OBITUARY: Ibrahim Dasuki, Buhari’s in-law and Ahmadu Bello’s confidant who died brokenhearted

A life well lived, all the same

Ibrahim Dasuki’s father, Haliru Ibn Barau, was the Sarkin Yamma and district head of Dogon Daji.

He started Qu’ranic education in 1928 and joined the Dogondaji Elementary School in 1931. He then went to the Sokoto Middle School in 1935 and finished his secondary education at the prestigious Barewa College.

In 1943, after high school, he worked as a clerk in the treasury office of the Sokoto native authority, and took an appointment with Gaskiya Corporation, publishers of the Hausa daily, Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo.

In 1953, he joined the northern civil service as an executive officer. The following year, Bello appointed him private secretary, a position he held till 1957 when he became the regional executive council deputy secretary.

He would go to Jeddah in 1958 as Nigeria’s pilgrimage officer. He worked in the Nigerian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, from 1960 to 1961, and continued his civil service career.

He left civil service for private business in 1965, cutting a niche for himself as a consummate businessman. In 1966, he became chairman of the Northern Nigeria Produce Marketing Board. From 1967 to 1977, he was first director and then chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

From 1979 to 1989, he was chairman of the Nigerian branch of BCCI, which he co-founded. He was also a partner of Nessim Gaon in APROFIM, a company that had several business interests.

He participated in political activities as well – chairing the Committee for the Review of Local Government Administration in Nigeria. He was an influential member of the 1988 Constituent Assembly, which produced the 1989 constitution that partly operated in the annulled third republic.