Today is exactly a century, and one and half decade, precisely on 25th January 1907, that Muhammadu Dikko was officially installed as the 47th Emir of Katsina and first from Sullubawa clan of the Fulani.
The Sullubawa clan were highly active in Hausa land since in the 1750s and played a prominent role in the jihad of Sheikh Usman Danfodio, and the subsequent establishment of Sokoto Caliphate. History has recorded that the British colonialists after the conquest of Sokoto, Kontagora, Kano and the surrounding emirates, the fate of Katsina under the then Sarki Abubakar were a foregone conclusion.
Therefore, when Lord Lugard and his entourage arrived Katsina, he was reluntantly received at Kofar Yandaka Gate by Sarki Abubakar and other top officials of the emirate. As fate will have it, Sarki Abubakar appointed Muhammadu Dikko, who was then the Durbin Katsina and district head of Mani, as the liaison officer between him and the British colonialists. He appointed him because of his influence above and over other district heads, as well his wealth and generosity to the general public.
When Sarki Abubakar was dethroned in 1904, his uncle Mallam Yaro was appointed to succeed him, mallam Yaro too, was deposed after reigning for just two years. Muhammadu Dikko was then temporarily appointed in 1906 and later officially installed as the substantive emir of Katsina on 25th January 1907.
The tenure of Muhammadu Dikko as the emir of Katsina from 1906 to 1944 was eventful to Katsina in particular and northern Nigeria in general. He was pragmatic and understood the changing power equation of the world, and was very realistic about European civilisation and colonial rule.
This made it easy for him to get close to them and use this closeness to become the pivot of reforms, modernization and development.
It was largely because of him that the premier college of northern Nigeria, the famous Katsina College, was located in Katsina town in 1921. This was the college that trained the first batch of civil and political leaders from northern Nigeria.
In the field of health, Muhammadu Dikko was the first emir to embraced western medicine on a consistent basis. Hence in Katsina a medical facility was established as early as 1907, and by 1938 Katsina native authority hospital was not only the best in Northern Nigeria but the second largest hospital in the whole of Nigeria.
He also had a keen interest in agriculture, especially in the field of animals husbandry and mixed farming. In fact, in one of his visits to England in 1921, he brought along with him new breeds of cattle which were cross_bred with our local species.
It was equally through the influence of Sarki Muhammadu Dikko that Katsina was lifted from being divisional to provincial headquarter’s. Before it was a division under Kano and later Zaria. During his audience with the King of England, His Majesty King George V, in Buckingham palace in his third visit to England in 1933, he made a specific request to that effect and his request was granted.
In the field of sports, Katsina emirate took its leading role in northern Nigeria. He built the first polo pitch and organised a formal polo club as far back as 1921, and produced one of the most popular polo team in the world and the best in Africa.
He was also a bridge-builder, besides visiting his fellow emirs and chiefs in their domains, he also encouraged inter_marriages not only among his relatives but also between his family and the family of other emirs and chiefs.
Sarki Dikko was humble, humane and considerate to others. He has his own personal farm, at places like Kurmiyal, Bakiyawa, and Karaduwa. At the farms, he effectively supervised the workers by moving among them, hailing the hard-working ones and childing the lazy. He had a good rapport and cordial relationship with his district heads and he was constantly on tours to these districts.
In fact, he knew more of what is happening in these districts, than most of the district heads themselves. Sarki Dikko had the courage to start new things, and that was why the Europeans took him very seriously. His emirate was the first to established native treasury in northern province. He departmentalized the native authority into Education, Medical, works, Agriculture, Veterinary, Police and Prisons. He scored first in several fields of human endeavors as the most progressive emir in northern Nigeria by then, he was the first to visit England, first to perform hajj by road then by sea, first to own and ride on a car and first to fly in an aeroplane among the emirs and chiefs in Northern Nigeria.
During his lifetime, he made strenuous efforts to facilitate and strengthen the bond of friendship and brotherhood within his immediate and extended family. These were traits of Sarki Muhammadu Dikko, who reigned Katsina for thirty-seven years between 1906 to 1944.!!
Unfortunately these traits he imbibed to his son and great son who succeeded him have now been abandoned and neglected by the present leadership of the emirate.
Muhammad Dikko is a great-grandson of the late emir, and a Research consultant with an NGO based in Zaria and can be reached via Muhammaddikko97@gmail.com.
