THE UNSUNG HERO - A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Wada Nas a father, grandfather, a politician of high repute, a principle commentator. To his adorers he was the great, fearless, eloquent and indomitable Wada Nas (Sarkin Yakin Arewa or Sarkin Yakin Talakawa), while to his critics he was the controversial Wada Nas, Wada Nasty, Wada Noise, Wada Nonsense or Wada Nadeco. In his personal life he lived a modest and humble life and his real mission in life was to contribute in one way or the other to the overthrow of capitalist society.
Muhammedu Hamisu (popularly known as Wada Nas) was born in 1938 in Nasarawa Funtua, Katsina State to Malam Ibrahim and Amina. He was the last in a family of twelve. He earned the name Wada by his aunty Asibi on his naming ceremony, the name was derived from WADATA in Hausa meaning Abundance. This was so because on his naming ceremony there were four Rams all for his naming ceremony, one booked by his father, two from Wazirin Katsina and one from the emir of Katsina. He lost his father at the age of two and his mother at the age of six, he was brought up as an orphan by his elder brother Late Alhaji Garba Nasarawa.
He began with the Islamic education (Makarantar Allo) but later enrolled into elementary school Funtua (1945-1949) where his name Wada Nasarawa was cut shortened to Wada Nas. He secured admission into KATSINA Middle school in 1950 together with Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, Late Alhaji Bala Abdullahi Funtua and Late Alhaji Ya’u Nasarawa but he was denied admission to KATSINA middle school due to some reasons and was offered MARU middle school as replacement of which he rejected reason being that in MARU, student were taught mostly in Hausa language while Katsina was in English, he prepared to wait for a year after which he got KATSINA middle school (1952-1954) and subsequently to KATSINA Teachers College (1955).
It was at KATSINA teachers college that he developed interest in politics which fronted him to write a letter to Malam Aminu Kano, the leader of Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU) indicating his interest to join his party. Malam Aminu replied him that he should first finish his studies before venturing into politics (a Letter he kept and was proud of).
In 1958 upon graduated from KATSINA Teachers College, he was posted to Dutsinma in Katsina state as a school teacher. He joined NEPU and went to Dutsinma as a NEPU member. At that time it was a crime to belong to another political party apart from Northern People Congress (NPC) which belongs to aristocratic class. His NEPU activity didn’t go well with those in the authority because from the district head down to the village head belong to NPC, so the district head then saw him as a treat. He suffered all kind of humiliation and harassment just because he belongs to NEPU but that didn’t deter him from fighting for what he believes in, which was to liberate the masses from the tyranny of NPC. The district head was very uncomfortable with Wada Nas and requested the native authority to transfer him to somewhere else. So the native authority after due consultation decided to transfer him to KAITA where the district head Ladan Fari (also happen to be the son of the then emir of Katsina) who was considered to be tough and can curtail the excesses of Wada Nas and his NEPU ideology.
Upon resumption at KAITA his new duty post, the district head ask him “are you Wada Nas the NEPU man?” he replied yes then the district head told him there is no NEPU in this district and that he was not willing to have any and so he asked ”are you ready to abandon NEPU?” because you are sitting on a bomb which could explode in your face at any time if you continue with your NEPU activities. Without hesitation Wada Nas responded that he will never cease to be a member of NEPU for the fear of bomb explosion and added in the same way as the district head will not cease to be a member of NPC and the issue of bomb explosion is in the Hands of Allah.
After this encounter the worst to come a public announcement was made to the effect that anyone seen and found dealing with Wada Nas in any respect howsoever and whatsoever, would have himself to blame should anything happen to him. So no one was to associate with him in whatever way. Thus, traders were barred from selling their goods to him, he was not to join any public transport or hire bicycle for any travel. The short of it was that no one was to communicate with him including the school children after school hours. And during the hours he could not send a pupils to buy anything for him in the first place, and even if he sends one, nobody would sell it to him once his known that he was acting on Wada Nas behalf. He was forced into seclusion with no one to associate with, he was a prisoner of sort without staying in prison, indeed a prisoner was better in the sense that he communicates with his fellow inmate. This was a grim situation enforce on him by the traditional institution only on account of his political belief. If it was considered from the angle of feeding himself one would appreciate better how horrible the situation was. One may wonder how he managed to feed himself. In the beginning the option was for him to trek to the nearest town Katsina which was about 16 kilometers away to purchase his requirements. Overtime, however, some resident of KAITA started coming to him in the darkest hours in the night, asking for NEPU membership card, while some brought him food items and other requirements, others secretly undertook some errands on his behalf. The number of those coming kept on increasing day-by-day, he continued to organize lectures, educating and enlighting the masses about their right and how to say no to the oppression by the ruling class. This was how NEPU was established in KAITA town and environs. He was given the publicity secretary of NEPU in Katsina province.
Wada Nas was transferred to KANKARA and as the 1959 general election was approaching, late Malam Aminu Kano the then leader of NEPU and one who gave it fearless, purposeful and dynamic leadership and philosophical direction told Wada Nas that the party has resolved to field him as its candidate in the Funtua Federal constituency but Wada Nas advice to be fielded as candidate in KANKARA/KOGO constituency rather than the Funtua his place of origin. Malam Aminu kano wondered why and demanded explanation upon which Wada Nas explained “in KANKARA/KOGO there is crack in the wall, because each of the two district heads in the area want to be fielded but the NPC was not prepared for a backlash, so neither of them prepared to support any other candidate apart from himself, this therefore means, they will not interfere in the election. After rejecting all the two district heads, the NPC settled for the councilor for education who was my boss Alhaji Hassan Rafin-Dadi. I then calculated that having been all rejected, neither was ready to support a candidate that was brought from somewhere and enforced on them, nor would the district head of KANKARA support a candidate by his rival the district head of KOGO or the other way round. The greatest probability then, in my estimation, was that both will remain neutral and this was exactly what happens. It was not therefore a problem for me to penetrate into the house through the cracked back wall cause by their rejection and consequent neutrality.

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