Last interview: I never prayed to be Sultan of Sokoto – Shehu Malami

Five months ago, Alhaji Shehu Malami, who died yesterday in Cairo, Egypt, was featured in Trust TV’s programme, Reminiscences anchored by Kabiru A. Yusuf. In the interview, which was also published by this paper on July 10, 2022, the late Sokoto prince, spoke about his growing up, education, his memories of Sultan Abubakar III and […]

Five months ago, Alhaji Shehu Malami, who died yesterday in Cairo, Egypt, was featured in Trust TV’s programme, Reminiscences anchored by Kabiru A. Yusuf. In the interview, which was also published by this paper on July 10, 2022, the late Sokoto prince, spoke about his growing up, education, his memories of Sultan Abubakar III and other interesting issues. Excerpt:

You are from a royal family. Your father was a brother to the sultan, which means that you are part of the Sokoto elite, even from the beginning. I think it is fair to say you started life with a golden spoon. Would that be the right description?  

My father was a younger brother to the late Sultan Abubakar. It was the Sultan who brought me up. My father told me that one day he was just sitting down and one of the palace guards entered his room and asked for Malami, informing him that he was asked to bring me to the palace. When the palace guard marched to the palace, Sultan Abubakar directed that I should be taken to elementary school. From that day, he took over my affairs without exception.  

It appeared you went to many schools, not only in Sokoto, but Kano, Katsina, and Bida; why all those changes?  

I started with Sokoto Middle School, but later on, it was not upgraded. It was a middle school but they called it Provincial Secondary School, Sokoto. Kano was upgraded, so the whole of my class, including Alhaji Alhaji, and so many of us, were transferred to that place.

We were in Kano for one year. Then the authorities thought there were too many distractions there, so they decided to move us to Katsina. It was in Kano that I met Emir Ado Bayero and others and we all became friends at that particular time. After one year, I was transferred to the Katsina Provincial Secondary School. That was where I met General Buhari and Yar’adua, they were my schoolmates.  

Were you their senior?

From Katsina, I was moved to Bida. It is a very interesting story. When it was time for Sallah holidays, all our school belongings, including books, were collected so that we could go away. I decided to go to Kano from Katsina and Alhaji Alhaji decided to accompany me. When we got back, we were told that we had committed a very serious offence –we shouldn’t have gone out of Katsina at all as the holidays were meant to be spent there, not anywhere else.

So we were called in by the school authorities and told that we broke the rule. I asked which rule we broke as everything I brought into the school was collected from me.  I felt I was just going on normal holidays. He said I shouldn’t have gone there, insisting that it was an offence, but I disagreed.

Alhaji, who accompanied me to Kano, felt threatened. He felt unsecured, so he wanted to apologise to the principal. But I refused to apologise, insisting that I had not committed any offence.

It was a case that involved me, Alhaji Alhaji and the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. We got to the Sokoto Local Authority or Education Authority as you call them and it was a battle to remove me from Katsina to somewhere else. That was how it was decided to send me to Bida. It was an administrative decision.

I insisted that we did not commit any offence because we should have been told that the holidays should be spent in Katsina and not anywhere else. Nobody told us that in advance. So, it was decided that I should be sent to Bida Provincial Secondary School, where I met with General Babangida and many others.

Then it was time for the West African School Certificate exams and the documents were to come from Lagos to Bida for us to fill and the principal or whoever it was to sign and return them to Lagos. It was on a Friday and we were expecting the last mail. I was in school (of course on Fridays everybody was there) but we went away for the afternoon.

After we left the school, the mail arrived from Lagos and they were looking for everybody to fill the documents. Unfortunately, I was nowhere to be found. When I came back in the evening, they said I had committed an offence and should stay for another week waiting for another mail to come in from Lagos. I said I was not going to do that. I could stay one or three nights but not to wait until when the mail would come back the following week. So, I just collected everything belonging to the school, left it there and made my way to Kaduna, then Sokoto. That was how I left Bida without completing the school calendar.  

Many people would think that this rebellion was because you were privileged, as the next thing was that you went to England to study; is that correct?

That was very interesting. When I was sent to school on the instruction of Sultan Abubakar, the man in charge of education was Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto.  

Was he the councillor for education?

