One of Nigeria’s richest men buried in Saudi Arabia

0 0 2 minutes read

One of Nigeria’s richest men buried in Saudi Arabia

One of the richest businessmen in Nigeria, Amicu Dantata, was buried in Saudi Arabia after his death in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

Dantata business mogul, 94, a richest man in Africa Aliko Dangote, leaves three women, 21 children and 121 grandchildren.

His body was transferred from Abu Dhabi, where he died, in the holy city of Medina after the Saudi authorities approved his burial in their country.

The senior officials of the Nigerian government participated in the funeral prayers of the Holy Prophet mosque before its burial in the Al-Baqi cemetery.

It was his wish to be buried in a city he adored and where the Prophet of Islam Muhammad lived and died.

The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, described the death of Dantata as a “monumental national loss” in a press release.

He said Dantata had made “sterling contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development” through decades of corporate, service and philanthropy.

He was known through Nigeria for his philanthropic activities. Last year, he donated 1.5 billion nairas ($ 972,000; £ 710,000) to the victims of devastating floods in the northeast state of Borno.

Its commercial interests have crossed agriculture, real estate, construction and manufacturing.

He first made his name in agriculture, starting to exchange kola nuts and peanuts in the 1940s.

He came from a business family – his father Alhassan Dantata was once considered the richest man in West Africa.

Despite its wealth, Dantata lived in one of the poorest areas in the city in the north of Kano, like his parents before him.

His influence was also felt in politics, politicians wishing to seek his blessings before the elections.

A video by President Tinubu bowed to greet him before the 2023 elections became viral on social networks.

A special prayer took place for him in Kano, where he lived all his life.

Dantata studied Islamic education, before going to a secondary school built by her father in Kano.

“In our family, a child is starting to learn to earn money from 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 peanuts on donkeys and in bags – you should also know how to start earning money. “During school breaks, our father would use time to teach us about business,” he said.

He began to venture fully into the business at 17, taking over of his brother Ahmadu Dantata at the head of the company that his father created in Bichi in the 1950s.