of 18 years princess from Adamawa kingdom by the Emir of Kano, Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi II. This brought about one of the heated debate on
social media. Many termed the criticism as unethical and unworthy to
even talk about due to the fact that the marriage is not against any
law; Ismalamic, Nigerian or international.
The Emir finally opens up to give his first and last reasons for those
who cares to read and understand as below.
I am sure NC members all have their views and have kept quiet out of
(appropriate) deference to our right to make our individual choice.
Obviously I do not need to explain anything to anyone in a purely
personal matter but a few points are worthy of note:
The lady in question is 18 and therefore legally of age to marry under
all laws and certainly under Muslim law.
She is proceeding for her undergraduate education in the UK in
January. She had an A in computer science in her O levels and plans to
get a degree in computer science.
3. Each and every one of my wives is a university graduate and some
have worked and then stopped and in each case the choice was purely
theirs.
It is a tradition in Kano that emirs and princes in choosing wives
consider issues beyond the individual. The family is in every sense a
social unit. My predecessor was married to princesses from Ilorin,
Katsina and Sokoto.
5. The relationship between the late Lamido of Adamawa Aliyu Musdafa
the father of the current Lamido is well known. Lamido Aliyu was the
first emir turbaned after emir Sanusi I and they remained close until
Sanusi's death.
My own relationship with the current Lamido dates back to 1981 when he
was Ciroma and commissioner for works. By the way the Lamido and I are
not illiterates we know what we are doing and he does have a PhD in
Engineering.
My own mother was married in Adamawa and lived there for more than two
decades and I have eight younger brothers and sisters from there.
8. It is therefore natural that if I choose to marry from another
kingdom Adamawa would be the first choice for me and I am extremely
happy to strengthen these long historical bonds.
The young lady in question gave her free consent and even after the
contract the wedding will not happen for a few years. By then she may
be 21. If she freely consents to this I do not know on what moral
grounds anyone has a grouse. She is an adult, she gave her consent,
and her education is not being in anyway interrupted.
The real issue is that people do not accept cultural difference. And
you can see it in the approach to these issues. I am supposed to be
urbane and western educated. Yes but I am not European. I am a
northern Nigerian Fulani Muslim brought up in a setting exactly like
the one my children are being brought up in.
If you read this and it improves your understanding of this issue that
is fine. If it does not just remember it is not your life, it is not
your daughter and you are not my wife therefore it is not your
business.
I obviously cannot stoop to the level of responding publicly to these
kinds of articles. I have always been an advocate of girls marrying
after maturing. I personally like the minimum age of 18 even though I
understand those who say 16 is fine and indeed this is the law in most
so called advanced countries.
Is this something that I expect a European or western trained or
feminist mind to appreciate or endorse? Not at all. But has any
American been bothered about my views on men marrying men or women
marrying women who frankly I find primitive and bestial? No and my
views do not matter. These are cultural issues.
Even in Nigeria I have heard all this stuff as in Pius article about
"north" and northerners. Again it is a failure to respect difference.
There are parts of this country where parents expect their daughters
to live with their boyfriends for years and actually get pregnant
before they marry. It has become culture. We do not have that in the
north and if your daughter gets pregnant before marriage she brings
nothing but shame to the name. But we do not issue condemnations. We
agree that this is how they choose to live. And I can give many other
examples.
When people use the term libido they do themselves injustice. First of
all it shows how they view women and marriage. Women are nothing but
the object of sexual desire. Marriage is nothing but sexual
gratification. Well I am sorry but in my tradition it is not. Beauty
and attraction rank third after religion and lineage in the choice of
a wife.
They see an 18 year old young lady. I see a princess of noble birth
whose mother is also a princess, and who has been brought up in a good
Muslim home. This is the kind of woman that is prepared for giving
birth to princes and bringing them up for the role expected of them in
society.
Marriage is both social and political. Expanding the links of Kano
which have already been established by my predecessors through
inter-marriage with Katsina, Sokoto, Ilorin, Katagum, Ningi, Bauchi
etc to Adamawa is an important and significant step and this is
obvious to anyone with a sense of how royal families work and Ibn
Khaldun's sociological concept of Asabiyyah.
When the Emir of Kano marries it has to be something beyond what he
personally desires to what is appropriate for that position and the
expectations of the people he represents. You don't just pick up any
girl on the street. And by the way, for those who shout libido, sex is
cheap and available everywhere in all shapes and sizes and all colours
if that is what they want. And all ages too. Marriage is a very
different proposition. The mother of your children has to be something
other than, not at least much more than a mere object of sexual
fantasy. But if you do not know that you need to buy yourself a brain.
I have daughters. And they know they can only marry from certain
backgrounds. I always prefer family. When my daughter wanted to marry
Mouftah Baba Ahmed's son and she asked me, knowing my views on family,
I told her Mouftah is family. And this is not about me and Mouftah or
me an Hakeem or Nafiu. No. It goes back to Baba Ahmed and Emirs Sanusi
and Bayero. And the same rule applies to my sons. And it applied to me
as well.
It is, I am sure, very strange that I should even bother to comment on
this. But it would be hypocritical for me to just keep quiet so long
as these things are being posted and commented upon explicitly or in a
snide manner. There was no secrecy in the marriage fatiha. The date
was fixed and it was to be done in the central mosque after Friday
prayers.
The day before we had a tragedy in Saudi Arabia and decided the fatiha
must be very low key as a mark of respect for the dead. All
traditional rulers in Adamawa were there, as were governors and
commissioners, members of my own emirate council and Adamawa people.
There is nothing here to hide or be apologetic about.
The emirs of Adamawa have shown love to my parents and grandparents
and it is a sign of my appreciation of their love that i marry their
daughter. This is the highest statement of friendship and loyalty on
both sides.
Again if you understand this this is fine. If you do not, buy yourself
a brain, A la Pius.
In any event this is my one and final and only comment on this. And I
am making it out of respect for NC members.
MSII (Emir of Kano)
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