By DEATH OF SANI DANGOTE- A quick Reflection
Bolatito Ajibode
The familiar expression, “From Him we come and to Him we shall return” was what followed the breaking news of the death of Sani Dangote, the immediate brother of Aliko Dangote. End of another life at 61; life goes on.
It is not impossible that many could have imagined that it was Aliko Dangote that passed to the great beyond. What! God forbid! The richest man in Africa, with net worth in excess of $12B! The truth is that God follows His Own Decree; when the appointed time comes, man has no choice but to surrender and say, “I am here, my Lord.”
Death has been brought into the equation of life as “The Exterminator”, “The Reminder” of a flinting world we are in. One moment, we are on top of the soil, and the next moment, before end of day, we are beneath the earth; 6-feets below. We plan and pursue our great plans with vigour, but forget the injunctions of the Best of planners. He has commanded that we worship none but Him as our Creator, and to be kind to His creatures (man and animals).
Agreed we are believers (Muslims and Christians) associating no partners with God, hence could have fulfilled the 1st commandment. The second is where most of us struggle and miss; meanwhile, the two, (belief and goodness) are inseparable. The duty of goodness or kindness is expected from all and sundry, regardless of status, race, colour or class.
It starts with our immediate family; our 1st family. After which, we reach out to our extended family, and finally the bigger society, friends, religious organisations, social clubs and societies. Aliko Dangote must have followed this order. The business community in Nigeria and possibly across the world knew his immediate brother, Sanni Dangote, as the Vice President of Dangote Group. Aliko positioned his brother and supported him to actualize his personal and business dreams. Aliko was there for his brother till death separated them. He was beside Sani in the hospital in the United States when he took his last breath. When the remains of Sani was laid to rest in the ancient city of Kano on Wednesday, November 17 2021, Aliko could have soliloquized and said, ” I did my best for Sani, God knows what is best for him.
This piece is not about Sanni nor Aliko Dangote. It’s about me and you. How much support are we giving our immediate family? If we did the right thing at the right time and got blessed in the process, we should realise that it is not our power that took us to the mountain top; it is the Grace of God. Many worked harder and got less fortune.
God is the Owner of High Ranks and Degrees, the Owner of the Throne of authority. When we are positioned in high places, it is for a purpose. It is to impact those around us and positively impact our world. We should see ourselves as custodians and be glad to have been chosen as Trustees of God’s bounties. Not to forget that we will account for the manner of disbursement of His Bounties. What a huge responsibility resting on our shoulders.
Kindness is a spirit we should all pray for. The reward for good is good and the promise of God to good-doers is that they will never know sorrow nor grieve. The Holy books taught us that charity or kindness wards off evil. It is therefore not a game for only the rich. Wherever we are and in whatever position, we can show kindness, which can either be financial or non-financial. Giving advice to a friend is counted as a form of charity. The world will truly be a better place if we all show some little Kindness and support each other.
Let us live this world as if today is the last day and prepare for the final home, where the passport holders will enter with stamps of belief and goodness. Let’s start the stamps collections now! It is never too late to build our Heavenly bank account by showing goodness to our family, friends and the larger society, in cash and kind.
Aliko Dangote capped it all by saying, “We have always known that there is life and there’s death; as Muslims, we don’t know who is next, and it can be today or tomorrow or even now. That is why it is good to be good so that when you get there, you will find out that you have done what you were asked to do on earth.”
