Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, has passed away.
Reports of his death surfaced early on Thursday, with several prominent figures confirming the development.
Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi
A former presidential aide to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, announced the cleric’s passing in a post on X, describing him as a highly respected leader in Nigeria’s Tijjaniyya order.
“It is with a heavy heart and complete submission to the will of Allah (SAW) that we receive the news of the passing of our revered leader, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, one of the leaders of the Tijjaniyya order in Nigeria,” he wrote.
He also offered prayers for the late scholar, adding, “May Allah forgive his shortcomings, accept his noble deeds and grant him Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen.”
The Sheikh’s son, Sayyadi Ali Dahiru Usman Bauchi, confirmed the passing in a statement to Daily Trust.
“It is confirmed. Sheikh has returned to his creator. We are all from Allah and to Him we shall all return.
“It is time for Sheikh to rest. We thank Almighty Allah. Allah has done everything for us to spare the life of Sheikh till this time. Sheikh’s life was well spent. Alhamdulillah.
“I’m right now in Madinah, so I cannot confirm to you where the remains of the Sheikh will be buried; maybe in Abuja or Bauchi,” he said.
As of press time, neither the family nor the Bauchi State Government had issued an official announcement.
Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi was widely regarded for his humanitarian interventions across northern Nigeria and beyond. In October 2025, his foundation sponsored 117 students to Algeria for academic programmes through a fully funded scholarship secured in collaboration with the Algerian government and the Tijjaniyya sect.
The revered scholar was also a member of the Fatwa Committee of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Nigeria. In a 2019 interview, he spoke about his family, noting that he married his first wife in 1948 and had been blessed with about 70 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—all well-grounded in Quranic education.
At 92, he reflected on life, saying, “No matter what you enjoy in life when you get to my age, all you do is manage life. I see myself as someone who has put his loads at the park and is waiting for a car to come so that he can put the loads inside.
“When it’s time to pray, he goes to pray, when it’s time to eat, he eats and returns to where he kept his things which he would take on his journey to the great beyond.”
Buhari hosts Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi
In 2021, the late President Muhammadu Buhari hosted him at the State House, Abuja. The cleric also weighed in on the farmer-herder crisis in 2018, defending the Fulani and dismissing claims that the conflict had religious undertones.
He stated, “Fulani are not new and they are not visitors in Nigeria, they are well known as one of the respected tribes. If they are killers, they could have started these killings hundreds of years back, not now.
“The real killers disguise themselves and hide with the intention of painting the Fulani black. Fulani are known to carry sticks and bows and arrows but you are saying the killers have guns. Who gave the Fulani herdsmen guns?”
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