Yes. Somehow, he kept an eye on me, deliberately or by accident, and saw that I was doing very well. So, not minding all the crises about staying in Bida or everywhere, Sultan Abubakar said they would take me out. That was how he decided to send me to England.

Interestingly, Sultan Abubakar gave me a cheque in his bank account, the Standard Chartered Bank, which was called the Bank of British West Africa. It was in Zaria at the time.

When I went to collect the money, the European there refused, saying I was a young boy so he would not give me so much money. The cheque was for 400 pounds, which was a lot of money at the time. It would run into millions of naira now.

I went to the Iyan Zazzau, Aminu. He was not yet the Emir of Zaria, but whenever there was an opportunity, there used to be a horse racing. Sarkin Kudu Maccido was the district head of Mafara before he became sultan. He used to take me along to Zaria. That was how I got to know Iyan Zazzau. We stayed in his house at Tundun Wada.

So, I told Iyan Zazzau that I needed to take the money to Ahmadu Bello. He accompanied me to see the manager of the bank and he released the money to me.

What was the money for?

When I took it to Ahmadu Bello, he organised my flight to the United Kingdom, school fees and other things about the school. Everything was paid for out of the 400 pounds.

At what point did you become Sultan Abubakar’s private secretary?

During independence celebrations, the Sultan of Sokoto had so many personal assistants, but there were so many areas that needed attention. People were given assignments but there was no standing private secretary or personal assistant, so I acted for that period.

Was that in 1960?

Yes.   We went to Lagos together for the independence. I was with Sultan Abubakar at the Race Course when the British flag was lowered and that of Nigeria went up.

How long did you work as his personal assistant or private secretary?

Six months or so when things went back to normalcy and a lot of the people came back.

We have heard a lot about Sultan Abubakar; can you tell us more about him? How was he different from the Sardauna, whose image is much larger?

Sultan Abubakar was a straightforward and no-nonsense man, to the extent that he dismissed his own brother from Wurno. His brother was the district head of Wurno, but he was not handling money properly, so he was removed.

Was that his younger brother?

The district head was his elder brother. The sultan removed him and put me there and said there were rules and regulations that must be abided by, no matter who you were.

We heard he was a man with a great sense of humour, is that true?

Yes. And he was full of humility. He got on very well with General Gowon, who was his friend. He was a great man. I learnt a lot from him. There are some reports about him in the British press and libraries.

One other notable thing about your career in business is that you were chairman or director of banks, including Union Bank. You were also part of the people who set up Ecobank; is that correct?

That’s right. I was on the Board of Trustees with Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Would you say you got those appointments because you had links in the government?

Well, in the UK, when I was the chairman of that committee I mentioned earlier, we met a lot of people coming from Nigeria. We tried to entertain them and make them feel at home. That was the atmosphere. We were always in touch. It was like a clique. And each one of us established something, but unfortunately, things later collapsed.

I heard you are also the chairman of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), which means that you are still active in business, even in your 80s, what is the secret?

Yes, I am very much active. I have the intention to give you all the dishonest things they did to take away the company from me.

Do you still engage in other businesses, or is there something else you enjoy doing in your retirement?

I have retired; I don’t do any business.

What about other activities?

As a prince of the caliphate, a couple of times you were close to being a sultan, is it still an ambition for you?

I never prayed to God to make me a Sultan of Sokoto, never at any minute. 

Why?

I only prayed to Allah to give me what is best for me and he has done it. I am completely satisfied with what Allah has done for me. I am not complaining to anybody.

If you had become the sultan, would you have been happy even though you didn’t pray for it?

I don’t know. There are so many ways to be fulfilled, it depends on the opportunity. You may be the sultan but may not have the opportunity to make it long. The appointment is nothing; it depends on who is there. The person there makes it important and not the title itself.

Where do you enjoy travelling to?

Well, I have so many friends in Tunisia, which is a beautiful country. I also have so many friends in Cairo, Egypt. I even have properties in Egypt.  

What about England where you spent your youthful days; I hear you used to have a house there.

I hardly go there. I have no more children or grandchildren in England. They are qualified and all looking after themselves. What I always hoped for was to be able to take care of them. I paid every single kobo for their education; the government did not contribute anything to educating any of my children.