Background
Audo Bako was born in 1924 at the Kaduna police barracks. His father had served in the police force for 36 years and was chief of the Sabon Gari (non-Hausa people) in Kaduna.
Audo Bako was born in 1924 at the Kaduna police barracks. His father had served in the police force for 36 years and was chief of the Sabon Gari (non-Hausa people) in Kaduna.
He was educated to the Kaduna Government School and the Zaria Middle School.
He was a law instructor (1946-9) and prosecuting officer (1949-54). He then went to Britain to the Metropolitan Police Training School, doing a forensic science course, before returning home to become Senior Superintendent in charge of administration at Kaduna.
Afterwards he attended a series of advanced courses in Britain and Nigeria, becoming Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Kano and Katsina Provinces in 1963 and later Deputy Commissioner in charge of the entire Native Authority Police in the former Northern Region of Nigeria. On May 27, 1967, he was appointed Military Governor of Kano State.
During the Biafran war he attended the Niamey peace talks as a member of the Nigerian delegation in July 1968 and helped to prepare the way for the more important talks that were to be held in August in Addis Ababa.
Bako retired in 1975 after the coup that brought General Murtala Muhammed to power, and began farming in Sokoto State. He died in 1980 leaving a widow and eleven children. After his death, the Tiga dam was renamed the Audu Bako dam. The Audu Bako prize is awarded each year to the winner of the Kano International Polo Tournament. Bako was widely respected, and was considered an example of moral integrity.