By Abubakar Imam
On Friday, September 13, 2024, His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman, Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR, increased the number of honourary traditional title holders of the southernmost Emirate by two. This was done with the appointment of a former Member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, as the Wakili of Ilorin; and the Executive Director, Finance, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Dr Abdulkadir Tunji Nagode, as Dan Amana (The Trusted Son) of Ilorin.
The appointments were not only historically significant but also well received by indigenes and friends of Ilorin Emirate, particularly those who have been following the careers of the two illustrious gentlemen over the years. The conviction of most of the people I spoke with was that the two compatriots truly deserve the honour.
While Alhaji Mustapha succeeded the pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and third President of the Court of Appeal, the late Justice Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, CFR (1932-2018); Dr Nagode secures immortality as the first person appointed as Dan Amana in the chequered annals of Ilorin.
Although the two gentlemen are from highly reputable families with long, rich and verifiable histories of community and public services, Alhaji Mustapha, who was born on March 11, 1963, has held influential political offices at the state and federal levels whereas Dr Nagode has never been a politician but a pure technocrat.
This piece is, therefore, devoted to the Dan Amana, who is one of the surviving children of a retired Deputy Permanent Secretary and Federal Commissioner in the National Population Commission, Alhaji Saliu Alabi Nagode (1924-1983). A contemporary of the first elected President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, GCFR; a former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, CFR; and the first Chief Judge of Kwara State, who was also the second Madawaki of Ilorin, Justice Saidu Kawu, CON; at the famous Kaduna College (now Barewa College), Zaria, in the 1940s, the late Alhaji Nagode was one of the most influential and impactful technocrats produced by Ilorin Emirate.
The mother of the Dan Amana was Alhaja Hanatu Belgore- Nagode (d. 2019), a daughter of Shaykh Mahmud Belgore and grand daughter of Shaykh Muhammad Ahmad Belgore (1831-1913), who was reputed to be the second Grand Scholar of Ilorin, post-Shaykh Alimi era. She was also a granddaughter of Shaykh Shuaib Bawa, who reigned as the Emir of Ilorin from 1915 to 1919.
Dr Nagode’s mother was equally a niece of the 8th Emir of Ilorin, Shaykh Abdulkadir Shuaib Bawa, who reigned between 1919 and 1959. The Dan Amana of Ilorin is, therefore, a cousin of the incumbent Emir as well as that of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, GCON, among others.
Although as a newshunt, Dr Nagode’s name and reputations were not strange to me, I never met him until Sunday, July 1, 2023 when he, along with his elder brothers, Alhaji Suleiman Baba Nagode and Alhaji Ahmed Bolaji Nagode, graced the public presentation of my book, “Ilorin Emirate’s Frontliners”, at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Ilorin. The book features the profiles of over 300 distinguished indigenes and residents of Ilorin Emirate, including their late sister, Justice Safiya Titi Daibu of blessed memory. Since then, Dr Nagode has taken me for who I am, his younger brother from another set of parents.
Honestly, I was not surprised with his appointment as Dan Amana of Ilorin. I had always believed that Dr Nagode had a date and page in the history of Ilorin. This is because his services and patriotism have not been hidden as he has also been rising from grace to grace and ensuring that the flag of Ilorin Emirate is kept afloat everywhere he served.
The remarks made by the Emir while announcing the appointment were also as exciting as they were revealing and moving. Apart from unsurprisingly describing Dr Nagode as a deep rooted personality (Omo Ipile), the Emir also recalled the fatherly role the late father of Dan Amana played in his life upon his return from the United Kingdom in 1967. He explained that it was the late Alhaji Nagode, who was a close friend of his father, that received him at the Airport on his arrival from London. He added that Alhaji Nagode also led him to receive benedictions from the pioneer Grand Mufti of Ilorin and founder of the Ansarul Islam Society of Nigeria (AISN), Shaykh Muhammad Kamalud-Deen Al-Adabiy, MFR, OFR, ORSA (1905-2005) at his preaching arena in Lagos. This is nothing but a reminder of the fact that everything a man does remains after him and might either facilitate or hinder the progress of his offsprings.
Dr Nagode is a frontline member of his generation in Ilorin Emirate who has not left his love for Ilorin in doubt. He has done quite well for himself and Ilorin Emirate as he has expended his hard-earned resources and efforts towards promoting the corporate interests of Ilorin Emirate and legitimate desires of some of his compatriots who sought his assistance.
I am not unaware of his marvelous, timely and consistent support to many projects and programmes that had to do with the Ilorin Emirate. The umbrella sociocultural organisation of the good people of Ilorin, Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), is a beneficiary of his support. The Ilorin Central Jumaat Mosque has also benefited from his financial support just as the Ilorin Emirate Grand Durbar Committee as well as Ilorin Yidi Praying Ground Development and Maintenance Committee are also beneficiaries of his interventions. He is also a benefactor of the Ilorin Emirate Youth Development Association (IEYDA), the Balogun Fulani Ward Development Association and Edun Development Association, among several others.
Several mosque projects within and across the Ilorin Emirate have also attracted his patriotic support. He is the founder and financier of Hanatu Belgore-Nagode Quran Recitation and Memorisation Centre, which gives free tuition to interest indigenes and non-indigenes of Ilorin Emirate.
This kindhearted philanthropist singlehandedly facilitated the reconstruction of the multi-million Naira Olufadi Maternal Hospital and Maternity in the Oke-Ogun Ward of Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. The Hospital is reputed to be one of the best equipped in Kwara State. It is equally on record that he has secured employment opportunities and contracts for many indigenes of Ilorin Emirate, which has boosted the socioeconomic development of the community. He has also offered scholarships to many brilliant but indigent students of Ilorin Emirate origin who are pursuing one field of study or the other in various institutions of higher learning across Nigeria.
I must also put it on record that yours sincerely has received monumental support and encouragement from Dr Nagode since the publication of my book. As far as the book is concerned, Dr Nagode has patronised me more than any other person. He has bought several copies of the work, which he distributed to selected schools within and beyond Ilorin. I realised that he did that as a way of encouraging me to do more for our community in my own sphere of interest.
Dr Nagode attended the famous United Primary School, Ilorin. After his primary education, he proceeded to the Esie-Iludun Grammar School from where he earned his West African School Certificate in 1985.
In 1994, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Jos. He is also a distinguished alumnus of the University of Ilorin. He earned his Master of Business Administration(MBA) and Master of Science degrees in Business Administration from the University in 2001 and 2003, respectively. He capped his academic credentials with a doctorate degree in Business Administration from the same University of Ilorin in 2023.
Alhaji Nagode is a Fellow, Certified National Accountant (FCNA). He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administrators. He is equally an alumnus of both the prestigious Harvard and Cambridge Universities where he received certificates in Finance for Senior Executives (FSE) and Driving Corporate Performance (DCP) from the Harvard Business School (HBS), University of Harvard, Boston Massachusetts, USA. He also earned a General Management Certificate from the University of Cambridge-Judge Business School(CJBS) in addition to a mini-MBA from the London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) both in the United Kingdom.
Notwithstanding his chains of degrees, this one and only Dan Amana of Ilorin has had the privilege of attending quite a number of training and conferences at home and abroad. In addition to his versatility in the knowledge and practice of accountancy and business management, Dr Nagode has also committed a significant portion of the Holy Quran into memory, having been specifically trained for that under the watchful eyes of the second Grand Mufti of Ilorin and the longest serving National President of AISN, Shaykh Khidir Salaudeen Apaokagi Al-Adaby (1917-2013) at his famous El-Adabiyyah Arabic and Islamic Institute, Owo, Ondo State, which was founded in 1955. The late Shaykh Apaokagi was also a very good friend of Alhaji Nagode.
Dr Nagode’s deep knowledge in the oil and gas industry led him to join the then African Petroleum (AP) PLC where he rose through the ranks to become the Head of the Company District Office at the NNPC Depot, Ilorin. He also served as a Manager at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Abuja. He was a State Manager with the then V-Mobile Nigeria Limited. He eventually joined the services of the NNPC in 2007 as an Assistant Chief Accountant and he was posted to one of its subsidiaries, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).
Before his elevation to the position of Executive Director, Dr Nagode was the Head of Insurance Department in the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). This subsidiary of the NNPC is located in Benin, Edo State.
Though Dr Nagode is a man with global perspectives, he remains an Ilorin home boy. This is because most of his intimate friends are his Ilorin compatriots. These include the Ciroma of Ilorin, Prince Abubakar Bature Sulu-Gambari, SAN; Alhaji Ahmed Tunji Gambari and the Dan Iya of Ilorin, Engr Suleiman Kale Kawu, FNSE. Other friends of his include the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Shuaib Lamido Belgore, OON; Dr Yakubu Belgore, Mallam Umar Yahaya, Mr Suleiman Laro, Engr Kale Yusuf Aiyegun and Mallam Baba Galadima, to mention just a few.
Dr Nagode is happily married to Hajiya Hafsat Nagode, a daughter of Alhaji Hanafi Idiaro (1907-1983), who was a first republic regional parliamentarian. His wife is a successful business woman and Chief Executive Officer of AmaniHair Limited. They are blessed with four children and five grandchildren who are doing well.
As declared by the Emir, Dr Nagode is no longer just a son of Ilorin. He is now a member of the privileged class of extraordinary indigenes of Ilorin who have received chieftaincy titles from the respected “House of Alimi” on personal recognitions and in appreciation of their enormous selfless contributions towards the development of Ilorin Emirate.
I think it would constitute a “cultural crime”, particularly in and among the people of the Ilorin Emirate, to just mention the name Dr Abdulkadir Tunji Nagode without reference to his well deserved title. He is from now and henceforth to be referred to as Dr Abdulkadir Tunji Nagode, the Dan Amana of Ilorin.
While I congratulate Dr Nagode on this special recognition, I joined his relations, friends and colleagues in wishing him a very long, peaceful and rewarding reign as the pioneer Dan Amana of the nation’s most unique traditional community.
Imam is National Secretary, Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union.
