Posted by By ANDY ASEMOTA, Katsina on
Katsina State was thrown into mourning on Sunday, following the passing on of the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar. According to the Secretary of Daura Emirate Council, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Zango, the Emir died around 4:00 am on Sunday in his palace.
Katsina State was thrown into mourning on Sunday, following the passing on of the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar. According to the Secretary of Daura Emirate Council, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Zango, the Emir died around 4:00 am on Sunday in his palace.
Aged 81, the late monarch is survived by four wives and four daughters. He was turbaned in June 1966 as the 59th Emir of Daura.
Before the remains of the Emir were committed to mother earth by 1.20 p.m. on Sunday in Daura, over 10 royal fathers from across the North and neighbouring Niger Republic, including governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar'adua, among other dignitaries, had gathered at the Emir's palace to bid him farewell.
Thousands of mourners and sympathizers, who poured into the ancient city, expressed shock, anguish and pain over the sudden death of the Daura monarch.
The manner many top dignitaries arrived Daura before the Emir's interment showed his status as a respected monarch and elder statesman.
Governor Yar'adua, presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was said to have heard the sad news at 9:15 a.m. in Ilorin, Kwara and decided to cut short his campaign tour to arrive Daura before the burial. He described the death of the royal father as not only a loss to the state but also the entire nation.
Yar' Adua said that not only the friends, family and colleagues of the late monarch were in shock but also all Nigerians who knew him and his contributions to the development of the nation.
Emirs of Zazzau, Hadejia, Kano, Kazaure and Kance, in Niger Republic, as well as the representatives of the Emir of Katsina, currently on overseas trip, among others, were in Daura to bid Emir Bashar farewell.
Alhaji Muhammadu Kabir Usman, Emir of Katsina, was represented by the Sardaunan Katsina and former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Commassie.