Muhammadu Maccido was one of the few children born to Sultan Siddiq Abubakar III before Abubakar became the Sultan of Sokoto in 1938. He was born on 20 April 1928 on the outskirts of the city of Sokoto in the town of Dange Shuni. Many other children had died in childbirth and so when Muhammadu was born to Abubakar's senior wife Hauwa, he was given the additional name Maccido (meaning "slave") to try and ward off bad luck. Although Abubakar only had two children before he became Sultan, he preceded to have 53 additional children after.