Shortly before the brutal execution of the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, ace Irish photographer, John Hinde, was commissioned by the Northern Regional Government to produce the premier’s portrait. Mr Hinde, “whose idealistic and nostalgic style influenced the art of postcard photography” was famous for meticulous work and colour photography. After the photoshoot from different angle, Sardauna finally selected this picture (attached with this post). An order was therefore placed for the portrait to be developed in Hinde’s London colour laboratory.

Writing in his book, Pull of Fate, Magaji Dambatta, said: “An order was placed for the printing of a large quantity in 12 by 16 inch size. Unfortunately the order arrived too late. Sardauna had been murdered by the time the crates of the consignment arrived in Kaduna by rail after clearance from the Apapa port. By the time we took delivery of the goods at the Kaduna railway station to our stores, the consignment had come to the notice of the military junta, which had just captured power from the civilians, following the January 1966 military coup. Captain Samuel Ogbemudia of One Brigade, Kaduna who later became the governor of Mid-western State, was sent with an order that the photographs must not see the light of day; that they must all be destroyed and a report made to the military authorities accordingly.”

Magaji Dambatta wrote further that as Chief Information Officer, he was tasked by the military with the duty of destroying all the consignment.

“There was a stream running from Kabala village behind Costain quarters, flowing northwards and creating a valley at some places along the eastern border of Kaduna’s Sabongari town. At a point, the stream created a marshy area behind Damaturu Road. I thought the area was good enough a place to bury the parcels. I picked a location, and with the Ministry of Information Land Rover made several trips dumping the photographs and burying them with laterite sand which was ordered for the purpose.

“Fortunately not all were destroyed. I managed to spare some for posterity, albeit at great risk. The spared copies were relocated from our information stores to somewhere else and kept until the change of Ironsi’s government. The spared copies and the reprints of the samples today adorn many homes and offices. That particular photograph is the most famous of all Sardauna’s portraits. It is the one whose impression is embossed on Nigeria’s N200 currency note. Essentially, that part of history is not lost after all,” Dambatta wrote.

From the foregoing excerpts, it was clear the coupists wanted to not only eliminate Sardauna but his memories and adulation among Northerners. Sardauna is dead but his memories and legacies live forever.
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Akwai magana ukku tsakanina da jikan Nana
Kaga dai Ina kaunatai don kakansa Danfodiyo
Amadu ina tsoronai duniyar tasa ce Amadu
Kana ina tausai nai abokan gabarsa sun yawa
Kai kaji dan bajinin duniya
Amadu dan bajinin duniya