Na’Allah Muhammad Zagga
Fifteen years ago on October 29, 2006, the 19th Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, died tragically in the ADC Airlines plane crash at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja which claimed the lives of 96 people, including Maccido.
Other prominent Nigerians who died in the ill-fated plane that crash shortly after a takeoff, included Senator Badamasi Maccido, the son of the Sultan, Senator Sule Yari Gandi, Abdulrahaman Shagari, the son of former President Shehu Shagari and Dr. Nnennia Mgbor, the first ever female West African ENT surgeon.
Nine people however survived the crash, among three daughters of the former kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris. It was one of the worst aviation disasters in Nigeria’s history. It was an incident that provoked furious reaction from former President Obasanjo who had vowed to restore sanity to the aviation industry to ensure uncompromising adherence to safety standards to check the frequency of such incidents that often came with huge fatalities.
Sultan Muhammadu Maccido was one of the humblest, accessible and affable public figures I have ever met as a journalist. His sheer informality was incredible and endearing. A female corps member once told me that she was shocked that such a powerful traditional ruler would be so accessible for press interview with little or no protocol. We went with her to interview him; I just filled a visitor’s form and 10 minutes after the Secretary of the Council, the late Inua Abdulkadir, submitted our request for interview, Sultan Maccido said we be ushered in.
In fact, it was impossible to meet Maccido without being overawed by his humility. He was a royal who didn’t allow power to turn his head. He patience was no less notable. When he temporarily lost the opportunity to succeed his father in 1988, he took it in his stride. His equanimity and philosophical disposition in a conspiratorial atmosphere and the clock-and-dagger politics of the succession battle was one of his finest virtues.
As we remember the 15th anniversary of the death of Sultan Maccido, may his soul and others that died in the crash continue to rest in peace. Amin.
