Dangote: How my mum and I watched my brother die

Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, has narrated how he watched Sani, his brother, die in a US hospital.

Sani, group vice-president of Dangote Industries Limited, died on November 14.

Speaking on Friday when Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state, paid him a condolence visit in his Kano home, Dangote said his brother’s death was very tough for the family, especially for him because they were close.

“The most painful thing is when you are told that your brother will be passing on in about an hour and you stand by watching as the machine is going down until it stopped working,” he said.

“We have always known that when there is life, there is death. We as Muslims don’t know who is next and it can be today, tomorrow or even now. That is why it is good to be good so that when you get there, you can bid for whatever you were asked to do on earth.

“I thank you all for all your prayers and your support. This will actually help us to reduce the pain that we are going through. It is a very tough time for us. It’s been very trying for especially myself; we were actually bonding together.

“Having a brother like this, once you lose him, it is really very painful. He died in front of myself, our mother and all his children.”

On his part, Tinubu, who described the late Sani as a gentleman, commiserated with the Dangote family, adding that the death of the industrialist is also a loss for the nation.

“I call on the family to take heart and continue to pray for the repose of the soul of late Sani Dangote,” he said.

“We are here not to just commiserate or console you, we are here together to mourn our dear brother. Sani is not yours alone. He is a Lagosian and a great Nigerian and a friend and a brother to all of us here.

“I am not a preacher, but I know what it means to suddenly lose a close relation, especially a brother.”