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Aminu Dantata: The Life and Times of a Foremost Entrepreneur

Published

8 months ago

June 29, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The curtail, on June 28, 2025, dramatically fell on the illustrious career of the prolific son of Kano, Nigeria, who came, saw and conquered in all areas of life endeavors he embarked on. He was Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata, a foremost entrepreneurial guru, who by providence, is also an uncle of the richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Dantata, whose name at a period in history, was a metaphor for wealth and opulence, succumbed to complications of old age when he passed away at the age of 94 in faraway Dubai, UAE.

Aminu Alhassan Dantata, by all intent and purpose, lived a magical life of entreneurship and success between May 19, 1931, when he was born, and June 28, 2025, when he passed on. He was buried in Medinah, Saudi Arabia while an elaborate ceremony was observed on his behalf in Kano, Nigeria.

Dantata was born into the family of Alhassan Dantata, who was from an Agalawa trading family, Aminu Dantata’s grandfather was called Abdullahi while his great-grandfather was called Baba Talatin, a prosperous merchant who brought the family from Katsina to Madobi following the death of his father Ali.

Aminu Dantata’s grandfather, Abdullahi continued to operate from Madobi until 1877 when having set out for a journey to Gonja, his wife gave birth to Alhassan Dantata, the father of Aminu at a campsite (Zango) of Bebeji. On his return from the journey, he decided to abandon Madobi and moved to Bebeji.

Aminu Dantata was the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen children. He started his education 1938, through to 1945. He was educated at Dala Primary School and then finished his education through home studies in a private school built by his father in 1949. After his studies, he joined the family business, Alhassan Dantata & sons, in 1948 as a produce buyer and also got married. In 1955, he became the Sokoto district manager of the business. The year 1955 was also when his father died and the shares in the business were subsequently distributed to the children.

In 1958, Dantata became the deputy managing director of the business with his brother Ahmadu, who was the MD. When Ahmadu died in 1960, Dantata became the head of the business.

Over the years, Dantata expanded the business holdings and his activities into various sectors of the Nigerian political and economic sphere. By the beginning of the 1960s, Dantata had a construction firm that received patronage from the newly independent government in Nigeria, his firm was given a contract to build part of the School of Aviation in Zaria.

In 1961, he was among three other businessmen as part of the 23-member economic mission group, the first worldwide mission sent by an independent government in Nigeria.

In 1964, he was among the pioneer board members of the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank. In 1968, Dantata was appointed Kano State commissioner for Economic Development, Trade and Industry under the administration of Audu Bako, he was in the position until 1973.

During the indigenization period of the 1970s, the Dantata group bought shares and held significant holdings in Mentholatum, SCOA, Funtua Cotton Seed Crushing Co and Raleigh Industries.

He was a businessman and philanthropist of repute, who was one of the promoters of Kano State Foundation, an endowment fund that supported educational initiatives and provided grants to small-scale entrepreneurs in Kano. He was also the head of a group of companies that managed his real estate and other business ventures.

Dantata was the founder of Express Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd and one of the organizers of Jaiz Bank in Nigeria. In 1978, he was a member of the National Movement, an organization that later transformed to the National Party of Nigeria.

Dantata assumed executive leadership of Alhassan Dantata and Sons in 1960, established by his father as commodity firm trading in groundnut, kolanut and a few other commodities, Dantata later invested in some foreign enterprises operating in Nigeria. Between 1960 and 1980, it operated the following divisions: Building and construction division whose contracts included Defence Academy in Kaduna, extension to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria and a civil aviation training school in Zaria. A Merchandise division that was founded in the middle of the 1970s traded in building materials primarily in Northern Nigeria. Northern Amalgamated and Marketing Company Limited, this unit has two main parts, a fertilizer division generally supplying governments and a technical division trading in WARD generators and Barford construction equipment. The firm maintained a division that held a Mercedes Benz dealership and another that maintained a terminal at Warri Port. By the 1990s, the group had changed its identity to become Dantata Organization with additional investment in oil exploration through Express Petroleum.

Dantata donated funds and buildings to various institutions around Kano. He also donated the Alhassan Dantata Haemodyalysis Centre to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and was the first Chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina.

Born in Kano, died in Dubai on June 28, 2025, at the age of 94, Dantata was buried in Medinah, Saudi Arabia.

Featured

Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

17 minutes ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

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Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

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DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

8 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.