Tahir was born in
Tafawa Balewa, and received his early education at Kobi Primary School. In 1954, he attended
Barewa College graduating in 1958. He then proceeded to
King's College, Cambridge on a regional government scholarship where he earned a bachelor's and doctorate degree in
social anthropology. In 1967, he took up appointment as a sociology lecturer at
Ahmadu Bello University in
Zaria. He founded the Gamji club, a social club in honour of Premier
Ahmadu Bello. At the university, he was considered a foremost conservative who frequently clashed with progressives
Bala Usman and Patrick Wilmot. Following the fall of the
First Republic, he advocated for
Northern Nigeria's core value of respect for constituted authority with progressive values of an
open society. In this he shared confidence with a group of Northerners known as the
Kaduna Mafia, who were intellectuals, civil servants and
military officers. In 1978, Tahir was a founding member of the
National Party of Nigeria and later became the party secretary. In the
Second Republic, he was appointed chairman of the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation and later became communications minister. He later participated in the National Political Reform Conference, and headed the Red Cross Society in Nigeria. == Death ==