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Alhassan Dantata

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Alhassan Dantata
Born
Alhassan Abdullahi

1877
Bebeji, Kano Emirate, Sokoto Caliphate (present-day Bebeji, Kano State, Nigeria)
Died17 August 1955(1955-08-17) (aged 77–78)
Kano, Northern Region, British Nigeria
Resting placeSarari ward of Kano
EducationMadrasah in Bebeji
OccupationMerchant
Political partyNorthern People's Congress
Spouse(s)Umma Zaria, Maimuna
Children
RelativesAliko Dangote (great-grandson through Sanusi)
FamilyDantata family

Alhassan Dantata ((Listenⓘ); 1877 – 17 August 1955) was a Northern Nigerian trader in kola nuts and ground nuts, and he was a distributor of European goods. He supplied large British trading companies with raw materials and also had business interests in the Gold Coast. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in West Africa.[1][2] He is the great-grandfather of Aliko Dangote, the wealthiest person in Nigeria and Africa.

Early life

Dantata was born in 1877 in Bebeji, Kano Emirate. Both his parents were prosperous caravan leaders ('madugu') of Agalawa origin. The Agalawa were a group of long distance traders who were originally slaves of Tuareg nobles ('irelewen').[3][4]: 380  Dantata's father, Abdullahi, was a son of another prominent Agalawa merchant, Baba Talatin, who came from Katsina. Soon after Abdullahi’s birth, Baba Talatin moved from Danshayi, a small village roughly fifteen kilometers from Kano, to Madobi. Following his father’s practice, Abdullahi frequently travelled the Nupe and Gonja trade routes. He soon became a wealthy merchant through trading textiles, cattle, and slaves for kolanuts from the Akan forests in modern-day Ghana. Madobi continued to be Abdullahi’s main base of operations until after Dantata’s birth in 1877, when he permanently moved to Bebeji, a market and fortress town south of Kano. He likely died in 1885 and was buried at his Bebeji residence.[4]: 380 [5]: 85 

A Hausa caravan in 1895

Dantata's mother was also a "trader of no small consequence in the area". After Abdullahi's death, the widow was not able to remarry due to her considerable reputation. She eventually moved to Accra, at the time an important trading center in the British Gold Coast, leaving her children in the care of an old slave woman named Tata. Tata's role in raising Dantata led to his nickname 'ɗan Tata' which means 'son of Tata'.[4]: 381–382 

After losing much of his inheritance from his father, Dantata began working to support himself while attending Qur'anic school. He was encouraged to save much of his money by Tata, even buying him an asusu (ceramic moneybox), which is still in possession of the Dantata family today. At about 15 years old, he joined a Gonja-bound caravan to visit his mother in Accra, hoping to rely on her wealth rather than having to support himself. However, a day after his arrival, she took him to a Mallam (Islamic teacher) and asked him to stay there until he was ready to return to Kano. During this period, Dantata lived as an almajiri. After his studies, he had to beg for food to sustain himself and his Mallam. On Thursdays and Fridays, Alhassan worked for money, of which he gave a significant portion to his Mallam.[4]: 382–383 

Kano Civil War and slavery

Dantata was still a teenager when great upheavals occurred in the Kano Emirate from 1893 to 1895. Following the death of Emir Muhammad Bello in 1893, two claimants emerged for the Kano Emirate. Muhammad Tukur, Bello’s son, received his religious training from a Tijaniyya scholar and garnered the support of the Agalawa. Yusufu, who had been overlooked when Bello became Emir, received his religious training from Qaadiriyya schools. In the ensuing civil war, Yusufu’s forces defeated Tukur and he claimed the title of emir.[6] Due to the Agalawa’s support for Tukur, Dantata and the other Agalawa had their properties seized, and many were captured as slaves. Dantata and his brothers were held for ransom under the threat of slavery. After paying the ransom, Dantata returned to the trading business without his family lands around Kano.[7]

