Hajja Amne Kamselem was born in 1941 in the ancient city of Dikwa to Mallam Mohammed Shettima Modu Arfo. Mallam Mohammed Shettima Modu Arfo was the son of Kaka Shettima Arfo. Kaka Shettima Arfo ‘s father was Diwama Adam, a renowned member of the Borno ulama of their time. Diwama Adam’s wife, the mother of Kaka Shettima Arfo was Ya Alima.
Hajja Amne Kamselem is the namesake of Ya Amne Abdusalam, a respected Shuwa woman in Dikwa. Ya Amne was the wife of Baba Liman Abdusalam. Baba Liman Abdusalam was a friend to Hajja Amne’s grandfather, Kaka Shettima Arfo. Both her grandfather, Kaka Shettima Arfo and his friend Baba Liman Abdusalam were renowned Islamic scholars of their time.
In those days when parents were unwilling to send their children to school, Hajja Amne’s grandfather decided to enrol her as a pupil in Bama Central Primary school. As fate would have it, it was in Bama Central Primary School that the late Alhaji Kamselem first saw the young Amne and admired her for a wife. In those days, Alhaji Kamselem usually paid visits to schools during vacations, especially to schools where his classmates were teaching. On a fateful day, he paid a visit to his former classmate, Alhaji Bukar Kanembu, whom he met teaching in a classroom. As was the tradition, Alhaji Bukar Kanembu ordered his pupils to stand up and greet the visitor. The pupils also introduced themselves one after the other. While introducing themselves, Alhaji Kamselem noted that two girls bore the name AMNE. He became curious and asked why the two were bearing the one name. Mallam Bukar then explained that the first one was Amne Shuwa, while the second was Amne Kanuri, the grand daughter of Kaka Shettima Arfo. ‘’Amne Kanuri’s bewitching beauty literally melted Kamselem’s heart. On leaving the classroom, he advised other pupils to emulate Amne who could not even raise her head and look into the visitor’s eyes.’’ Later Alhaji Kamselem confided in his very close friend and confidant, Alhaji Bukar Kanembu and declared his intention to marry the young Amne. Alhaji Kamselem was then working as a police officer in Kano. The traditional marriage contracted in 1953, when Amne was only 10 years old. She however remained with her parents for two years, being taught how to prepare delicacies for her husband. It was in 1955 that Alhaji Kamselem was allowed to bring his wife to her matrimonial home in Kano. The couple led a successful life. Alhaji Kameslem rose to the rank of Inspector General of Police and retired in 1976. After retirement he tried his hand in politics and emerged as a gubernatorial candidate in Borno, on the platform of the NPN in the 1979 elections. He however lost to Alhaji Mohammed Goni of the GNPP. Alhaji Kamselem passed way in London hospital on July 9th 1981. May his soul be blessed with Jannatul Firduausi.
Today, Hajja Amne Kamselem, blessed with successful children, lives in her family house in Maiduguri. She represents a generation of women whose ultimate goal in life is to see that others live life to its fullest.
For her, the society would be better off if people imbibe the culture of tolerance and play politics by the rules. Democracy, she believes, must be people oriented, since it exists for their own sake, as enunciated by Abraham Lincon. Hajja Amne is not a politician per se. Her first contact with politics was in 1979 when her husband contested the gubernatorial election. In fact, initially she did not like her husband contesting. Later when she saw his ‘’welfarist’’ manifesto, she succumbed. Her conviction was based on fact that there was too much underdevelopment, poverty and misery in Nigeria and Borno in particular. It was the desire to change these that informed her interest in politics, which she softly played up to 1973, when her friend’s son (Senator Ali Modu Sheriff) indicated interest in the governorship of Borno.

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