By Marlikberry,

Yesterday Friday January 15, 2020 marked the 55th year of the brutal killing of the first premier of defunct Northern Nigeria and Sardaunan Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. Also killed in the military putsch was the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and other national politicians and military red necks.

The death of the premier proved cataclysmic for the region as the military officers of northern extraction rallied others for consensus building for the nation’s survival and unity. Considering the sterling efforts deployed by the Sardauna, power wielders in the North were committed to continuing with the legacy of ‘One North One People.

As the scion of Othman Dan Fodio, the Islamic scholar who waged a successful jihad in some parts of the North, Sir Bello spared no efforts in ensuring the North was placed on solid foundations with the sole aim of developing the area. As the political leader of the North, the Sardauna assiduously worked towards the promotion of unity amongst the region’s diverse ethnic and religious groups.

Unlike other regions that are inhabited by fewer number of ethnic groups, the North is home to hundreds of tribal groups that were then suspicious of one another. Riding on its sheer size and population, it was not difficult for the Northern People Congress to form a central government at independence on October 1, 1960.May his soul rest in peace