Career

Dantata started to be a long-distance trader himself. He remained in Bebeji until matters had settled down. He used the new trade routes to Ibadan and Lagos to develop his network of trading associates. Instead of bringing kola nuts on pack animals, he used steamships to transport them between Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi and Lagos. He was the first to develop this route. This innovation and contact with Europeans helped establish his wealth and future.[citation needed]

In 1906, he began broadening his interests by trading in beads, necklaces, European cloth, and trade goods. His mother, who had never remarried, died in Accra around 1908. After her death, he focused his attention on new opportunities in Lagos and Kano.[8]

Base of operations

Dantata maintained a house in Bebeji and had no property in the larger trading town of Kano. He did not own a house there, but was satisfied with the accommodation given to him by his patoma (landlord). When the British deposed the successor of Yusufu in 1903, they appointed Abbas as the Emir of Kano. As part of a recompilation, Abbas returned the confiscated lands around Kano to the Agalawa families. Dantata built his first house in the then empty Sarari area (an extension of Koki) in Kano.[citation needed]

By all accounts, Dantata was hard working, frugal and unpretentious in his personal habits. He was also a good financial manager. He had the good sense to employ Alhaji Babba Na Alhassan who served as his chief accountant and Alhaji Garba Maisikeli as his financial controller for 38 years. Dantata did not manage from behind a desk but involved himself with his workers.[9]

European trading companies

In 1912, when the Europeans started to show an interest in the export of groundnut, they contacted the already established Kano merchants through Emir Abbas and their chief agent, Adamu Jakada. Some established merchants of Kano like Umaru Sharubutu, Maikano Agogo accepted their offer.[citation needed]

Dantata was already familiar with the manner by which traders could make fortunes by buying cocoa for Europeans in the Gold Coast. He had several advantages over other Kano business men: language, wealth and age. He could speak some English and already had direct dealings with Europeans in Lagos and Accra. He had substantial amounts of capital. Unlike other established Kano merchants, he was in his mid-thirties, with a small family and retinue to support. Despite the famine in Kano in 1914, he quickly dominated the groundnut purchasing business via promotions, loans and contacts.[citation needed]

In 1918, the UK-based Royal Niger Company (later became the United Africa Company) searched for an agent to purchase groundnuts for them, and Dantata responded to their offer.[2] It is said that he used to purchase about half of all the nuts purchased by the United Africa Company in northern Nigeria.[2]

By 1922, Dantata had become the richest businessman in Kano, surpassing other merchant traders. In 1929, when the Bank of British West Africa opened a branch in Kano, Dantata placed 20 camel-loads of silver coins in it. (For religious reasons, his money collected no interest). Shortly before his death, he pointed to sixty "groundnut pyramids" in Kano and said, "These are all mine".[citation needed]

Dantata applied for a licence to purchase and export groundnuts in 1940, on the same level as the United Africa Company. However, it was not granted because of worldwide military and economic conditions. In 1953–54, he became a licensed buying agent, which allowed him to sell directly to the Nigerian Groundnut Marketing board instead of another firm.[citation needed]

He had many business connections both in Nigeria and in other West African countries, particularly the Gold Coast. He dealt not only in groundnuts and kola but also in other merchandise. He traded in cattle, cloth, beads, precious stones, grains, rope and other things.[citation needed]

Pilgrimage to Mecca

Dantata made a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca via boat in the 1920s. On this trip, he also went to England and was presented to George V.[2] Dantata financed the pilgrimages of other Muslims to Mecca, a tradition that continues among his descendants. His son, Alhaji Aminu Dantata and his grandchildren like Hajiya Mariya Sunusi Dantata as well as his great-grandchildren, Aliko Dangote still finance pilgrimages of other Muslims to Mecca every year.[10]

