By MIKAIL MUMUNI
- The late Prof Yusufu Bala Usman*
- Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman receiving the award*
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman was in Gombe State on Saturday, 7th December, for the third, fourth and fifth combined convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Kashere (FUK), during which she received a posthumous honorary doctorate degree conferred on her late father, Professor Yusufu Bala Usman.
While in Gombe, Hajia Bala Usman paid a royal homage to His Highness, the Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Dr. Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III in his palace.
- Hajia Bala Usman at the palce of the Emir of Gombe*
The FUK posthumous award on the late Prof Bala Usman came 14 years after the demise of the foremost historian who put the Department of History of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on the world map.
Two other icons, the late Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari and Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje were also conferred with honorary doctorate degree of science.
Born in 1945 at Musawa, present day Katsina State, the late Professor Bala Usman was a pan Africanist and anti-corruption advocate .
Though born into royalty( on both his father and mother side), affluence and influence, he lived a Spartan life and was a fighter for social justice.
His father was the son of the late Emir of Katsina, Muhammadu Dikko and his mother was the daughter of the late Emir of Kano, Abdullahi Bayero.
Bala Usman was educated at Musawa Junior Primary School, Kankia Senior Primary School and Minna Senior Primary School where he completed his primary education at the age of 12.
He proceeded to Government College, Kaduna in 1957, where he completed his secondary education and proceeded to United Kingdom for his Higher School Certificate (HSC).
He graduated from the University of Lancaster with double honours in History and Political Science. On returning to Nigeria, he took up a teaching job at Barewa College, unlike his peers, a decision which shocked the officials of the then North Central State Public Service Commission.
He later resigned when his application for study leave was turned down.
He worked in the Department of History, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1970 under the tutelage of the legendary Professor Abdullahi Smith. Together they laid the foundation for the ABU School of History.
Prof Bala Usman alone supervised 13 PhDs out of the 37 produced by the Department of History between 1970 and 2005. Some of them include Garba Nadama, former governor of old Sokoto State; Mahmud Modibbo Tukur, George Kwanashie, Sule Bello, late Abdullahi Augie and Alkasum Abba, among others.
He is the author of numerous books like; For the Liberation of Nigeria; The Transformation of Katsina, 1400-1883: The Emergence and Overthrow of the Sarauta System and the Establishment of the Emirat; Nigeria Against the I.M.F.; The Home Market Strategy ; The Manipulation of Religion in Nigeria 1977-1987; and is one of the authors of The Nigerian Economic Crisis: Causes and Solutions, co-author with Olusegun Osoba of The Minority Report and Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1976 and of numerous articles in newspapers and journals.
He edited Studies in the History of the Sokoto Caliphate, (Third Press International, New York, 1979), and co-edited with Abdullahi Augie, Cities of the Savannah ; with Nur Alkali, Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno; and with Femi Kayode, The Economic and Social Development of Nigeria.
He served as Secretary to the Government of old Kaduna State between November 1980 and June 1982, under former governor Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa.
He was the Director of Research of the People’s Redemption Party, and edited Tarihin Gwagwarmayar N.E.P.U. da P.R.P. (The History of the Struggles of the N.E.P.U. and the P.R.P.), written by Mallam Lawan Danbazau (Zaria, 1981); Who is Responsible? The Nigerian Workers and the Current Economic Crisis (Zaria, 1982); Political Repression in Nigeria, 1979-1981: A Selection of Documents: I, (Zaria, 1982).
He was a member of the Committee for the Review of Nigerian Foreign Policy, October 1975-May 1976; of the Constitution Drafting Committee; of the Nigerian Delegation to the People’s Republic of Angola, January 1976; was also a Special Adviser to the Nigerian Delegation to the 31st and 41st Sessions of the U.N. General Assembly, in November 1976, and November 1986; a Trustee of the Nigerian Labour Congress, 1978-80; co-cordinator of the Transition Programme and Secretary of the Kaduna State Government, 1979-82; member of the Awoniyi Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Contract Awards in Niger State, in April-November 1984; Chairman of the Political Committee of the All-Nigeria Conference on Foreign Policy, Kuru, April 1986; and a member of The Analyst magazine collective, publishers of The Analyst, Fitila and Analysis magazines.
The late Bala Usman died in September 2005, and left behind a wife and six children, including Hadiza Bala Usman.