Buhari Mourns Sultan Dasuki

President Muhammadu Buhari extended heartfelt condolences to the Dasuki family, the government and people of Sokoto State on the death of the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki.

President Buhari also commiserated with the Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs over the demise of the remarkable traditional ruler that devoted his life, tenure of office to the promotion of peaceful coexistence and tolerance among diverse ethnic groups in Nigeria.

The President joined them in mourning the passing of one of Nigeria’s most powerful voices for peace and unity in diversity, who diligently kept faith with the virtues of the Sardauna whom he had served as a public servant.

Apart from modernising the traditional institution to bring it in tune with changing times, President Buhari believe that the Ibrahim Dasuki, who died on Monday at the age of 93, will be long remembered for his role in the creation of the present local government system in the country.

The President paid tribute to his contribution to national peace and development, particularly his significant role in producing the report that gave birth to the current local government councils.

President Buhari prayed that Almighty Allah will comfort the family of his Eminence, grant the deceased eternal rest and reward his good virtues with Paradise. He has since been buried.

According to Wikipedia, the Sokoto Caliph was the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate. The official title is Sultan of Sokoto and includes the title “Amir-ul-Momineen“. The post has become increasingly ceremonial since British rule, but the Sultan, considered a spiritual leader in the Muslim community in Nigeria, can still carry a lot of weight with Fulani and Hausa people from northern Nigeria.

Shaihu Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the dynasty of Sokoto State and of the Fulani Empire (consisting of the Fulbe Jihad states of which Sokoto was suzerain), never used the high style of Sultan (his son was the first to do so), but was simply titled Amir al-Mu´minin, also styled Lamido Julbe (which literally means Governor of the believers in Fulani). The sultan of Sokoto is the leader of the Qadiriyya sufi order, historically the most important Muslim position in Nigeria and senior to the Emir of Kano, the leader of the less populous Tijaniyya sufi order.

As mentioned above, the Sultans were also styled Amir al-Mu´minin and Sarkin Musulmi (“King of the Muslims”, basically the autochthonous form of the former, which is the Arabic style of Caliphs and other independent sovereign Muslim rulers that claim legitimacy from a community of Muslims); Mai, occurring in various Sultans’ surnames, is another autochthonous title.