Emir Sanusi Responds To Those Who Criticised Him For Marrying An 18-Year-Old Princess

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II has
reacted to critics of his marriage to 18-year-old
Sa'adatu Barkindo-Musdafa, the daughter of the
Lamido of Adamawa.
Read his reaction 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 therefore
legally of age to marry under all laws and
certainly under Muslim law.
2. 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.
4. 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.
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
Engineering.
7. 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.
9. 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.
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 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