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My Youth As A Muslim
My name is Alhajji Aliyu Ibn Mamman Dan-Bauchi. I was born in a little village, not in a city. The village is known as Nahuta, near Dogon Ruwa in Bauchi State, Nigeria. I was born on December 15, 1949. My father was not a rich man, neither was my mother well to do. We were nine in our family, but now only six, the other three have passed away. My father had six wives, one was divorced and my mother died in 1980, on November 8. Now my father has four wives. He was a judge in a "D"-Court during the N.A. structure of our government.
I left my parents at the age of six and went to a village called Kembu. There I stayed with a man called Jauro Zailani. This man, who was a learned scholar of Islam, being one of the Ulama, integrated me into his family and enlisted me in a Qur'an school. In two years' time I was able to memorize the Qur'an from the first chapter to the last, all in Arabic. This is regarded as a baraka (a blessing) to my people. I went to an Islamic school for another two years, studying interpretation of the Qur'an, Islamic law and Hadith (Muslim traditions). I left Kembu for Dadin-Kowa and stayed with another Muslim learned man, Mr. Musa Jangargai, where I added to my talent in Qur'anic knowledge.
I attended Hina Primary School and Bauchi Teachers' College. On completion I was posted to teach at the Gombe Arabic Teachers' College. I taught only for three months and left to join the ministry of agriculture. I later attended a School of Agriculture. I also attended a course on management in Britain.