By Attah Ede
The remains of foremost Northern billionaire, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, has arrived in Saudi Arabia and buried in holy city of Medina according to Islamic rites.
The demised of Alhaji Dantata occurred on Saturday in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 94.
He was an uncle to Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, and left behind three wives, 21 children and 121 grandchildren.
His body was taken from Abu Dhabi, where he died, to the holy city of Medina after Saudi authorities approved his burial in their country.
Top officials from Kano and federal governments attended the funeral prayers at the holy prophet mosque before his interment at the Al-Baqi cemetery.
It was his wish to be buried in the city he adored and where Prophet Muhammad lived and died.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu described Dantata’s death as a “monumental national loss” in a statement.
He said Dantata had made “sterling contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development” through decades of enterprise, service, and philanthropy.
He was known across Nigeria for his philanthropic activities. Last year, he donated 1.5 billion naira ($972,000; £710,000) to victims of the devastating floods in north-eastern Borno state.
His business interests cut across agriculture, real estate, construction and manufacturing.
He first made his name in agriculture, starting trading kola nuts and groundnuts in the 1940s.
He came from a business family – his father Alhassan Dantata was once considered to be the richest man in West Africa.
Despite his riches, Dantata lived in one of the poorest areas of the northern city of Kano, like his parents before him.
His influence was also felt in politics, with politicians eager to seek his blessings before elections.
A special prayer was held for him in Kano, where he lived all his life.
Dantata studied Islamic education, before going to a secondary school built by his father in Kano.
“In our family, a child starts learning how to earn money from as early as five, six or seven years old,” he said in one of his most popular interviews, with Trust TV last year.
“Our father would tell us: ‘You see how people bring groundnuts on donkeys and in sacks – you should also know how to start earning money.’ During school breaks, our father would use the time to teach us how to do business,” he said.
He began venturing fully into business at 17, taking over from his brother Ahmadu Dantata as head of the business his father established in Bichi in the 1950s.
