Sanusi Dantata

Who was Sanusi Dantata?

Sanusi Dantata was a Nigerian entrepreneur and son of Alhassan Dantata.

He was also a personal friend of the Qadiriyya scholar, Ali Kumasi and supported some of the latter's religious works in Kano. His support for Ali Kumasi led him into conflict with Nasiru Kabara, the leader of the Qadiriyya movement in Kano and West Africa and a former tutor of Sanusi. Both Kumasi and Dantata tried to promote an independent Qadiriyya scholarship and religious authority, challenging the leadership of Kabaya. However, by the early 1970s, both men joined the Kabara faction of Kano Qadiriyya.

In the 1960s, he was the largest licensed produce buying agent of groundnut in Nigeria. However by 1980, he had relinquished some of his business interest to his sons, including the eldest, Abdulkadir Sanusi Dantata, who co-founded Dantata and Sawoe and Asada Farms.