What does There was a minute to him mean?

It means “it’s been a long time” or “we haven’t seen/talked in a while.” In casual English, “a minute” is often used to mean much longer than 60 seconds.

How it’s used

People say it when reconnecting with someone or talking about something they haven’t done recently.

• “It’s been a minute since we last talked.” = We haven’t talked for a long time.

• “It’s been a minute since I played basketball.” = I haven’t played in a while.

What it does not mean

It usually does not mean exactly one minute in this kind of phrase.

So “There was a minute to him” is probably not a standard phrase in English; the intended meaning was likely something like “it’s been a minute since I’ve seen him” or “it’s been a while since then.”

Simple version

If someone says “It’s been a minute,” they mean:
“It’s been a while.”

TL;DR: In slang, “a minute” = a long time , not 60 seconds.