A renown Hausa poet, Alhaji Abubakar Ladan, has died at the age of 85 years.
A younger brother to the deceased, Alhaji Ahmed Maccido, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Zaria on Wednesday that Ladan died at his residence in Zaria, Kaduna State, on Tuesday night after a protracted illness.
Maccido said Ladan was a descendant of Mallawa dynasty and was born in Kwarbai, Zaria, in 1934.
He attended the Zaria Middle School, now Alhuda-Huda College, from 1950 to 1954.
Maccido said after his graduation from Middle School, Ladan started his carrier as a poet in 1954 when he ventured into literature and poetry writing, which accorded him the opportunity to visit many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia.
NAN reports that Ladan, had before his death, bagged several honours and awards, prominent of which was OON conferred on him by President Goodluck Jonathan on September 29, 2014.
He is survived by one wife and 11 children.
He has been buried according to Islamic rites at Kwarbai, Zaria.