04

Feb

2009

Nafisa Yar’Adua, 21, Becomes The Fourth Wife To Bauchi State Governor. PDF Print E-mail
By Blessing Otobo

 Nafisa Yar’adua marries a man fit to be her father, a man already married to three wives. What is she thinking?

Why would a young 21-year-old girl who has not seen much about life, subject her self to a life style of a fourth wife? A girl that could affect great difference in Nigeria and in the world by inspiring other girls her age and still can, chooses a man, thirty years her senior- when she is not a disfavored or an insignificant citizen of her country.

Why would the parents of Nafisa allow her to marry a man fit to be her father if not for selfish reasons best know them alone. That Yaguda is a governor does not guarantee their daughter a safe or secured haven. And why in this 21st century of enlightenment, would Nigerians continue to tolorate a man married to more than one wife rule as a Governor or a President?

If Nafisa is a pauper and has no family ties to the President of Nigeria, as a daughter, if Nafisa is said to be a girl whose taste is strictly for the high-enders, then it would be all right to say that she is a girl that knows what she wants and goes for it. In this scenario, that is not the case. Nafisa is a girl with golden opportunities, a girl who could use the platform as the president’s daughter to make noble and visible changes that would affect millions positively- no, instead, she chooses to be a fourth wife, a pleasure girl, a tool for procreation.

What is the moral lesion here? That a parent, a mother would rather see her daughter marry a man fit to be her father, a man already married to three wives, just so the status quo of the rich dating and marrying the rich is maintained and secured. How about the girl going out to be a scholar, a scientist, a prolific writer, an inventor, a girl that makes significant difference in her country. Oh, no, she chooses rather to be relegated to the status befitted to her gender- a procreator.

Who knows, she is probably a virgin, and now, she must give of her precious self to a married man, a man that may have deflowered many girls her age or even younger. I probably cannot marry Governor Yaguda, even if I am in my late thirties and not married. Yes, with all the money, status, and as handsome as he is perceived to be. The exception is, if I am cognitively impaired and have a very low self-esteem and I cannot make a living for myself because I am an old hag, only then can I think of such, that is marrying a man with three wives.

I am sure the Governor is a nice man, but morally, I think, he failed. I understand that his religion makes a provision for a man to marry up to four wives. Perhaps in the same religion there should be a provision for a woman to marry more than one husband. I think life should be balanced- where all are given equal opportunity to express their desires.

I just cannot imagine why a fine girl such as Nafisa would choose to marry a man that is thirty years older than she is, one married to three wives, than being a single, self-recognized woman. Honestly, why be a second, third or fourth wife, when she knows that when she wants him, she cannot have him at the time she wants him, because she must wait her turn to have him. Why chose such a torturous life, and yet, this is supposedly a president’s daughter, one who could command the likes of Will Smiths’, singles princes and the likes of the most intellectual minds from around the world to seek her hand in marriage.

Frankly, it baffles me that a fine girl like Nafisa should consign her self to the low end of becoming a fourth wife, not even the first wife, as she is young, beautiful and the daughter of the president of Nigeria.

Why should a president, a supposed man of integrity, and his wife, the first lady, regardless of religion subject their daughter to a married man, just so to maintain the status quo of the elite? What an elite? There are honorable Moslem men that marry just to one woman based on principles.

 If he the President has been regarded as a worthy man of principle, this present decision making of allowing his daughter to be a fourth wife has so completely tarnish it for me- not that my opinion is taken into account.  But as a concerned Nigerian citizen, and a woman, this is unflattering. The reason being that, the president and his wife, the first lady should set some moral standard, a tenet, about how the choices one makes can affect the collective consciousness of the masses-especially the likes of vulnerable girls who have been taken advantages of by married men..

This is perhasp why the country is so dysfunctional, why the system is so chaotic, and why policies that could drive the country progressively is not functioning properly. The reason is this, some of the minds that direct policies are not a cognitively functioning mind. Take for instance, the premise that a functioning body of the society; a female can only be valued, appreciated only if she is married, and to a man that is three times a husband. Such premise is faulty and it is bound to perpetuate chaos- regardless of how dressed up the reasoning may be.

 Here is a man, a president of one of the largest oil producing country in the world, a man of high caliber, instilling in his offspring, his female child, never to aspire to be the best in the world, but rather should subjugate herself to becoming the fourth wife of a man already married with multiple children.  

This is particularly the kind of thinking that has plunged Nigeria, and would continue to plunge her further into thoughtless unproductive country unless she begins to think and teach right. Some of the variables that have prompted the inconsistency in the Nigerian culture are these, that in order to be counted as a worthy citizen, you must align your self with those that has accumulated material and elusive political status- not of those making visible productive and cognitive changes that impact lives positively.

The idea that one must continue to live a false and elusive life style as the one paraded by Governor Yaguda and President Yar’adua’s last month, in Abuja and in Katsina State, is the thinking that must be pruned out of our deep psychology, it must be purged out of our consciousness, if we are to operate as a whole functioning system. With such blatant display of mediocrity, it would take centuries for Nigeria to achieve the status of a developed country.

I cannot imagine myself allowing my daughter to marry a married man, as his fourth wife. I will send her to a psychiatric hospital to be evaluated and treated for traumatic stress- especially if I am the first lady of Nigeria.

 I cannot imagine president Barack Obama, and Michelle Obama giving out one of their precious grown up daughters to a married governor of the states just so they are in the safe circle of the elite.



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RobotRobot is offline

 # 1 | 05.02.2009 05:24

Nafisa Yar’adua marries a man fit to be her father, a man already married to three wives. What is she thinking?
Why would a young 21-year-old girl who has not seen much about life, subject her self to a life style of a fourth wife? A girl that could have gone on to make great difference in Nigeria and in the world by inspiring other girls her age and still can, chooses a man, thirty years her senior- when she is not a disfavored or an insignificant citizen of her country.
Why would the parents of Nafisa allow her to marry a man fit to be her father if not for selfish reasons best know them alone. That Yaguda is a governor does not guarantee their daughter a safe or secured haven. And why in this 21st century of enlightenment, would Nigerians continue to allow a man that is married to more than one wife rule them?
If Nafisa is a pauper and has no family ties to the President of Nigeria, as a daughter, if Nafisa is said to be a girl whose taste is s...Read the full article.

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Ayo AkinfeAyo Akinfe is offline

 # 2 | 05.02.2009 06:18

I am with you 100% on this. It simply does not make sense. Yar'Adua should get his daughter as educated as possible and allow her have a decent career in whatever field she choses and then settle down and marry a man she loves.

This looks like an arranged marriage for political reasons. Yar'Adua is setting a bad example here.

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Gongo-asoGongo-aso is offline

 # 3 | 05.02.2009 06:22

Don't you know that in the North, they are confused about the role of religion and culture. They don't know the difference(s) or the demarcation between these two variables.

That is why a person like Yar'Adua who is supposed to be liberated by education still remains in bondage of "heritage" and he has successfully passed the bondage to his daughter and perhaps children.

Is there a documentation of how many wives Yar'Adua himself has, and the ages of his "captured" ninjas.

21 years old, 4th wife of a greedy governor...what a monumental waste..!

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liloldladyliloldlady is offline

 # 4 | 05.02.2009 06:58

I see we are using our own standards, values, and yardstick to judge this Young lady and her choices. We are not privy to her thoughts, nor do we have acess to her as a person, or any clue as to her life's ambition, or lack thereof.

How do we know that at 21, she has not acquired the education, or skills, she wants for her life as determined by her.
Who she marries, whatever wife number she choses to be, is her private decision. I really do not see why this should exercise any minds, outside those immediately concerned.
This is the beauty of Free will. Anybody is able to chose as they deem fit for themselves.
So long as they are acting within the confines of the law of the land.

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emenanjoemenanjo is offline

 # 5 | 05.02.2009 07:04

This is a commonplace practice in the far North. They claimed that it is in line with their religion which permits a man to marry more than one wife inasmuch as the man will give them equal love.

