{{Short description|Nigerian politician (1912-1994)}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name= Isa Kaita | image= File:Isa_Kaita.jpg | title= Regional Minister for Works | term_start= 1954 | term_end= 1957 | predecessor= Ahmadu Bello | successor= | title2= Regional Minister for Education | term_start2= 1957 | term_end2= 1966 | predecessor2= | successor2= | title3= | term_start3= | term_end3= | predecessor3= | successor3= | title4= | term_start4= | term_end4= | predecessor4= | successor4= | birth_date= January 1912 | birth_place= Katsina | death_date= 26 November 1994 | death_place= Kaduna | party= Northern People's Congress | spouse= | profession= Teacher/Journalist/Administrator | footnotes= }} '''Isa Kaita''' (January 1912{{Spaced en dash}}November 1994) was a Nigerian politician. He went on to hold the chieftaincy titles of the '''Madawaki''' of Katsina and later, the '''Waziri''' of Katsina. Prior to joining politics, he was a broadcaster at the BBC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/13chapter8.shtml|title=The Story of Africa{{!}} BBC World Service|publisher=BBC|access-date=2018-06-11}}</ref>
In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a regional Minister for Works and Education in the Northern Region of Nigeria.
==Life and early career== Isa Kaita was born in Katsina to a noble royal family: his father, Mallam Haruna was the Waziri of the Katsina Emirate, a title he would later hold as well. He attended Katsina Primary School (later named Barewa College) and later went to the Katsina Training College. After completing his studies in 1922, he started teaching at the Katsina Middle School. He taught at the school for 19 years before quitting to become a radio announcer in 1941. He worked at Zoy radio station at the Radio House in Accra, Ghana. He joined the station during World War II and was known to have made broadcasts about related news items on the war. He left the radio station in 1944 to become a secretary to the emir of Katsina and the Katsina Native Authority. In 1948, he traveled to the UK to earn a diploma in public administration at Exeter University, London U.K
==Political career== His political career started when he won a seat to the Northern Region House of Assembly in 1951. He contested the seat under the political platform of the Northern People's Congress. Prior to the election, he was a founding member and prominent campaigner for the party, he was also the party's financial secretary. In 1954, he replaced Ahmadu Bello as the regional minister for Works while also serving at as the party's financial secretary. During the Nigerian First Republic, he was the regional minister for Education and was known to have strived to promote a progressive learning environment and enlightened educational policy.<ref>Rosalynde Ainslie, Catherine Hoskyns, Ronald Segal; ''Political Africa: A Who's Who of Personalities and Parties'', Frederick A. Praeger, 1961. p 119-120.</ref> He was also an important adviser to Ahmadu Bello, the regional premier and a powerful political leader.<ref>Billy J. Dudley. ''Parties and Politics in Northern Nigeria'', p 136.</ref>
==Later career== After the proscription of political activities in 1966 Isa Kaita retired to Kaduna where he was involved as a board member in a few companies such as the United African Company and Chellarams. During the Shagari administration in the 1980s, he was chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau. He was also a lobbyist for the creation of Katsina State.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.codeofconductbureau.com/aboutus.html |title=email<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=16 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927231418/http://www.codeofconductbureau.com/aboutus.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A sport enthusiasts, he was a patron of the Nigerian Fives Association and Nigerian polo. He was also an active member of several associations like the British/Nigerian association, Indie/Nigerian association, Jama'atul Nasrul Islam, Rotary club and so on.
He died at his residence in Kaduna on 26 November 1994.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/3280445 Isa Kaita Biography book] *[https://books.google.com/books?id=nk84AAAAIAAJ&dq=isa+kaita&pg=PA167 list of the Ministers at that Budget Meeting in 1955] *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100920030606/http://nigeriamovies.net/starprofiles/yemi.php Isa Kaita narrated by Yomi Solade]}} *[https://books.google.com/books?id=HCoSuJMof9EC&dq=isa+kaita&pg=PA136 Parties and politics in northern Nigeria By Billy J. Dudley] *https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015424/http://katsinaemirate.com/
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaita, Isa}} Category:Nigerian radio journalists Category:People from Katsina State Category:1912 births Category:1994 deaths Category:Northern People's Congress politicians Category:Government ministers of Nigeria Category:20th-century Nigerian politicians Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford