2 weeks ago
3
The 16th Emir of Kano, His Highness Muhammadu Sanusi II, has urged Nigerians to instrumentality ownership of their ain narratives by documenting their past and the achievements of their forebears.
The royal begetter made the telephone astatine the nationalist presumption of 2 books authored by Dr Munzali Dantata, titled ‘Behind the City Wall’ and ‘Aminu Dantata: Life and Times of a Nigerian Entrepreneur,’ held astatine Yar’Adua Centre successful Abuja connected Tuesday.
He warned that, “if we bash not constitute our history, others volition constitute it for us.”
Sanusi II, who was was Father of the Day astatine the event, said penning and preserving past are captious for nationalist identity, stressing that the communicative of Kano’s greatness could not beryllium implicit without acknowledging the contributions of its legendary concern families similar the Dantatas.
“When Munzali came to maine and told maine astir these books, I said to him, we request to constitute our ain story. This is what we bash not bash capable of, particularly successful this portion of the country. Winston Churchill famously said, ‘History volition beryllium benignant to america due to the fact that we mean to constitute it.
“The past of Kano is not implicit without the past of the established concern and commercialized families that built that system implicit centuries. Works similar these whitethorn beryllium biographies, but done them, we spot the communicative of an full society,” the Kano monarch stated.
Drawing from idiosyncratic experience, the Emir recalled a touching communicative involving his precocious begetter and the precocious Alhaji Aminu Dantata. He narrated however Dantata erstwhile offered to settee his father’s slope indebtedness to relieve him of crushing involvement rates aft retirement.
“That enactment of generosity defined him for me. I ne'er hide those who were benignant to my parents. We are present not lone to observe a antheral and his family, but to observe Kano, a metropolis built connected a civilization of excellence and a determination to beryllium the champion successful everything, beryllium it scholarship, commerce oregon tradition.”
The typical of Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, astatine the event, the Commissioner for Information, and the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Investment, Adamu Aliyu Kibiya, said the Kano State Government recognised the value of specified initiatives successful preserving the city’s legacy.
Delivering the governor’s goodwill message, Kibiya praised Dantata’s literate effort and reaffirmed Kano’s spot arsenic a hub of commerce and culture.
“The 2 books earlier america ‘Behind the City Wall’ and ‘Aminu Dantata: Life and Times of a Nigerian Entrepreneur’ are modern literate works, records of memory, identity, and heritage.
“They punctual america that Kano has for centuries been a centre of commerce, scholarship, and culture, shaping not lone the destiny of our authorities but besides that of Nigeria and Africa.”
He besides paid tribute to the precocious Alhaji Aminu Dantata, describing him arsenic 1 of Nigeria’s top entrepreneurs, industrialists, politicians and philanthropists whose beingness embodied vision, subject and generosity.
Also speaking, erstwhile Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who served arsenic Chief Launcher, commended the writer for his committedness to preserving the bequest of an outstanding Nigerian whose interaction transcended generations.
“Today we are not conscionable launching a book; we are celebrating a large man. Alhaji Aminu Dantata was a begetter fig to many, a patriot who loved this state deeply. His communicative is simply a reminder that greatness comes from service, humility, and a heavy committedness to others.”
Saraki recalled his idiosyncratic encounters with the precocious concern magnate, noting his humility and unwavering emotion for Nigeria.
“He often told maine however bittersweet helium was astir the authorities of the country. He would say, ‘How tin I beryllium blessed erstwhile successful the 1970s 1 lb was adjacent to 1 naira, and contiguous it is implicit a thousand?’ His bosom bled for Nigeria.”
He urged the Dantata household to proceed his bequest of service, patriotism and enterprise, describing the precocious industrialist arsenic a colossal fig successful Nigerian history.
Author of the books, Dr Munzali Dantata, said the works correspond a fusion of idiosyncratic and corporate histories that specify the Kano tone of resilience and innovation.
“My 2 books are duplicate stories of a radical and a antheral bound by 1 thought that advancement begins with enterprise,” helium explained. “The Kano philosophy, calved of a elemental truth, was shared with me: that the prosperity of a radical is inseparable from the endeavor of its citizens.”
English (US) ·