Sabo Bakin Zuwo

Who is Sabo Bakin Zuwo?

Aliyu Sabo Bakin Zuwo was a Senator in the Nigerian Second Republic who was elected Governor of Kano State, Nigeria in October 1983, holding office briefly until the military coup on 31 December 1983 that brought General Mohammadu Buhari to power. He was elected on the People's Redemption Party platform.

Zuwo's origins could be traced to Nupe in Niger state, from where his great grand parents migrated to Kano, where he was born and raised. He had no formal education, but said that he attended "Mallam Aminu Kano Political School, Sudawa, Kano", referring to the famous politician and champion of the people's rights.

A colorful and outspoken politician, it was said that he made more effective use of the radio in the run-up to the Second Republic than any other politician in Northern Nigeria. Elected to the Senate in 1979, Zuwo sponsored more bills than any other Senator. In the 1983 Kano State gubernatorial elections he defeated former governor Abubakar Rimi, who had resigned earlier that year and defected to the Nigerian Peoples Party. One of Zuwo’s first acts as governor was to remove all the Emirs installed by Rimi. In a popular gesture, he closed down the Palace Cinema in Kano, which had become a venue for young men to take drugs and engage in sex, and converted it into a clinic.