Alhassan Dantata is the father of the late Aminu Dantata and the founder of the Dantata business dynasty. He is also the great-grandfather of Aliko Dangote.

The late Alhassan was a philanthropist and the richest businessman in Kano in the 1920s. In 1929, when the Bank of British West Africa opened a branch in Kano, Dantata placed 20 camel-loads of silver coins in it; becoming its first customer and that singular gesture earned him to have special regard from the colonial masters, who also instituted much trust in him.

History has shown that he started as a trader from Northern Nigeria who traded mainly in kola nuts and groundnuts. His distribution pool extended far into Europe and at the time of his death, he was the richest man in West Africa.

It is on record that although Dantata was one of the wealthiest men in the British West African colonies, his philosophy of simple life was one of his greatest qualities, which endeared him to many people. He dressed simple and ate simple foods just like any other.

Though wealthy, Alhassan Dantata was known to detest extravagant way of life. He moved about among his workers, joking with them, encouraging and occasionally giving them a helping hand.

Born in Bebeji of Kano Emirate in 1877, his father, Malam Abdullahi, is said to be a wealthy trader from the Agalawa clan – a hereditary group of long-distance traders in the Hausa Empire. Upon the death of his father in Bebeji around 1885, and being too young to manage their father’s considerable wealth, each child was given their portion of his wealth according to Islamic law.

His mother was a trader and wealthy in her own right. After her husband’s death, she decided to leave Bebeji for Accra in the then Gold Coast, present Ghana, where she had commercial interests.

The journey to Accra, which was to last for several weeks, forced her to leave her children behind, in the care of an old slave woman named Tata.

The young Alhassan became known as Alhassan Dantata because of Tata’s role and influence in his life as his “mother”. Dantata attended Qur’anic school in Bebeji, as was the tradition for young Agalawa. He succeeded at the insistence of Tata in saving the little he was getting in a clay bank purchased by Tata.

Dantata was still a teenager when the great upheavals occurred in the Kano Emirate from 1893 to 1895. There were two claimants to the Kano Emirate when Emir Muhammad Bello died in 1893. In the moments of the war, Yusufu forces, one of the claimants, were victorious over Tukur, son of Emir Bello, claiming the title of emir. Because of the Agalawa support of Tukur, Dantata and the other Agalawa had their property confiscated, and many were captured while others were forced to go into exile.

Dantata and his brothers were held for ransom, under the threat of slavery. Through hard work and perseverance, they were able to pay off their debt, and Dantata returned to the trading business without his family lands around Kano.

Probably, after being freed from slavery around 1894, Dantata joined a Gonja-bound caravan to see his mother in Ghana. He purchased some items in Bebeji, sold half of them on the way and the rest in Accra. He might have hoped his wealthy mother would allow him to live with her and find him work among the Gold Coast Agalawa community. However, that did not happen because after a rest of only one day, she took him to a Malam and asked Dantata to stay there until he was ready to return to Bebeji.

Dantata worked harder in Accra than he did in Bebeji. After the usual learning of the Qur’an, he had to go and beg for food. He worked for money on Thursdays and Fridays. As was the tradition, the bulk of his earnings went to his Malam.

At some point, he returned to Bebeji for his religious studies and work. There, Tata continued to insist that he must save something every day. Dantata decided to engage in long-distance trading, but he remained in Bebeji until matters had settled down.

Like his father, he preferred the Nupe and Gonja routes. He used the new trade routes to Ibadan and Lagos to develop his network of trading associates. He specialised in the exchange of Kano dyed cloth, cattle, slave trade and so on.

According to Penglobal, instead of bringing kola nuts on pack animals, he used steamships to transport them between Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi, in Ghana and Lagos. He was the first to develop this route. This innovation and contact with Europeans helped him establish his wealth and future business dynasty. He supplied large British trading companies with raw materials and also had business interests in the Gold Coast.

In 1906, he began broadening his interests by trading in beads, necklaces, European clothing, and trade goods. Around 1908, his mother, who had never remarried, died in Accra. After her death, he focused his attention on new opportunities in Lagos and Kano. For example, he built up his trade in kola nuts and eventually the whole “kola trains” to Northern Nigeria were filled with his kola nuts.

Dantata maintained a house in Bebeji but 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 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, which is an extension of Koki in Kano. He married Umma Zaria, and, as was the tradition, she conducted business for him with women of Kano.

According to some written history, Dantata had been known to be a hardworking, frugal and unpretentious individual 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.

In 1912, when the Europeans started to show an interest in the export of groundnuts, 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.

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 businessmen: language, wealth and age. He could speak some English and already had direct dealings with Europeans in Lagos and Accra. And besides, he had substantial 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 of 1914, he quickly dominated the groundnut purchasing business through promotions, loans and contacts.

In 1918, the UK-based Royal Niger Company later became the United Africa Company (UAC). It searched for an agent to purchase groundnuts for it, and Dantata responded to the offer. Unconfirmed accounts say that he used to purchase about half of all the nuts bought by the United Africa Company in northern Nigeria.

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, becoming its first customer. However, for religious reasons, his money collected no interest. Shortly before his death, he pointed to 60 groundnut pyramids in Kano and said, “These are all mine”.

Dantata applied for a license 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.

Dantata was also famous for undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah by boat in the 1920s. He financed the pilgrimages of other Muslims to Makkah; a tradition that has continued among his descendants.

His son, Alhaji Aminu Dantata and his grandchildren, such as Hajiya Mariya Sunusi Dantata, as well as his great-grandchildren; like Aliko Dangote, still finance the Hajj of other Muslims to Makkah every year.

In 1955, Dantata fell ill, and because of the seriousness of his condition, 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 founded the Dantata business dynasty, which the family has maintained for decades.

Records have shown that even while on his sick bed, he was particularly concerned about the company he had established – Alhassan Dantata & Sons. He told his heirs not to allow the company to collapse. Three days later, he died in his sleep, on Wednesday, August 17, 1955. He was buried in his house in the Sarari ward. (Daily Trust)

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