Community leaders from Sabeji in Sokoto South Local Government Area have commended former Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Dr. Nasir Danladi Bako, OON, Kogunan Sokoto, for what they described as his enduring contributions to education, community development and the propagation of Islam.
In a statement issued on July 15, 2026, the community members congratulated the Kogunan Sokoto on what they described as another landmark achievement—his role in pioneering the establishment of the Department of Mass Communication at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, facilitating the licensing and establishment of the university’s Campus Radio, 89.7 FM, and overseeing the graduation of two sets of students with Bachelor’s degrees in Mass Communication.
The statement, signed by Muhammad Bello Sabeji, Hassan Muhammad Iya and Sanusi Garba, said the achievement was consistent with Dr. Bako’s longstanding commitment to education and human development.
According to the signatories, Bako has been sponsoring the education of children from poor and underprivileged families in Sokoto South and neighbouring communities since 1982, when he was a Grade Level 10 officer at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Sokoto.
They also recalled that he sponsored the annual Ramadan Tafsir programme of Sheikh Isa Talata Mafara on Rima Radio Sokoto for about a decade during the 1990s.
The community leaders further credited him with facilitating the inclusion of Islamic television channels, including Islam Channel 347, on the DSTV MultiChoice platform, thereby expanding access to Islamic programming.
They added that between 2000 and 2020, Dr. Bako personally sponsored no fewer than 12 Muslims to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah, while also financing the renovation of several mosques, including one located near Audu Shugaba’s residence in the Yan Susu area of Sokoto.
The statement also highlighted Bako’s family heritage, quoting the late Ubandoma Tudun Wada, Jibo Dalhatu, who reportedly recounted the Kogunan Sokoto’s ancestral lineage during a visit by Bako three years ago.
According to the late traditional leader, Bako inherited the virtues of humility, scholarship and service from his father, the late Mallam Tanko, and his great-grandfather, Mallam Nasir, an Islamic scholar who was said to have died defending the Sokoto Caliphate during the Battle of Giginya in 1903.
The statement noted that following the fall of the Caliphate, Mallam Ja’afar, son of Mallam Nasir and Bako’s grandfather, was taken by the British to Zaria, Kano and Lokoja, where he was trained as a clerk, teacher and interpreter before returning to Sokoto in 1926.
The community leaders said Dr. Bako’s lifelong commitment to education, charity and Islamic causes reflects the values handed down through his family.
“We are not surprised that you are following in the footsteps of your forefathers in supporting the poor and the needy and upholding the values of hard work and selfless service as enjoined by Islam,” the statement read.
They prayed for Almighty Allah to continue to grant the Kogunan Sokoto the strength and wisdom to sustain his service to humanity and the promotion of Islam.
