Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi
II, drew the ire of millions of Nigerians, when it became public
knowledge that he got married to an 18-year-old Adamawa princess.
The Emir wedded his fourth wife, Sa’adatu Barkindo-Musdafa, on Friday, September 25.
Ever since, the criticisms have continuously flowed in from various quarters.
However, on Tuesday, a supposedly private correspondence between Emir Sanusi and a few people, was leaked to the public.
In the letter, the Emir sought to explain why he chose to marry his
new bride, Sa’adatu, as well as justify the reasons behind his action.
Read 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:
1. The lady in question is 18 and thererfore legally of age to marry under all laws and certainly inder Muslim law2. 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 science3 each and everyone of my wives is a university graduate and some
have worked and fhen stopped and in each case the choice was purely
theirs4. 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 Somoto5 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 turbanned after emir Sanusi I and they remained close until
Sanusi’s death.6. 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 Engineering7. My own mother was married in Adamawa and lived there for more than
two decades and I have eight younger brothers and sisters from there8 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 ling historical bonds9. 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, her
education is not being in anyway interrupted.10. 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 justvremember it us 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 calked ‘advanced’ countries.Is this something that I expect an 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 which 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 if 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 hiving birth to
princes and bringing them up for the role expected of them in society.
Martiage 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 signifant 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
oersonally desires to what is appropriate for that position and the
expectations of the people he represents. You dont just pick up any girl
on the street. And by the way for thise 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. Martiage is a very different
proposition. The mother of your children has to be something other than,
or 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 “