On August 9, 1920, Aminu was born in the Sudawa ward of Kano City. His parents, Rakaiya and Mallam Yusufu of the Gyanawaclan, were Fulani scholars renowned for their expertise in Islamic law and other Islamic subjects.He was the only one of his mother’s six children to live to be fifteen. Muslim politician Mallam Aminu Kano lived from 9 August 1920 to 17 April 1983.
He spearheaded a socialist campaign against British rule in the country’s north in the 1940s. Kano is home to the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Nigeria’s first international airport, the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and the Aminu Kano College of Islamic Studies.
He was related to the father of former Foreign Affairs Minister Aminu Bashir Wali, former Defense Minister Inuwa Wada, and former Head of State Murtala Mohammed.