Nigerian govt delegation arrives Saudi Arabia for Dantata’s funeral

The delegation is led by the Minister of Defence and former governor of Jigawa State, Badaru Abubakar.

A federal government delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday to receive the remains of late business icon and elder statesman, Aminu Dantata, ahead of his funeral in the Islamic holy city of Madinah.

Mr Dantata died in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday at the age of 94.

The delegation, which left Nigeria late on Sunday, arrived at Madinah in the early hours of Monday.

A statement from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation said the delegation is led by the Minister of Defence and former governor of Jigawa State, Badaru Abubakar. Others in delegation are the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and Minister of State of Housing Development, Yusuf Ata.

Also in the delegation are prominent Islamic clerics: Bashir Umar, Aminu Daurawa and Khalifa Muhammad, Imam of Dantata Mosque, Abuja.

The delegation is joined by members of the Nigerian consulate general in Jeddah, led by Muazzam Nayaya, who had been making arrangements for the funeral scheduled to take place later on Monday.

On Sunday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia granted approval for the remains of Mr Dantata to be buried in Madinah.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Dantata’s long-term wish was to be laid to rest in the Holy Prophet’s city of Madinah when he died.

The Kano State Islamic Council of Ulama held a special funeral prayer for the late businessman and philanthropist in Kano. The “Ga’ib Prayer” is an Islamic funeral procession that is performed when the corpse of the deceased is not physically present.

Mr Danatata was the last surviving son of Alhassan Dantata, one of the wealthiest men in pre-independence West Africa, who died in 1955.

His business interests span across agriculture, real estate, construction, oil and gas, and manufacturing.

In addition to his business interests, Mr Dantata was elected a member of the Northern House of Assembly in 1966 and the following year appointed a Commissioner in the Kano State Government, where he served from 1967 to 1973.