Bala Ade Dauke Gora (January 4, 1931 - January 1, 2005) was the first indigenous District Head in Southern Zaria and first monarch of the Atyap Chiefdom, a Nigerian traditional state in southern Kaduna State, Middle Belt (central) Nigeria. He was known by the titles Kuyan Banan Zazzau and Agwatyab I.
Early life and education
Bala grew up seeing his father, Ade, and his father's elder brother, Dauke, living together in a large compound and farming together in Gan, Kanai (H. Gora), Atyapland. His uncle was the Family Head () as well as Village Head (T. , H. ) of Kanai (H. ), acting in the capacity of an administrator in the area, answerable to the District Head at the Administrative Headquarters in Zangon Kataf town. Bala's exact date of birth is unknown; he earlier predicted his birth year to be between 1935 and 1936 in his autobiography captured in the book he wrote titled, Zangon Kataf: A Journey of a People. However, it is inscribed on his tomb that he was born January 4, 1931.
Bala's education career began in 1942, when he was enrolled by his uncle, Dauke, who loved him greatly into the Native Authority (NA) primary school, Zonzon, which he attended alongside Dauke's son, Bako, his beloved cousin, before the latter was dropped after attaining Primary three due to his age. Bako earlier taught Bala ABCD alongside other boys in the house, being one of the first students Zonzon NA primary school, second to be established in Atyapland in 1939, and much older than Bala. Between 1943 and 1946 he held the position of the school's Health Prefect,
In 1946, he was admitted into the Zaria Middle School - now Alhudahuda College (where he remained until 1951) and in the same year, lost his uncle, Dauke. His first visit to the school was in 1944, when his teacher, Dawa Jankasa, took him alongside a friend, Adam Atar, on an exposure mission. He became a long-distance runner in "Waziri House" and won the school house and himself medals. He also became a school Time Keeper and a Junior Prefect in his second year in 1947.
Working career and higher education
After leaving the Zaria Middle School in early 1951, Dauke immediately applied to join the Nigeria Police Force. While awaiting the result, he got a job at the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) Bookshop, Jos. Later that year, his application to join the police was successful and got enrolled into the Police College, Kaduna, and after passing out got his first posting to the Kaduna Junction as a patrolman, his second posting was to the Kaduna roundabout in 1952.
He enrolled for a Fresher's course in Kano to last between 1952 and 1953, but due to the Kano Riot of 1953, could not finish the 6-month course as he got posted to the crisis scene in Fage, Kano. Later on, he became a police station writer and then was moved to the Criminal Investigation Department.
Dauke's first assignment was to bring back a criminal suspect from Lagos, who unfortunately escaped in his custody on the way back to Kaduna in Offa in August ending of 1955, which got him into a mess.
He left the Nigeria Police Force in February 1956 and returned home to Gan, Kanai, alongside his wife, Ladi, who soon became the first seamstress in Atyapland.
In 1958, Dauke was admitted into the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, for a six-month Secretarial Studies program, which he concluded in 1959.
In January 1960, he was again admitted for a one-year Clerical course in the same Institute of Administration, which after concluding, got transferred to the Emir's palace in Zaria (from Zangon Kataf) as a Clerical assistant.
In the last quarter of 1961, he was made the Native Authority's Social Welfare Officer, and remained so till 1963, when he attended the Northern Region Social Welfare Officer's course in Kaduna and came fourth from 14 overall. This, thus, won him an automatic scholarship to go to Coleg Harlech, North Wales, United Kingdom, to study Psychology and Economics at advanced level. On reaching there, he was sent to East London College of Commerce for remedial studies, where he also enrolled into a part-time course in Social Welfare. In 1965, he returned to Coleg Harlech from the London School of Economics to read Sociology.
In 1966, he returned home after the expiry of his scholarship and reapplied for another scholarship to conclude his studies, and it was approved. He was to travel back on 29 April 1967, when he was forced into accepting the position of District Head (or Hakimi) on 4 April 1967, and began acting in that capacity on 6 April 1967.