Sani Dangote: A good man departs

The sad news of the death of Alhaji Sani Dangote on November 14 came as a shock, not because we have forgotten that death is inevitable but because the death of a good man always unsettling. If anything is certain in life, it is death. Yet it never ceases to surprise us. I have known […]

The sad news of the death of Alhaji Sani Dangote on November 14 came as a shock, not because we have forgotten that death is inevitable but because the death of a good man always unsettling. If anything is certain in life, it is death. Yet it never ceases to surprise us.

I have known Alhaji Sani for the best part of the last 35 years or so. I had the privilege to facilitate one of his marriages and we have since then remained the best of in-laws. He was such a humble person despite his wealth; he respected people irrespective of their social status. He was accessible and always ready to help others.

It was not a surprise therefore he was many things during his life. He headed many business groups, like Shippers Association, Gum Arabic Producers Association, Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association and many more. All these go to show his congenial nature which earned him the trust of many. At one time he was the honorary Consul of Romania in Nigeria.

While we mourn his loss, we are consoled by the fact that he led a good life and did a lot to help the poor and the less privileged. He maintained his respect of his seniors even when they had nothing anywhere near his wealth. He never flaunted his wealth and too often he would pass unnoticed in contentment and humility. May Allah forgive his sins and grant him Aljanna Firdaus Amin.

While we pray to Allah to forgive his faults and mistakes he may have committed, we need to seize the opportunity to learn the lessons of his death. For in every death is a lesson and as the Prophet of Islam has clearly stated: “he for him death does not serve as a lesson does not need any sermon at all”. Meaning he or she would have been a lost case. In other words the extent to which we make a lesson out of death is a measure of our faith.

May Allah guide us to that which is best for our lives here and the hereafter. May He give us the contentment to realize that our needs are very little in this temporary world, may He help us control our greed so that we take only what is legitimate and share what we are blessed with here for our hereafter. Amin.

Lawan Idris sent this from Kaduna