The problem is complex and interwined, especially the mix, like "Gongo so" above rightly pointed out, between religion and culture. My take is that most of these young girls are coaxed into accepting these marriages. In other wards, they are intimidated and even bullied into accepting such. In a "thorough going macho society" like Nigeria, their safety is not guranteed if the girls decide otherwise. Thus they accept with fear. Even where the girl has come of age, the freedom of choice is rarely tolerated. In this modern world, this should be discouraged. Unfortunately, those who should have helped to discourage this act are the same male adults who are involved in it and are the law makers.

This is where one will like to call on moslem female journalists working at the Abuja press centre to stand up and be counted. Although, it is the challenge of all right thinking Nigerians, but it is more of their own challenge. They should mobilise and organise themselves to confront these type of 'forceful' marriages. Some educated female Northerners should also take up the cudgel and confront this form of sexual exploitation.

Workshops, seminars, lectures and a well organised enlightenment campaigns should help to checkmate these men who are on the leash. The rigid Emirate traditional institution of the North, should open up and embrace positive global changes. It looks like it is still living in the dark. And without the backing of this institution, I am sorry, the envisaged change will not be forthcoming.

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denkerdenker is offline

 # 6 | 05.02.2009 07:18

wetin concern una self...make una komot for here..na who no like to shine plenty congo..na jeolousy dey kill una..lol!

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VerosVeros is offline

 # 7 | 05.02.2009 07:27


=liloldlady;321840>I see we are using our own standards, values, and yardstick to judge this Young lady and her choices. We are not privy to her thoughts, nor do we have acess to her as a person, or any clue as to her life's ambition, or lack thereof.

How do we know that at 21, she has not acquired the education, or skills, she wants for her life as determined by her.
Who she marries, whatever wife number she choses to be, is her private decision. I really do not see why this should exercise any minds, outside those immediately concerned.
This is the beauty of Free will. Anybody is able to chose as they deem fit for themselves.
So long as they are acting within the confines of the law of the land.




My sentiments exactly!!! The problems I see here are NOT the ones addressed by the author, if Nafisa and her family consent to the marriage and are within the confines of the law, na dem sabi!

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Prince CharlesPrince Charles is offline

 # 8 | 05.02.2009 07:46

There is this report that Yar'Adua was at a time a mad man who was healed of the maddness with stokes of cain on his back which still bears the marks. If that is correct as i would wish not.. even tho his style suggest the story could be true.

Then i see no wonder why we shud worry about his actions such as these. It bears the actions of a madman.

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NzemanNzeman is offline

 # 9 | 05.02.2009 08:04

Yar'Adua and the first lady are a disgrace to the leadership of Nigeria. There is no excuse, other than selfish reasons, for them to give out their 21 year old girl to a raunchy governor of Bauchi state, who already have three wives and some of them produced children for Yagudu, who are older than Nasifat.

What a terrible role model Yar'Adua is showing Nigerians! That a young girl should be sent into slavery in the name of marriage to the wealthy, and not for love or self choice.

Anyone who watched the show of shame, called wedding, in TV would see that Nasifat was cold all through not showing any excitement, the type you see a lady happily married, shows on her wedding day. You can see that it was forced on her by her powerful parents and she had no choice. What choice? Forget that the man is 31 years older than her. The man now has four wives, how would he get the time for her when she needs her.

And shame on Yagudu and all similar randy governors who marry four wives in the name of Islam. That doctrine saying you can marry up to four wives, is patently wrong. There is no way a man will love his four wives equally. He must love one or two more than the others. all these Governors who should be devoting time to developing and making their states better for the unemployed, sick and uneducated population refuse to so their work and instead devote their time in perversion and philindering. No wonder they steal state allocations without engaging in any productive activities to develop their states.

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denkerdenker is offline

 # 10 | 05.02.2009 08:17

Nzeman, abeg komot for here...how many wey dem dey marry for igboland...the last time wey me i checked one man dey marry 6 wifeys...wat say thee..?
 

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