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Alh.
(Dr) Abubakar Imam O.B.E C.O.N, L.L.D (Hon.) N.N.M.C.
(1911 - 1981)
 was a writer
and teacher, pioneer in journalism and in the establishment
of modern Hausa literature. Author of the popular
"Magana
Jari Ce (The Art of Speech Is a
Capital Investment)"
Alhadji
Abubakar Imam (1 11-1981), Nigerian
writer and teacher, was a pioneer in
the establishment of modern Hausa
literature. The Hausa peoples of
northwestern Nigeria and adjacent
southern Niger constitute the
largest ethnic group in the region.
Islamic traditions profoundly
influence the Hausa culture
Alhadji Abubakar Imam was born at
Kagara, Northern Nigeria, in 1911.
After a traditional Arabic
education, he enrolled at the
Katsina Training College in 1927 to
become a teacher.
 In
1933, the Translation (later
Literature) Bureau in the Hausa
province of Zaria announced a
competition that led to a dramatic
change in the long history of Hausa
literature. Composition had
traditionally been either oral or in
Arabic script, but the publications
from Zaria initiated the use of the
Roman alphabet for creative works.
This marked the beginning of prose
fiction as a recognized art form in
the land of the Hausa.
Imam won second prize in the
competition for Ruwan Bagaja (The
Water of Cure), a quest story whose
hero experiences many adventures on
his various travels. While the book
was being printed, Imam left his
teaching post and joined the
Translation Bureau, where he
composed a three-volume collection
of tales, Magana Jari Ce (The Art of
Speech Is a Capital Investment), for
which he drew on Arabian, European,
and Oriental sources, retelling the
stories in typical Hausa narrative
style. Thus began Iman's long career
devoted to the educational,
political, and literary betterment
of his people.
In 1939, Imam was appointed editor
of a government-sponsored journal,
Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo (Truth Is Worth
More than a Penny). This first Hausa
newspaper proved very popular,
partly because of its vivid writing
style, so different from the highly
formal and traditional Hausa prose.
He attended Katsina College and
the University of London's Institute
of Education. He first came to
repute when he submitted a play Ruwan
Bagaja for a literary competition in
1933.[2] The judge in the
competition was Rupert East, the
head of a translation committee, he
liked his writing, usually
accentuated by the vivid knowledge
of native norms and vegetation and
mixed with his literary style of wit
and imaginative prose. In The Year
1939, together with Robert East and
a few others, they started the
Gaskiya corporation, a publishing
house, which became a successful
venture and created a platform for
many northern intellectuals. The
exposure of many premier writers in
Northern Nigeria to the political
process influenced Imam to join
politics. In 1952, with the
formation of the Northern People's
Congress, together with Umaru Agaie,
and Nuhu Bamalli, they formed the
major administrative nucleus of the
party. Alh Abubakar imam was also
the author of Magana jari ce with
the help of some collections
provided by East, and Tafiya mabudin
ilmi a book he wrote on his
experiences after a visit to London.
In 1943, during a visit to England
as a member of a West African press
delegation, Imam asked British
authorities for more reading
materials to educate the Hausa
people and as an outlet for public
opinion in Northern Nigeria. This
led to the formation of the Gaskia
Corporation in 1945. Imam became
head of its book section in 1951,
thus becoming the first Northern
Nigerian to be given a senior
service post, a status previously
reserved for white officials.
A talented and versatile writer,
Iman was fluent in Hausa, Arabic,
and English. His fame as a Moslem
preacher and as a teacher brought
about his election to the House of
Representatives under the 1951
Nigerian constitution. Although a
prominent Hausa poet, Sa'adu Zungur,
once called him the "political pilot
of Northern Nigeria," Imam gave up
political activity in 1954 and
devoted himself to improving the
civil service and promoting
literature in Northern Nigeria.
After pioneering in prose fiction,
Imam was one of the first Hausa
authors to produce formal stage
drama. His non-fiction publications
include works on Islam and on Muslim
history, a life of the prophet
Mohammed, and accounts of his 1943
journey to the United Kingdom and of
his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1953.
From 1959 to 1966, Iman was a member
of the Public Service Commission of
the northern region of Nigeria.
Thereafter, the country was plunged
into a devastating civil war when
the eastern region seceded and
called itself the Republic of Biafra.
Iman held public service posts over
the next several years of military
rule, including public service
commissioner of the north central
state.
By the time Nigeria returned to a
peaceful civilian government in
1979, Iman was in ill health. He
died at the University of Zaria in
1981. Two years later, Nigeria once
again was plunged into a long series
of military coups that successfully
ended democratic rule.
There is no biography of Imam. Some
information on his life is in Sir
Bryan Sharwood Smith, Recollections
of British Administration in the
Cameroons and Northern Nigeria
1921-1957: "But Always as Friends"
(1969). Brief mention is made in
James S. Coleman, Nigeria:
Background to Nationalism (1958);
John P. Mackintosh, Nigerian
Government and Politics (1966); and
Billy Dudley, Parties and Politics
in Northern Nigeria (1968).
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This
book (Magana Jari ce) was
one of the first Hausa books
to be written in the North
for people to read and
enjoy. It was written by
Alhaji Abubakar Imam in the
year 1934, when he was a
teacher in the Katsina
Middle School. He was then
twenty-two years of age.
It is the first book that he
wrote, and it brought him to
the notice of the
Government. Since this book
he has written nearly twenty
others in Hausa, between the
years 1934 and 1970, and
nearly all the Hausa books
now in use in primary
schools are from his pen, or
written jointly by him and
another person.
If the Hausa language could
talk, it would say, ` Alhaji
Abubakar Imam, may God
reward you, for you have
made me something to be read
and admired like any other
language in the world.'
BY BABA AHMED
Imam of Zaria Government
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OTHER REVIEWS
A Semantic Analysis of
Lexical Devices in Abubakar
Imam Magana Jari Ce
Muhammad Abdulwahab
Ruwan Bagaja
A cikin
farkon zamanin Shaihu dan
Ziyazzinu an yi wani mutum
motsatstse, wanda a ke kira
Koje Sarkin Labari. Dalilin
da ya sa a ke kiransa haka,
don haukansa ba na zagin
kowa ba ne,bakuwa na dukan
kowa ba ne. Shi dai ba abin
da ya ke so sai ya ji labari,
ya tafi wadansu kasashe, ya
rika ba attajirai da
Sarakuna, su kuwa suna ba
shi abinci. In ya ba ka
labari, wanda ba ka sani ba,
in ka ba shi kudi, sai ya
debi hams ya ba ka. Ya tsare
ka, ya ce kai kuma sai ka ha
shi wani labari, wanda shi
kuma bai sani ba.
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