Death

In 1955, Dantata fell ill. Because of the seriousness of his illness, he summoned his chief financial controller, Garba Maisikeli and his children. He told them that his days were approaching their end and advised them to live together. He was particularly concerned about the company he had established (Alhassan Dantata & Sons). He asked them not to allow the company to collapse. He implored them to continue to marry within the family as much as possible. He urged them to avoid clashes with other wealthy Kano merchants. They should take care of their relatives, especially the poor among them. Three days later, he died in his sleep on Wednesday 17 August 1955. He was buried in his house in the Sarari ward.[2]

Descendants

Some descendants of Alhassan Dantata includes:

  • Ahmadu Dantata (1916–1960): son, a politician[11]
  • Sanusi Dantata (1917–1997): son, a successful businessman[12]
    • Alhaji Abdulkadir Dantata: grandson[13]
  • Mudi (Sulaiman) Dantata (1916–1960): son, a businessman
  • Mahmud Dantata, popularly known as Mamuda Wapa (1922–1983): son. After graduating from Gold Coast University (Ghana) he became his father's chief scribe and Modernized his business activities. He later founded West African Pilgrims Agency in 1948 and pioneered parallel Market Currency Trading in West Africa. The Genius Shrewd Business Man brought more fame to Dantata Family within West African Countries.[14]

References

  1. ^ Price, J.H (19 October 1955). "Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, An Appreciation". West Africa. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dan-Asabe, Abdulkarim Umar (November 2000). "Biography of Select Kano Merchants, 1853–1955". FAIS Journal of Humanities. 1 (2). Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  3. ^ Miers, Suzanne; Kopytoff, Igor (1977). Slavery in Africa : historical and anthropological perspectives. Internet Archive. Madison : University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-07330-5.
  4. ^ a b c d Adamu, Abdalla Uba; Gwarzo, Bello Bashiru, eds. (2010). Kano in the Second Millennium: Selected Papers Presented at the Seminar on Kano in the Second Millennium Kano. Kano: Research and Documentations Directorate.
  5. ^ Hogendorn, Jan S. (1979). Nigerian groundnut exports : origins and early development. Internet Archive. Zaria : Ahmadu Bello University Press ; Zaria ; Oxford : Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-978-125-005-7.
  6. ^ Stilwell, Sean (2000). "Power, Honour and Shame: The Ideology of Royal Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 70 (3). Edinburgh University Press: 394–421. doi:10.2307/1161067. ISSN 0001-9720. JSTOR 1161067.
  7. ^ Lovejoy, Paul E. (2007). Kolapo & Akurang-Parry (ed.). "Alhaji Ahmad El=Fellati Ibn Dauda Ibin Muhammad Manga and the Kano Civil War, 1893-1895". African Agency and European Colonialism. University Press of America: 45–58. ISBN 978-0-7618-3846-3.
  8. ^ "Meet the wealthy but simple Nigerian merchant behind Dangote's success story". Face2Face Africa. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  9. ^ Dan-Asabe, Abdulkariu Umar (2000). "Biography of Select Kano Merchants, 1853-1955". FAIS Journal of Humanities. 1 (2). Federal College of Education, Kano. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  10. ^ Iliffe, John (2005). "Urbanisation and Masculinity". Honour in African History. Cambridge University Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-521-83785-9.
  11. ^ Sklar, Richard L (2004). Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation. Africa World Press. ISBN 978-1-59221-209-5.
  12. ^ Loimeier, Roman (1997). Islamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria. Northwestern University Press. pp. 65–70. ISBN 978-0-8101-1346-6.
  13. ^ Mfonobong Nsehe. "Nigerian Tycoon Abdulkadir Dantata Is Dead", Forbes, 8 February 2012. Accessed 3 March 2016.
  14. ^ Hashim, Yahaya; Kate Meagher (1999). Cross-Border Trade and the Parallel Currency Market – Trade and Finance in the Context of Structural Adjustment. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute. p. 30. ISBN 978-91-7106-449-3.
  15. ^ Forrest, Tom (1994). The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise. Edinburgh University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-7486-0492-0.
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