The Beginning of the Beginning
Where should I start, with my meeting with Ibrahim or with my meeting with Sultan? Or should I start by giving you my own history?
My name is Maimuna Muhammad Dikko. I was born and raised in Abuja, Nigeria. My father, Alhaji Muhammad Dikko, is a Fulani from the town of 'Yalleman in Jigawa State. 'Yalleman is a beautiful Fulani town blessed with wealth, and its people have spread across Nigeria, especially in Lagos and Port Harcourt, as their wealth is mostly in currency exchange. My father did not follow the family tradition because he was educated. He attended primary school in 'Yalleman like his peers, but due to his brilliance, the headmaster advised his father, Alhaji Lawan Dikko, to send him abroad for better education if possible.
Since our grandfather was wealthy even then, he gathered a substantial amount of money and took the boy to Lagos. With the help of their relatives there, Muhammad obtained a visa to England, where he was admitted to Gifted International College for his secondary education. Every year during the session break, Muhammad would come to Nigeria to see his family and then return. Alhaji Lawan would always give him a lot of money for registration and daily needs. Muhammad's mother, Hajiya Adama, also did her best, even secretly selling her inherited cattle to gather money for Muhammad without her husband's knowledge.
Eventually, Muhammad completed his secondary education and received a scholarship to study business administration at Oxford University, as he aimed to finish his studies and help his father in business. He informed his parents that they no longer needed to pay for his education since he was on a scholarship, but Alhaji Lawan still sent him money for his needs. After completing his first degree, Muhammad returned home intending to take over his father's business, but this was thwarted by a family dispute. His stepmother, Hajja, vehemently opposed the idea, arguing that after all the money spent on his education, he now wanted to take over the family wealth. She insisted that other children in the family also deserved a share.
As a result, Muhammad returned to England to pursue his master's degree, followed by a Ph.D. After completing his studies, he took up a lecturing position at Oxford. Five years into his lecturing career, he was awarded a professorship. That same year, his parents insisted he return to Nigeria to settle down like his peers. Due to his expertise in business education and international relations, the Nigerian government appointed him as an ambassador. His first posting was to our neighboring country, Niger.
As for my mother, Hajiya Fatima, also known as Bintou, she is originally from Niger. Her father passed away when she was young, and she was the only child. Her mother, whose name I bear (Maimoon), took care of her and her education until she completed secondary school. They tried to send her to Nigeria for university, but due to lack of resources, it was not possible. It was during this time that she met my father, who was then the Nigerian ambassador to Niger. Initially, he felt sympathy for her and admired her desire for education, but eventually, they fell in love despite their age difference. At that time, Inna (Hajiya Adama) was pressuring him to get married, so there was no issue, and they got married. He brought her to Nigeria and settled her in our home in Aso Drive, Abuja, where we still live today.