My dad is unabashedly fashionable – Yahaya Haliru Dantoro

Yahaya Dantoro: His Royal Highness, Emir of Borgu…WT: (Cuts in) Do you call him his royal highness or daddy?Dantoro: (Laughter) Out of respect, yes. But we nicknamed him ‘Gamji.’ It is a name known with Sir Ahmadu Bello and we named him so because he has attitudes similar to his. Away from the public, he […]

Yahaya Dantoro: His Royal Highness, Emir of Borgu…
WT: (Cuts in) Do you call him his royal highness or daddy?
Dantoro: (Laughter) Out of respect, yes. But we nicknamed him ‘Gamji.’ It is a name known with Sir Ahmadu Bello and we named him so because he has attitudes similar to his. Away from the public, he is a wonderful father and a complete disciplinarian. We all know that and know when not to mess with him. He has always been supportive and has given us the best of everything from education to care. He ensured we studied in other places away from home so that we could interact and better appreciate Nigeria and people. I went to a Catholic school, St Joseph’s in Ilorin as my siblings did. He thought us also humility and respect so much so that we dared not greet an elder standing. If we did, an immediate knock on the head or spank or stern ‘open eye’ rebuke would come our way. He is a very orderly and neat person. I remember travelling with him on several occasions and particularly once for lesser hajj. In the hotel, when he wakes up, he lays the bed before doing anything else. You can imagine how orderly he is (laughter). This is the peak for me of orderliness. At almost 80, he is very active. On this same trip, he walked brisker than our mothers and some of us his children, so much so that our mothers had to take a taxi back home and he walked the rest of the way with us. I think it’s just self-discipline and his own upbringing.
WT: In spite of all this, is he an introvert?
Dantoro: Not at all; and that is something we all took after him. He is such a bubbly and sociable person. My father had his time and he enjoyed it to the fullest. When we were young, we were told of his legend as a young man. We also grew up to see some of it. He loves fashion and loves to look good. He knows he is a handsome man and rubs it in. Even his wives … whenever he dresses, he’ll look at them, smile and then look at himself and say “you can’t joke with me. I’m looking too good for you guys.”  Also, his being a prince added to his regal carriage. As a prince in his time even your wives respected you in a special way. He changed his name to Dantoro from his father’s name who was Mohammed Sani. His personality has made him quite popular. I remember travelling with him to receive an honourary degree from the Igbinedion University and the Esama of Benin told me he had known my dad since 1972 and spoke about his humility and his straight-forwardness regardless who you were.
WT: What are his hobbies?
Dantoro: He likes lawn tennis but with age he doesn’t do that anymore. The one thing he still loves though is having long walks and horse riding. He is never tired of walking even at his age. He also loves company and enjoys chatting a lot.
WT: What fond memories of childhood with him, do you wish you still have?
Dantoro: As children we loved it every time he returned from a trip. We were overwhelmed by the gifts he brought back. There would be cloths and going out. Those days, one of my favourite was a pair of roller skates which meant I was hip and the reigning guy in town in that time. I had a pair of cauldron trousers with patches of badges he had bought me and a matching sweat shirt to go with. We always wanted to see him and were very happy whenever he was around. The other side we didn’t like was the disciplinarian in him. He was hard! When we misbehaved, we would be handled by the key men in the house. For us boys, he would get the guys to hold our legs and another set our hands, while he would do the flogging. That flogging was basic, it was expected. Whenever some of us were naughty we would run to our mothers for protection and sometimes hide under their beds. He would come there to look for us and they would deny that we were there. But he knew and would just smile and go away. We still have very happy moments with him.
WT: Did he get to know you called him Gamji?
Dantoro: Yes, eventually, after a long time. There are the ‘fadawas’ in Hausa who keep the emir company and update him on the gossips and goings-on in the house. They told him that we called him ‘Gamji.’ He was puzzled by it but it stuck between us, the staff and even our mothers until he became emir.
WT: Did Gamji also mean ‘behave’ daddy is here?
Dantoro: Oh yes, it meant the main man, the no nonsense man, is around. Better align yourself. Everybody should humble himself and respect himself.
WT: What habits did he have that many didn’t know of him?
Dantoro: He wasn’t public about the fact that he prays a lot and wasn’t very expressive about how much he cared. He would rather use someone else to show that. Like with us, if we were out he would ask over and over where we were and send that we should come back home. And when we did, he would have a straight face not giving away any sign of worry that he had.  
WT: Asides his lively personality, what else did you take after him?
Dantoro: His good looks (laughter). It’s true. Can’t you see it? We all look like him. He also looks like his father; the genes for looks are strong; our sisters too. This is another reason we’re careful what we do because you don’t know who will identify us by our nose, ears and oval faces that look like his. He brags about the fact that we took after his discipline and behave well. He is our model and we try to copy him. The one thing he always said was “wherever you go, don’t be the first to show yourself. Remain humble.”  While I was in Etisalat, nobody knew I was from a royal home until I was resigning.
WT: He has served Nigeria in various capacities. Which would you say he treasures the most?
Dantoro: It’s difficult to tell. For every opportunity he had to serve he did with the same amount of diligence and enthusiasm. That’s what I saw of him. He was quite a blessed man. At 27 he was a commissioner of industries, agric. He was also chairman of Nigerian Herald and he set up a committee, with the approval of the then Kwara governor, the Dantoro committee, where he achieved a lot. He doesn’t have a house in Minna and none even in the Abuja where he was FCT minister. His only house in Kaduna, he started building with N15, 000 and then he lives in his own house in the village. The opportunities were there but each time he said no. This is not what my father taught me. Each time he said “I want only to serve.” When the royal call came, he took it because it provided another opportunity to live out this desire.
WT:  As children was he a royal father or simply ‘daddy’?
Dantoro: He is simply daddy. It didn’t change anything. We still have the personal one-on-one time we have always had with him. We still sit and chat with him till late in the night. He loves to see his kids around him and is always excited whenever we visit him. He likes us to stay longer than we planned and will show so but with some pride (laughter).  If he doesn’t see you when he wakes up, he’ll immediately ask one of his PAs if you are still around. But we also love being around him, so we indulge him sometimes. Having a father like him makes me really happy. We have had several opportunities to make quick and easy money but we haven’t ever explored them because we remember his words. Even when others till date use his name to enrich themselves, we remember that isn’t something he would be proud to hear.