A delegation from the Federal Government of Nigeria joined prominent dignitaries and family members in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the burial (Jana’iza) of renowned business icon and elder statesman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, in the Islamic holy city of Madinah.
Alhaji Dantata passed away on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the age of 94. In accordance with his wishes, he was laid to rest in Madinah on Tuesday.
Alhaji Tajudeen Dantata, son of the deceased, and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a nephew of the late business magnate, arrived in Madinah on Tuesday morning with the body, accompanied by other family members.
In a statement issued to newsmen yesterday in Abuja by the Special Assistant Media to the Minister of Information and National Orientation Rabiu Ibrahim confirmed that the federal delegation departed Nigeria late Sunday and arrived in Madinah in the early hours of Monday.
Led by the Minister of Defence and former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, the official delegation included the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN; the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Honourable Yusuf Abdullahi Ata; and Hassan Abdullahi, Director of Internal Security at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), who represented the NSA.
Prominent Islamic clerics also accompanied the delegation, including Dr. Bashir Aliyu Umar, Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, and Khalifa Abdullahi Muhammad, Imam of the Dantata Mosque in Abuja.
Officials from the Nigerian Consulate General in Jeddah joined the delegation, led by Ambassador Ibrahim Moddibbo. He was accompanied by Ambassador Muazzam Ibrahim Nayaya and Defence Attaché, Major General Adamu Hassan, who coordinated arrangements for the funeral.
Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, and the immediate past Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, were present at the burial, alongside the Governors of Kano and Jigawa States, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf and Alhaji Umar Namadi, respectively.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote also led other family members and close associates in honoring the late patriarch.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, and Emir Aminu Ado Bayero were also in attendance.
The late Alhaji Aminu Dantata was buried at Al-Baqi Cemetery, following Jana’iza prayers after Maghrib at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
