The function of Wazirin Sokoto (Chief Minister/Advisor to the Sultan) became formalized with the accession of Muhammed Bello to the throne in 1817. Prior to that, the Shehu's younger brother Abdullahi Bayero was his chief advisor and lieutenant, and held the title of Waziri during the active phase of the Jihad (1804-1808).

The first Waziri was his close friend and brother in-law Usman Gidado dan Abubakar Laima (1777-1851). All the subsequent Wazirin Sokoto are descended from Gidado and Nana Asmau, Sultan Bello's younger half-sister who herself played a leading role during the rules of her nephews Aliyu Babba (1842-1859) and Ahmad Zaruku dan Atiku (r.1859-1866).

Gidado became close to Bello during the Jihad and often served as liaison between him and the other leaders.
"Gidado was the nickname for Uthman b. Abubakar Sambo Laima. His father was a scholar; his mother Hussainatu was distantly related to the Shehu's family. Born in Kambaza near Gwandu in about 1776 he was given the name "Gidado" (F.) which means "beloved"; by this he was known for the rest of his life. The nickname is more usually given to a boy called Muhammad, so "Muhammad Gidado" meant Muhammad the Beloved [i.e. Muhammad al-Habib], as if referring to the Prophet. His parents migrated to Degel to join the Shehu's Community and his father died there. As a young man he became friendly with Muhammad Bello and they went together on long expeditions in search of books. During the period 1804-08 he was a special envoy linking the Shehu, with Bello, one of the principal army commanders. In 1807 just before the major assault on the fortress Alkalawa he married Bello's sister, Asma'u. In the period 1808-17 Gidado had a personal position in Bello's household - a kind of aide-de-camp and principal secretary. On Bello's election as Caliph, Gidado became Waziri with full executive powers. The only limits on his authority were that he could not appoint his own successor, he could not depose any of the Caliph's appointees, and he could not depose the Caliph. The explorer Hugh Clapperton visiting Sokoto in 1824 described Gidado as "an elderly man .. he was excessively polite. He spoke Arabic extremely well which he said he learnt solely from the Qur'an ... Gidado is an excellent man, and has unbounded influence with the Sultan
(Bello) to whose sister he is married" (Clapperton, 1826: Sl,S5). Gidado stayed close to Bello until the Caliph died in 1837 after which he and Asma'u wrote extensively about the Shehu and Bello (see Introduction to Work 22). He remained active but seems to have handed over the main part of his work to his son Abdulkadir, Asma'u's eldest child. One assumes this was due to some kind of physical infirmity - he had appeared "old" to Clapperton 12 years earlier" (Boyd and Mack).

Waziri (Advisor) was the informal title of Gidado. His official title was Amir al-masalih wall al-nasa 'ih which means Commander of "those things which are beneficial" [administrative organs] and Protector of the Honest/Sincere

Genealogical tree of the Waziri. Taken from Boyd and Mack, The Collected Works of Nana Asma'u

Since indentation does not work, here's a screenshot.
The family of Gidado and Asma'u.

It's a pity educative threads like this one aren't being patronised, rather, Somali trolls are getting all the attention. Don't let this hinder your effort, youre doing a great job Susaay. Thank you for this.

VomeSchakleton:
It's a pity educative threads like this one aren't being patronised, rather, Somali trolls are getting all the attention. Don't let this hinder your effort, youre doing a great job Susaay. Thank you for this.

Thanks to you .
I just like this history