Requiem for the deposed Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki

Even in death, the deposed Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki remains great. His personality as a rare breed of strong will and resilience having lived over two decades after his dethronement as Sultan of Sokoto will certain provoke in-depth studies by socio-psychologists in years to come. Indeed, his transition, on Monday night at the ripe age of 92 has created a vacuum in the Sokoto Sultanate that will be difficult to fill.

The deceased who would have clocked 93 on December 31, 2016 ruled for just eight years as Sultan of Sokoto. He was crowned on December 1988, but dethroned on April 20, 1996 during the military administration of the late General Sani Abacha.

Despite the humiliation and subsequent incarceration in Zing, Taraba State, Dasuki’s voice, till his passage, remained strong against injustice and the abuse of power.

Tell (magazine) of January 27, 1997 captured his travails after the dethronement in a report entitled, Dasuki: Hard Life In Exile thus: “After the loss of his throne, he was banished to faraway Zing in Taraba State, more than 24 hours by road from Sokoto, the seat of his caliphate. Zing is a dusty rural town in Taraba on the outskirts of a Government Reservation Area (GRA) and he was detained in a grim, white bungalow with three bedrooms. A high fence ensured that the building was kept from the glare of curious Nigerians.

“The locals quickly dubbed the place ‘Dasuki Lodge’. Prior to his banishment to Zing, the building was the local government guest house Number 6, located between Guest Houses Seven and 11. Armed soldiers occupied the Seven and 11 watched Dasuki every hour of the day…

“While in Zing, he lost the exotic lifestyle that he was used to and he did not even have any say over what he ate. The food he was served was at the whim of the local government secretariat cook. Once the food arrived, one of the three soldiers on ground would take the meal to Dasuki and would taste it to assure it was not poisoned.

“The traumatized sultan was said to have lost weight because he lost his appetite. There was also a time he had typhoid fever, and that was because there was no source of potable water in Zing and had to drink from the rijiya (traditional well) or from the various streams in the locality. When the typhoid became serious, he had to be hospitalized at the Aso Rock Clinic for several days and after his discharge, he was supplied bottled water brought to him directly from Jalingo…”

Dasuki was born in Dogon Daji, Sokoto. He was the son of Haliru Ibn Barau who held the title of Sarkin Yamma and who was the district head of Dogon Daji. He started Quaranic education in 1928. In 1931, he attended Dogondaji Elementary School before proceeding to Sokoto Middle School in 1935. He finished his secondary education at Barewa College on a sponsorship from Sokoto Native Authority. After finishing high school in 1943, he worked as a clerk in the treasury office of the Sokoto Native Authority as it was the tradition in Northern Nigeria for grant recipients to work for their sponsors, their respective Native Authorities.

However, in 1945, he took up appointment with Gaskiya Corporation, a publishing house that published the Hausa daily, Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo. In 1953, heeding the call by Ahmadu Bello for Northern Nigeria citizens to take up appointment in the regional civil service, he joined the service as an executive officer. A year later he became private secretary to Ahmadu Bello.

In 1957, he filled the position of regional executive council deputy secretary and a year later he was sent to Jeddah as Nigeria’s pilgrimage officer. Between 1960 and 1961, he worked in the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan and was later brought back to Nigeria by Ahmadu Bello to work as resident in Jos, later on, he became the permanent secretary in the regional Ministry of Local Government.

Dasuki later switched to the Ministry of Commerce in 1965 as its permanent secretary.
From 1965 until he was crowned Sultan, Dasuki concentrated largely on his business activities. In 1966, he was chairman of the influential Northern Nigeria Produce Marketing Board, a monopsonist organization involved with marketing the export of groundnut and in the distribution of seeds and chemicals. From 1967 to 1977, he was director and later chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. From 1979 to 1989, he was co-founder and chairman of the Nigerian branch of BCCI.

He was also a partner of Nessim Gaon in APROFIM, the firm was involved in infrastructure investments, commodity production, purchasing and export activities. In 1984, he was appointed chairman of the Committee for the Review of Local Government Administration in Nigeria. The government was tasked with the objective of recommending ideas on how to curb the machinations of state governments in local government affairs and how local governments can encourage rural development. One of the major recommendations of the committee was the establishment of a national local government commission. However, the idea was rejected by the government.

Dasuki was also an influential figure in the 1988 Constituent Assembly, he was a nominated member of the assembly and was seen as a rallying point for the core north. He provided impetus for a loose association known as the consensus/democrat group in the Constituent Assembly but when Shehu Musa Yar’Adua an influential backer pulled out of the group, the group was weakened.

After the death of Abubakar Siddique, the 17th Sultan of Sokoto on November 1, 1988, Dasuki was among the leading centenders to become the new Sultan. Some of his opponents included Shehu Malami and Muhammadu Maccido. Maccido was the son of Abubakar Siddique and he was popular among the populace in Sokoto. However, Dasuki was close to the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida. On December 6, 1988, he was announced as the new Sultan to the dismay of some in Sokoto.

The announcement led to five days of rioting in which 10 people died. He was considered a modernist against the wishes of some who wanted the traditionalist candidate, Maccido. As Sultan, Dasuki tried to endear himself to the Sokoto populace. He built 10 Quaranic schools in 1990 and established an adult literacy class. Dasuki also tried to unite the Muslim ummah through the reorganization of Jama’atu Nasril Islam and the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). He gave impetus to the appointment of the late Lateef Adegbite, who became the first Yoruba Secretary General of NSCIA.

In 1996, Dasuki was called into the office of the military administrator of Sokoto, Yakubu Muazu and was told he was deposed as the Sultan. He was flown to Yola and then taken to Jalingo where he was placed in exile. Muazu gave some reasons for the banishment such as Dasuki was causing enmity among the people and among the royal family, ignoring government directives and traveling outside his domain without approval or notice from the government.

However, some believe he was deposed because of personal issues between him and General Sani Abacha. Dasuki’s son in law, Aliyu Dasuki was a classmate of Sani Abacha and also his business partner. Aliyu died in 1992 and Ibrahim Dasuki handled his estate affairs after his death, Abacha was said not to be comfortable with the management and disbursement of Aliyu’s estate.

It was also reported that after his dethronement, the Abacha junta claimed that he had a case to answer with the Failed banks Tribunal. But when a judge ruled that Dasuki had no case to answer, the Abacha regume simply brushed the ruling aside and locked Dasuki up. It was after the ruling that the government stated that dasuki was now held under the feared Decree two.