Born
1 February 1911
in
Kagara
ABUBAKAR
Imam
CHAIRMAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. He was born in Kagara in the old Niger province in 1911. He went to school atKatsina Provisional School, then Katsina Training College from where he graduated as a teacher in 1932. Like most of his peers he started work asa Teacher at Katsina Middle School in 1933 where he taught English for sixyears. He however started making his impact on the outbreak of the World War II in 1939. The Government urgently wanted to establish aNewspaper to inform and educate the entire people of the North and to counter the propaganda of the Southern Press who saw no good in anything Northern. Earlier the Government had sponsored a nationwide writing competition which he won with his Ruwan Bagaja. Abubakar Imam became the right choice to start the paper. It was he who actually gave the paper its name as Gaskiya tafi Kwabo. The paper instantly recorded asuccess and itspopularity soared with his wise editorialguidance. He fought relentlessly andgot the paper out of Government's controlforfrankness and objectivity. He used the paper to inject the true blood of Nationalism into the citizenry through education, information and entertainment and showed the way to emancipation. Hewasa true Nationalist and championof mass education. The other books he wrote and became instant success were MAGANAJARI CE in 1935 which became a household item in almost every home and KRAMIN SANI. When the Literature Bureau was merged with Gashya Corporation, Alhaji Dr. Abubakar Imam was promoted in 1948 from Hausa Editor to Editor of GASKIYA TA FI KWABO -a Senior Service appointment at the time which made him the first Northerner to reach that elite Civil Servicestatus. He was notoutforpolitics but he was aman destined to play an important role in the campaignfor the betterment of the people. First in 1948 he was elected the General Treasurer later Secretary of the most populous party the NPC where he played akey role in setting the party on solidground. Next he was selected into the Northern House of Assembly, then the House of Representatives in 1954. There in the House he moved the motion callingfor the opening of aNigerian Office in Saudi Arabia to caterfor the increasing number of Nigerians performing the pilgrimage everyyear. It became very certain that where ever he worked he touched the lives of the community through apeculiar novelty of his. He became the Chief Crusader against the three main ills of the region. JAHILCI (Ignorance, Illiteracy), LALACI (Idleness, sloth) and ZALUNCI (Oppression). Much of the success recorded of public consciousness in his time, stemmed from the lead he gave. He also gave atrue service in the course of education. Mallam Abubakar Imam wasaman of calm and dignified ways, aman of excellent manner and intellectual disposition. All these qualities came to play in 1943 when asa member of the West African Press delegation to the UK, he captivated his audience including Lord Frederick Lugard with astrong analysis of thepoliticalproblems of Africa. He emphasised the need to have more representative councils in the village, local and distriapolities. He impressed it upon Lord'Lugardthatpeople were no longer interested in legislative councils but wanted their own legislatures. Alhaji Abubakarlmam is remembered always as an Icon of Northern consciousness who through his writings engendered nationalism and public enlightenment. The book MAGANAJARI CE is already aSerialisedfeature in theTelevisionNetwork. Earlier in 1942, togetherwithMallamfa 'afaru, the Emir of Zasgau at that year's Ibadan conference, he campaigned for the appointment of Africans into Administrative positions in their country. In 1955 he became member of the New Northern Nigeria Public Service Commission of which he became full time Commissioner in 1957. He assumed the Chairmanship of the Commission in 1961 and encouraged Northern Youths to join the public service. In November 1968, thisgreat'Nigerian was honored by the University of Ibadan with an Honorary Doctorate Degree by LawsLLD. The great Nigerian died on the 19th of f une, 1981 while serving as the Kaduna State Public Complains Commissioner. (The North with apopulation of 18 million is the biggest single unit after Egypt in the Continent of Africa. In Agriculture, we are one of the two leading exporters of groundnuts in the world and our cotton supplies a substantialpartof Lancashire's needs. In mining, we are the foremost producer of Columbite and an important source of the world's tin. The Sardauna Sir Ahmadu Bello 15thMay, 1959
Name of Spouse
State of Origin:
Niger State
Father's Name
Imam
Mother's Name
Profession
Editor,Politician,Journalist,Administrator
Working Experience
chairman of the public service commission in 1961 , editor Northern Nigeria newspaper, Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo 1939. , memeber House of Representatives
Previous Appointments:
chairman of the public service commission in 1961
member,house of representative
Katsina Training College 1927....Universtity of London’s institute of Education
Northern people’s congress
1981
Last Update
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