Aminu Kano

=== London ===
At the [[UCL Institute of Education|Institute of Education]] in [[London]], Aminu delved into the works of figures like [[Harold Laski]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], and [[Karl Mannheim]], whose teachings is "the source of many of Aminu's ideas on the ideal human society". He established relations with several [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] figures and organisations in London, including the [[Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903)|Socialist Labour Party]], the Student Socialist Society, and the Young Socialists, and met and befriended some left-leaning [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] and "top leaders" of [[Communism|communist]] organisations.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=99}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lloyd |first=P.C. |url=http://archive.org/details/africainsocialch0000pcll |title=Africa in Social Change |date=1967 |publisher=penguin books |others=Internet Archive |pages=223}}</ref><ref name=":27">{{Cite book |last=Robert Melson and Howard Wolpe |url=http://archive.org/details/isbn_9780870131615 |title=Nigeria: Modernization and the Politics of Communalism |date=1971 |publisher=Michigan State University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-87013-161-5 |language=English}}</ref>{{Rp|page=538}} He was also influenced by leading [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politicians of the time, such as [[Aneurin Bevan]] and [[Fenner Brockway]].<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Nordlinger |first=Eric A. |url=http://archive.org/details/politicssocietys00nordrich |title=Politics and society; studies in comparative political sociology |date=1970 |publisher=Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-13-686022-8}}</ref>{{Rp|page=241}}

After being exposed to these ideas and influences, Aminu attempted to blend the political philosophies of early [[French Revolution|French]] and [[American Revolution|American]] revolutionaries with Shavian Fabian socialism and the teachings of [[Usman dan Fodio]], all while still under the influence of [[Sa'adu Zungur]]'s radical ideas. He also witnessed the eve of [[Indian independence movement|India]] and [[Pakistan independence|Pakistan]]'s independence struggles through the students from both nations. Aminu, alongside students from various [[British Colonies|British colonies]], welcomed [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah|Ali Jinnah]] and [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], leading figures in the independence movements of Pakistan and India respectively, during their London visit in 1947. These experiences likely contributed to his interest in the [[Satyagraha|Gandhian form of resistance]].<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=100}}<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=241}}

During his course, Aminu taught in local primary schools and spent weeks in the [[Wales|Welsh]] countryside as a guest of the [[National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs|Young Farmers' Club]]. To fund his planned tour of the British countryside, he took on a part-time [[Hausa language]] translator role with the [[British Broadcasting Company]] (BBC). Unexpectedly, he was invited as a delegate to the [[World Organization of the Scout Movement|World Boy Scout Jamboree]] in [[Rosny-sur-Seine|Rosny]], allowing him to tour [[Europe]] at a discounted rate. Just before his journey to France, the entire boy scout contingent visited [[Buckingham Palace]]. Aminu was shocked the see the king and queen chatting and mingling freely with the boys which was a stark contrast with the way the British officialdom behaved back in Nigeria. This contradiction left him optimistic, interpreting it as a sign of the colonial empire's impending collapse.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=102–103}}<ref name=":9" />

==== Northern Teachers' Association ====
In March 1948,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 September 2019 |title=Mallam Aminu Kano, Voice of The Voiceless |url=https://www.pressreader.com/nigeria/the-guardian-nigeria/20190901/281887299982618 |access-date=2023-12-31 |work=[[The Guardian (Nigeria)|The Guardian]] |via=}}</ref> while still studying London, Aminu formed the Northern Teachers' Welfare Association (later Northern Teachers' Association), the first region-wide organisation and [[Trade union|labour union]] in Northern Nigeria,<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|page=276}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fejoh |first=J. |date=2016 |title=Bio-Social Variables as Predictors of Teacher Union Leaders' Adherence to Democratic Principles in Ogun State, Nigeria |journal=Journal of Education and Practice |pages=202|s2cid=5022696 }}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last1=Smythe |first1=Hugh H. |url=http://archive.org/details/newnigerianelite0000unse |title=The New Nigerian Elite |last2=Smythe |first2=Mabel M. |publisher=Stanford University Press |others=Internet Archive |year=1960}}</ref>{{Rp|page=41}} alongside other teachers from the region, like Salihu Fulani, Z. Y. Dimka, Yahaya Gusau, Shettima Shehu Ajiram, Shehu Shagari, and [[Abubakar Tafawa Balewa]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Imam |first=Abubakar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yawsAAAAIAAJ |title=The Abubakar Imam Memoirs |date=1989 |publisher=NNPC |isbn=978-978-169-308-3 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=169}}<ref name=":30">{{Cite book |last=Shagari |first=Shehu Usman Aliyu |url=http://archive.org/details/shehushagaribeck0000shag |title=Shehu Shagari : Beckoned To Serve : an autobiography |date=2001 |publisher=Nigeria : Heinemann ed. books (Nigeria) plc |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-978-129-932-2 |author-link=Shehu Shagari}}</ref>{{Rp|page=66}} The union focused on issues like rights and welfare of teachers, an improved syllabus, differences in salary between the North and the South and the eligibility of teachers in [[Missionary schools|Christian Mission Schools]] for membership.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=101–102}}<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=91}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Musaazi |first=J. C. S. |url=http://archive.org/details/theorypracticeof0000musa |title=The Theory and Practice of Educational Administration |date=1982 |publisher=London : Macmillan Nigeria |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-333-31489-0}}</ref>{{Rp|page=258}}

The union grew rapidly, having about 200 members in its first month<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaskiya ta fi Kwabo, Issue 233, 31 Mar 1948 |url=https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP485-1-1-201 |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=Endangered Archives Programme |page=1 |language=ha}}</ref> and 25 branches within its first year and was later influential on the region's nationalist organisations that came after it.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=41}}<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Coleman |first=James Smoot |url=http://archive.org/details/nigeriabackgroun0000cole |title=Nigeria: background to nationalism |date=1958 |publisher=Berkeley, University of California Press |others=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{Rp|page=356}} The union continued being the most dominant teacher's union in Northern Nigeria until is merger with the [[Nigeria Union of Teachers|Nigerian Union of Teachers]], the dominant teacher's union in southern Nigeria, in 1972.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Falola |first=Toyin |url=http://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000falo |title=Historical dictionary of Nigeria |date=2009 |publisher=Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8108-5615-8}}</ref>{{Rp|page=260}}