Muhammadu Maccido

Who was Muhammadu Maccido?

Ibrahim Muhammadu Maccido dan Abubakar, often shortened to Muhammadu Maccido, was the 19th Sultan of Sokoto in Nigeria. He was the son and primary aide to Siddiq Abubakar III who had been the Sultan of Sokoto for 50 years. Maccido served in many functions of government during his life and served most prominently as the liaison to Nigerian President Shehu Shagari until a military coup removed Shagari from power. When his father died in 1988, the head of the military government in Nigeria, Ibrahim Babangida appointed Ibrahim Dasuki as the new Sultan of Sokoto, a decision which caused large-scale, violent protests throughout northern Nigeria.

In 1996, Sani Abacha, a later Nigerian military dictator, deposed Dasuki and named Maccido the new Sultan. Maccido was coronated on 21 April 1996 and ruled from the position for a decade. He used the position to try and reconcile divisions in the Muslim community of northern Nigeria, improve connections with other Muslim communities, and decrease ethnic tensions within Nigeria. On 29 October 2006, after meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo, Maccido died in the plane crash of ADC Airlines Flight 53, with his son Badamasi Maccido, while returning to Sokoto. He is buried in Sokoto with many of the other Sultans of Sokoto.