Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki []1923-2016]

The death on Monday last week of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki robbed Northern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole of one of their foremost statesmen and also one of the most prominent traditional, religious, business and public service figures. Dasuki, who was 18th in the line of Sultans of Sokoto dating back to Sheikh Usman Dan […]

The death on Monday last week of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki robbed Northern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole of one of their foremost statesmen and also one of the most prominent traditional, religious, business and public service figures. Dasuki, who was 18th in the line of Sultans of Sokoto dating back to Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio, died at a private hospital in Abuja at the age of 92. He was buried the following day at the Hubbaren Shehu in Sokoto, where departed sultans are interred.
The Federal Government delegation at the funeral was led by Chief of Staff to the President Malam Abba Kyari. It included the Ministers of Interior, Defence, Justice and FCT as well as Director General, Department of State Services. Governors of Kano and Kebbi states, the deputy governor of Sokoto State and the Emirs of Gwandu, Kano, Argungu, Anka, Bungudu and Mafara were also present at the funeral. Malam Mamman Daura and retired Lt Gen Aliyu Gusau, both of them Dasuki’s sons-in-law, were also present.
Dasuki became Sultan in 1988 in succession to Sir Abubakar III. He made history as the first ever member of the Danfodio family’s Buhari line to become the Sultan. Prior to that Buhari family members only became district heads of Dogon Daji and Tambuwal in southern Sokoto State. Even though violent protests engulfed Sokoto and environs upon his ascension, the state government blamed it on agitators and rivals to the throne. Dasuki’s reign was cut short on April 20, 1996 when the military government of General Sani Abacha deposed him. He was detained in Zing, Taraba State and was released by General Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1998. He then lived in Kaduna until his death last week.
Before he became Sultan, Dasuki was already one of the best known public figures in Nigeria on account of the many prominent positions that he held in government and the business world. Born at Dogon Daji, Sokoto State on December 31, 1923, he was the son of Sarkin Yamman Dogon Daji Haliru Ibn Barau. He attended Koranic school from 1928 and entered Dogon Daji Elementary School in 1931. He proceeded to Sokoto Middle School in 1935 and later went to Barewa College, Zaria which he finished in 1943. He then worked as a clerk in the Sokoto Native Authority Treasury before he left to work at Gaskiya Corporation, Zaria in 1945.
Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki crossed over to the government of Northern Nigeria as an executive officer in 1953. He became the private secretary to Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto in 1954 and soon became one of the Sardauna’s closest aides and confidants. In 1957 Dasuki became deputy secretary of the Northern Region’s Executive Council. In 1958 he became Nigeria’s Pilgrims Officer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dasuki also worked at the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan in 1960-61 and later became the Resident for Plateau Province in Jos.
He was one of the first generation of northerners to become permanent secretaries. He was the permanent secretary in the regional Ministry of Local Government and later the Ministry of Commerce in 1964-5. Following the breakup of the North into six states in 1967, Dasuki retired from the civil service but he held many important public service positions. He was chairman of the Northern Nigeria Produce Marketing Board in 1966, the region’s top revenue earner. From 1967 to 1977, he was director and later chairman of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC.
He took the influential traditional title of Baraden Sokoto in 1973 and he was also the Secretary General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam [JNI] and the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA. Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki was also very prominent in business. He was chairman of the defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International [BCCI] from 1979 to 1989 and was a director of Aprofim.  During the Second Republic, he was an influential member of the ruling National Party of Nigeria, NPN. In 1984 the Buhari military regime appointed him chairman of the Committee for the Review of Local Government Administration in Nigeria.  He was also a member of the Constitution Review Committee of 1988. From 1990 to 1996, Sultan Dasuki was Chancellor of the University of Abuja.
The late 18th Sultan is survived by his wives and many children and grandchildren. Among his children is the former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, who is embattled in the so-called Armsgate scandal and could not attend his father’s funeral. Despite some controversies during his long public service and business career, the protests that rocked his ascension, his controversial deposition from the throne or even the current troubles of his eldest son Col Sambo Dasuki, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki will be remembered for his patriotic, selfless and many sided contributions to the progress of Nigeria. May Allah grant him eternal rest in Aljannah Firdaus.