The Daura family insists nobody can separate President Muhammadu Buhari from his nephew, Mamman Daura, despite the feud between Buhari’s wife, Aisha, and his close associate’s immediate family.
Speaking during an interview with Punch at the family house of the Dauras in Shaishakowa Quarters in Daura, Katsina State, Mamman Daura’s younger brother, Usman Daura, said Buhari and Mamman Daura had both come a long way.
He said, “Mallam Mamman Daura is the eldest man in our family now. I am his younger brother. The gap between us qualifies him to be my father, despite being my elder brother. But you know Mallam Daura and President Muhammadu Buhari have come a long way right from their youth. Even when President Buhari was the military Head of State in Lagos, they were together. Nobody can separate them.
“If you go to the GRA (Government Reserved Area), where Mallam Mamman has his house in Daura, you will see that his building is next to that of President Buhari. That is how they have been all along. He built his house at GRA even before our father’s death. Our father died on October 3, 1993.”
A Daura-based legal practitioner, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Mallam Mamman Daura is from Daura, but he is better known in Kaduna since that was where he was based before President Muhammadu Buhari became President.
“Both men are very close. Mamman Daura’s father, Alhaji Dauda Daura, was the President’s elder brother, and they are very close in that family.”
The Chairman of Coalition of Associations in Daura, Alhaji Muhammed Saleh, described Mallam Daura as a disciplined gentleman who is modest and honest.
Saleh said, “Mallam Mamman Daura is a very simple man. He and President Muhammadu Buhari have come a long way. They are very close. Don’t forget, President Buhari is his nephew and their family is very close. Nobody can come between the President and Mallam Mamman Daura. They are like Siamese twins. They understand each other perfectly, having been together for over 70 years.
“It is a known fact that Mallam Mamman Daura has always been playing the role of a very loyal brother and friend to President Muhammadu Buhari. Daura has also been the last man standing even when others deserted the President. He is doing all these not because he is expecting anything in return from the President. But you know, people say blood is thicker than water. President Muhammadu Buhari is Mamman Daura and Mamman Daura is President Buhari. You cannot separate them.”
Another Daura-based legal practitioner and lecturer at the Federal University, Dutse in Jigawa State, Mr Ado Lalu, also said the duo had a very tight relationship.
Besides being close relations, Lalu said Mamman Daura had displayed loyalty and honesty to President Buhari.
He said, “Mallam Daura has demonstrated that in life, it is good to stand by whoever you believe in. He has shown that he believes in President Muhammadu Buhari, no matter what people say.
“Don’t forget that the two gentlemen were together when they did not even know that they would be popularly known personalities. They grew up together in the same family.
“Mallam Mamman Daura’s offence may be that he has not allowed people to poison his mind against President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Also, remember that during President Buhari’s travails shortly after he was ousted from power as military Head of State, Mallam Daura was there for him, playing the role expected of true, concerned and responsible relation. He has never disowned President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Although Daura may not like this being said because he is a modest man, I need to let Nigerians know. Long before President Buhari built his house in Kaduna, he was staying in Mallam Mamman Daura’s house there (Kaduna). Unless you are very close to them, you would not believe that they are not from the same mother, this is just to let you know the extent of their closeness. Nobody can separate them.
“For his closeness to President Buhari, Mallam Daura has suffered persecution, which he would not even make public. And naturally in life, if someone has proved his loyalty to you and all that are yours, you are bound to love him back. It is too late for anybody to come between President Buhari and Mallam Daura.”
In his Kaduna residence along the Inuwa Wada Road, a neighbour, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mamman Daura seldom visited the house, but added that domestic workers and guards took care of the expansive compound.
“He (Daura) rarely comes to his Kaduna residence. Whenever he comes, he spends at least three days. Before he comes back, it takes another seven or eight months. Nobody is staying in the expansive compound except domestic workers and guards,” he said.
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