Sultan of Sokoto: Sa’ad Abubakar Biography
This post is on the Biography of the current Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar. He is one of the top 10 first class kings in Nigeria and the most powerful monarch in northern Nigeria.
Early Life
Amirul Mumineen Sheikh Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar IV was born in 1956 in Sokoto. He is the fifth heir to the throne and 20th Sultan of Sokoto and younger son of the 17th Sultan, Siddiq Abu Bakar Dan Usuman, who held the Sultanate for over fifty years.
Educational Qualifications of Sa’ad Abubakar
He attended Sultan’s ward Primary school, Sokoto and later went to Barewa College, Zaria and proceeded to the Nigerian Defense Academy in 1975 where he functioned as a member of the 18th regular course. He later rose to be second lieutenant in 1977 and served in the elite armoured Corps.
He holds an advanced certificate course in Operational Research (University of Lagos 1995). He is the head of Jama’atu Nasril Islam(a group that supports and propagates Islam).He is the acclaimed spiritual leader of 76.5 Muslims in Nigeria which is half of the nation’s population and holds the office of President General of the Nigerian National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).
Career
Sa’ad Abubakar served in the military. He was the second in command Corps Headquarters Company (an armed security unit under the military that guarded General Ibrahim Babangida during his reign in the 1980s) during his military service. He was also an outstanding commander that lead a battalion of African Peacekeepers in Chad.
Between 1995 and 2003, Abubakar worked as a military liaison officer and commanding officer for ECOMOG Operations in Sierra Leone and Kaduna. He also served as a Defense Attaché to some notable Asian countries in 2003 to 2006.
Emergence as Sultan
After the death of his brother, Sultan Maccido, who died in an air crash, Sa’ad resigned as a Brigadier General after 30 years of active service in the military and by the 2nd of November, 2006, he became the Sultan of Sokoto.
As the sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar is the leader of the Qadiriyya Sufi order historically the most important Muslim position in Nigeria and senior to the Emir of Kano, the leader of the less populous Tijaniyya Sufi order.
Sa’ad Abubakar is also 16th most influential Muslim in the world.
