‘My elevation to Sardauna Dutse is a greater call to service’

Alhaji Nasiru Haladu Danu, who until today, held the title of the Dan Amana Dutse, has been elevated to become the Sardauna Dutse. In this interview, the new Sardauna Dutse, a renowned businessman, politician, and philanthropist, shares his dreams for the Dutse Emirate and Jigawa State.

Congratulations on your elevation from Dan Amana Dutse to Sardaunan Dutse. How do you feel about this development?

Alhamdulillah! You know, such a privilege to serve as Sardauna is something that comes from God. Clearly, it is a gift, especially from the people. When the Emir and the Dutse Emirate Council decide to give you such a huge assignment, it is just a call for service—more and more services. So to me, it is something that we have been doing, and we will continue to serve our people. But of course, I am very happy and very grateful to God and the Emir of Dutse. Of course, I am also grateful to the governor of Jigawa State and to the members of his council for their support.

What do you think motivated the Emir to raise your status in the emirate from Dan Amana to Sardauna?

Well, I can only guess. As I said, it is something that comes from God and also a greater call to service. I have been there as Dan Amana and before Dan Amana, and I will be there after Sardauna. At the end of the day, it is all about service to humanity, giving back to the community, and all of these are acts of service. It is always our prayer that God continues to give us the ability and wisdom to continue to do His work. And as you know, Dutse Emirate is one of the oldest emirates globally. It is well over 650 years old, and I have worked with our late father, Emir Sunusi, and today I also have the privilege to work with the son, who is the current Emir of Dutse, but of course with someone that I have always been close to. And I believe this opportunity is a very important one because Sardauna is a very big title in Northern Nigeria, and of course, as Dan Amana, I did my best. Whatever I have done as Dan Amana, I have to do more.

You hinted at being close with the Emir of Dutse; how has your relationship been with the people of Dutse Emirate in particular and of Jigawa in general?

Well, of course you know, this is my home. I am from here, from a village just about 10 minutes away from Dutse called Ruru under Kudai. Of course, I was born in Rivers State, and I grew up there. But as I said, the late emir encouraged us to come back home here to identify with our people, and so far that is what we have been doing. I am very sure it is what encouraged the emir and the governor to give me this bigger assignment. So, as for the people, working as Dan Amana, I have worked closely with the people of not just Dutse Emirate, but Jigawa State. But beyond Dutse Emirate, I believe humanity work is something that you can do anywhere and everywhere. This is a golden opportunity for me to continue to be close to my people, to touch lives, and to see how we can try and give better opportunities to our people, as well as provide them with better education, healthcare, and security, while working with the government to also support the security agencies. But education is number one. The community needs more support to provide better education, and this is what we intend to do during the Gala Night, which will take place in Dutse Government House. We intend to reach out to about 130 or more students from the Federal University of Dutse. Out of that, 60 to 70 percent are female students. So, this is one of our little ways of giving back to the community. I am also encouraging people to do that, not because you have too much. You don’t have to be the richest person to do these things. You can start with one or two students; you can even start by contributing educational materials. I believe no amount of sacrifice for the students is too much. We all need to acknowledge that the government can’t do it alone, so we all have to be involved.

How will this new recognition affect your future interactions with the Emirate Council and the people?

I think we are saying the same thing. Basically, before being Sardauna, I was Dan Amana for almost 10 years. Whatever I am doing, I am going to continue to do it and do it better, because clearly, if I have not been doing well, I will not get the second and bigger opportunity. So, we will continue to do our best to serve the people.

The people of Jigawa are anxious to see you during this great event. Do you have any message for the people?

Well, you know that there are different categories of people, but my message is just one, particularly for the younger demographics. We must support our leaders; we must support the federal government, the state government, the local government, and the traditional institutions. Without peace and unity, there will not be any meaningful development. Of course, we must live in a society. We all know one of the biggest issues we have today is drugs. This has destroyed a lot of young people in Nigeria, particularly in northern Nigeria. Of course, education. We will go back to that. You know the level of poverty and all that, but that must not be an excuse for people to commit crime. It is important that we work with the institutions—we work with the government and traditional institutions—to bring peace and unity to our people so that meaningful development can be achieved. So, that is my call to everybody. Whatever we can do to protect the integrity of our system, from the traditional institutions to, of course, the government, I am calling on the people, particularly the youths and women. The future is in the hands of the youth. And of course, Dutse Emirate is a very peaceful emirate, and the entire Jigawa is very peaceful too. We are a very peaceful state where you hardly find any crime, even in Dutse, the state capital. So we will do all we can to continue to support what is being done to maintain the peaceful coexistence we are enjoying in the state, and we pray that the peace will continue. That is my prayer.