supported [[women's rights|equal rights]] for women.

Mallam Aminu Kano is highly respected politician in Northern Nigeria. He symbolized democratization, women's empowerment and freedom of speech. An airport, a college and also a major street are also named after him in Kano. His house where he lived and died and buried has been converted to Centre for Democratic Research and Training under the Bayero University Kano.