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| How Sarduana infiltrated the Eastern Region with Umaru Altine - The first Mayor of Enugu (Part 1) |
To break the ranks in the east and west, Sarduana prepared infiltrators who will embed themselves in these regions, gain confidence of the people and rise to political heights of control in the regions. In essence the infiltrators will rise to become leaders in these regions and thus aid the Hausa-Fulani control and domination of every part of Nigeria.
One of those selected for this role was Alhaji Umaru Altine, Prince Altine was born in Sifawa (in present day Sokoto State) in 1918, to the Fulani Royal lineage of Sokoto. Being a direct descendant of Uthman Dan Fodio he would have been considered for selection as Sultan of Sokoto, as a birthright. He went through and conformed to the conservative and strict traditional regime prevalent in Northern Nigeria at the time in his early years. His was educated in strict Quranic training, after which he made to learn the religion and ways of life of Easterners. For this received some secondary education, whilst still at Sifawa, under the tutelage of a CMS Priest, Reverend Okenwa (from Obosi, in present day, Anambra State).
Equipped with the tools to adapt to a cosmopolitan way of life, the handsome, charismatic Altine, with an easy manner and a friendly disposition, which masked a steely political determination joined the army. After his sojourn in the military, he joined the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Subsequently he was given the funds to start of a career in business, and became a successful cattle dealer.
To mask his real intention, Altine joined the Aminu Kano-led Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). NEPU’s philosophy, which was essentially to represent the interests of the poor and down-trodden (the Talakawa) against the oppression of the conservative elite-which often was the ruling Monarchies of Northern Nigeria, runs contrary to the philosophy of the ruling NPC. He contested for a seat in the local authority elections in Tambuwal (Sokoto State), on the platform of NEPU but lost.
After his stint with NEPU having presented himself as someone against the domination of the NPC, Altine moved to the capital of the Eastern Region and was welcomed by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik), who was looking for an opportunity to make NCNC appealing to the north. He settled in the working class- Coal Camp area of Enugu (largely populated by Miners and their families) in 1952, where, he re-established his Cattle-trading business. He established strong filial ties with the Hausa community at Enugu, whilst at the same time building strong links with the indigenous Igbo community, having presented himself as an anti Sarduana alhaji. Being in the cattle businesses provided the needed cover for his constant interaction with the Hausa-Fulani community in Enugu where possibly his dispatches to Sarduana were made.
Altine perfectly integrated himself into the Eastern Region's society and subsequently married a young Igbo-speaking woman, Esther Ozueh in 1953 to seal his deceit. Expectedly, she became his visible, inseparable companion, through the course of his sojourn at Enugu. His progress in the NCNC hierachy was astronomical. He rose from the NCNC Youth Association, where he was elected Vice-President in 1952. To further consolidate and gain the trusts of the Igbo-speaking people, Altine allied with Zik, when he was pushed out of the Western Region by Awolowo's treachery, and sought to return to the Eastern Region House of Assembly as Premier. Dr Eyo Ita, the incumbent Premier who was unwilling to resign his appointment, to make way for Dr Azikiwe was eventually removed. This was powerful political strategy. While consolidating his position in the Eastern Region, Altine and by extention Ahmadu Bello, saw this as a golden opportunity to cause disaffection between the Igbo-Speaking and their Ibibio-speaking and Efik-speaking brothers. brothers. Altine used the NCNC Youth Association, which he was the Vice- President, to pressurize Dr Eyo Ita and four other Ministers, to resign their from their positions, based on his seniority and leadership of the party. To compensate him for his role, in 1953, Altine was elected President of the NCNC, Enugu Branch, barely one year afyter he came to the Eastern Region. The following year 1954, he was nominated for and contested for a seat on parliament of the Enugu Urban District Council, on the platform of the NCNC. By this time, his rapid progression and profile had begun to cause some sense of suspicion and disaffection in some quarters, especially amongst indigenes of the Enugu area and some other Igbo-speaking people. It should be noted that based on the success of Altine in the Eastern Region Sarduana also sent some infiltrators to the Western Region. In 1953, Mallam Umaru Yar'Adua was sent to Lagos as a 'Political Overseer' for the NPC and was accepted with some level of resentment. When the resentment died down, Bello sent another Mallam to Ibadan as 'Political Overseer'. However, when the Yorubas asked for a reciprocal by sending one of their to the North (Kano), as a Political Overseer, Bello refused. Consequently, Ibadan/Yoruba people rioted and no Northern Political Overseer was in Ibadan.
One of the groups that opposed Altine's political rise in the Eastern Region was the Udi-Nsukka-Awgu United Front UNAUF). Perhaps without them, Altine would have risen to become the Premier of the Eastern Region. The UNAUF contested against the NCNC’s candidates in the elections, The NCNC candidates however prevailed and Umaru Altine was selected by his colleagues as Chairman of the Enugu Urban District Council, as leader of the NCNC in Enugu. In the following year, 1956, Enugu was elevated into a Municipality (meaning a Sovereign administrative authority, one level up from a District Council). For this purpose, a Mayoralty was declared by law and the annual elections were held in the same year for members of the new Municipal Authority. The contest of 26th of March 1956, was once again between the NCNC core candidates and the UNAUF's. Despite the spirited campaign of the UNAUF, the NCNC candidates prevailed at the election, producing the majority of successful candidates at the election, with a narrow majority of 15-10. Agian, Altine was one of the NCNC successful candidates, winning his election at ward 25, with his address expressed in the return form as 3 Hassan Lane, Uwani, Enugu. On the same date, Umaru Altine was nominated by his Municipal authority member colleagues as the first Mayor of Enugu. Thus, a Fulani man from Sifawa in the then Sokoto Province, almost 700 miles away, who had lived in Enugu for less than 5 years became the first Mayor of the Capital of the Eastern Region.
To be continued.
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