Sa'adu Zungur

thumb Mallam Sa'adu Zungur was a Nigerian revolutionary, poet, jurist and nationalist who played an important role in Nigeria's independence movement particularly in Northern Nigeria. He is generally regarded as the father of 'radical politics' in Northern Nigeria. Zungur's political writings criticising the colonial government of Northern Nigeria, especially the emirate system, helped in laying the foundation for the principle of self-determination in Nigeria. His literary and political endeavors influenced a number of the leaders of the independence movement in Northern Nigeria, notably Aminu Kano and Isa Wali. Quotes "I have tried not to write this letter. I have tried to absorb myself in my condition of chronic ill-health. I have tried to put the thoughts of the destiny of Northern Nigeria behind me and tend to my own immediate personal affairs. And I cannot. I go to bed with these thoughts; I get up with them. They are there when I experience ghastly attacks of my neurotic conditions. The same thoughts are there when I say my prayers, or sit to converse with a friend or to read a local daily." "Knowledge, wisdom and religion – all, and the skills to manipulate the world. We despoiled and scattered them. Today we have become a laughing stock. No birds and no snare – all lost. By Allah, we have lost the world!" "As long as the North is filled with disorder and widespread corruption, with no remedy; as long as prostitution thrives, by Allah we shall suffer disgrace before the world. As long as hooligans, idlers, and wealthy youths neglect the poor, while beggars gather even in drinking places, there is no doubt that Southerners will mount the horse of Nigeria's leadership. " "As long as our children continue to beg, crying, 'May Allah give you something for soup,' the Hausa people will continue to face shame in this world. In the North, brotherhood has died; pleasure and reckless indulgence have taken its place, together with pride, arrogance, superstition, and deceit." "The next three years will surely see the Northern Region cut off completely from the rest of Nigeria, under the aegis of a theocratic, one-party fascist government built on the remains of the present feudal autocracies." External Links