NORTHERN ELEMENTS PROGRESSIVE UNION (NEPU)
Origin of NEPU
The Northcrn Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) was formed in 1949. It was a breakaway faction of the Jamiyar Mutanen Arewa (JMA). NEPU was dissatisfied with the JMA’s conservative and gradualist approach to politics.
Organisational Structure
Because of its small and ad-hoc nature, the Northern Elements Progressive Union had little need for organization. The party only had a small office in Kano but it did not have the funds with which to expand its activities.
Leadership and Support
Mallam Aminu Kano was the founder and leader of the party. Other leading members of NEPU were Saadu Zungur, Ilia Ringim, Tanko Yakassai, Mudi Spikin, Magaji Dambatta, Bello Ijumu and Yerima Bala. The party had a large mass support base in Kano. It was the party of the (Northern) masses (talakawa).
Aims and Objectives of NEPU
The party stood for immediate self-government and the emancipation of the poor.
Sources of Income
NEPU’s main sources of income were party levies and donations.
Performances
The party was quite modest in its achievements. NEPU won 12 of the 26 seats in the Kano Municipal Council in the 1951 elections. The result was a wake-up call for the NPC. In the 1959 Federal elections, NEPU won 8 seats in the Federal House of Representatives.
NEPU was radical and democratic in character and stood for the economic emancipation of the people. Although the party was largely restricted to Kano, it managed to forge alliances with some southern parties like the NCNC. The party could not have done better than it did given its lack of resources and organisation and the threat it posed to the dominant political forces in the Northern Region at the time. NEPU re-incarnated as the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) in the Second Republic.
