Wednesday July 02, 2025
By Idorenyin UMOREN, Uyo
With Agency reports
Renowned Nigerian industrialist, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, who died on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE, has been laid to rest in the holy city of Madinah, Saudi Arabia. His funeral was held on Tuesday, July 1, at the Al-Baqi Cemetery, following Jana’iza prayers after Maghrib at the Prophet’s Mosque.
A statement by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, signed by Rabiu Ibrahim, confirmed that the late elder statesman’s remains arrived in Madinah early Tuesday, July 1, morning, accompanied by his son, Alhaji Tajudeen Dantata, and nephew, Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, among other family members.
The Nigerian government dispatched a high-powered delegation to honour the late Dantata, led by the Minister of Defence and former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN
Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed Idris
Minister of State for Housing, Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata
Director of Internal Security, ONSA, Hassan Abdullahi, who represented the National Security Adviser.
Also present were prominent Islamic clerics such as Dr. Bashir Aliyu Umar, Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, and Khalifa Abdullahi Muhammad, Imam of Dantata Mosque in Abuja.
The Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah, led by Ambassador Ibrahim Moddibbo, Ambassador Muazzam Ibrahim Nayaya, and Defence Attaché, Major General Adamu Hassan, coordinated the logistics and arrangements for the burial.
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, former APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and the governors of Kano and Jigawa States, Abba Kabir Yusuf and Umar Namadi, were also in attendance.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote led other family members in paying their final respects. Notably, both Emir Muhammad Sanusi II and Emir Aminu Ado Bayero of Kano graced the solemn rites, signifying the importance of the late patriarch.
Alhaji Aminu Dantata was widely respected as a pillar of Northern Nigeria’s economic history and a key figure in the Dantata business dynasty. His death marks the end of an era in Nigerian commerce and philanthropy.
