From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Senator Abubakar Girei’s joy knew no bounds when he gave out his daughter, Hadiza, in marriage to her heartthrob, Umar Sanda, in Kaduna, recently. Girei represented Adamawa Central senatorial zone between 1999 and 2007. He was the immediate past Vice Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
•Girei (in black) surrounded by friends
The groom’s father, Hon. Mohammed Sanda represented Kaga/Gubio/Magumeri Federal Constituency of Borno State at the House of Representatives.
The wedding of Hadiza and Umar were solemnised at the Sultan Bello Mosque in Kaduna shortly after Jumma’at prayers. According to Islamic marriage rites, the bride is always absent when she is given out in marriage. The groom is always present, but he is not expected to perform any role. It is the representatives of the groom that gives the bride price (Safari) to the bride’s parents or guardian. Then, the supervising Imam joins the bride and groom in absentia after prayers.
Shortly after the wedding solemnisation, guests, parents, friends and well wishers were treated to sumptuous meals and assorted drinks at Arewa House, Kaduna. At 2pm, the two major halls in Arewa House were brimming with guests.
Senator Girie said: “I feel on top of the world, I feel very good. I am excited and happy that this is the fifth of my daughters that I am giving her hands in marriage.
“I am also very happy because she just graduated with a First class degree. Her result came out about a month ago. And now she is married. I have fulfilled all my obligations and responsibilities as a father. She finished from the University of Abuja. I didn’t send her abroad for studies. This shows that I am a patriotic Nigerian 100 percent.”
Girei used the opportunity to disclose why he was discouraged to send his children to school abroad. “I had every opportunity to send her overseas, but I refused to do that because I sent my first son to Leed University in London, and after one year he came back to Nigeria as a drug addict. This is the number one reason why I stopped sending my children abroad for studies.
“The second reason is obvious: then I could afford it, but the economy is bad and today I cannot afford to send my child to even a private nursery school,” he said.
On the number of daughters he had given out in marriage, he said: “This is the fifth daughter I have given out in marriage. I have 35 children, but out of the number only 14 are my biological children. The rest are also my children but they belong to my brothers, sisters, well wishers and political associates. I adopted them and trained them.
“Out of the 35, I have 21 of them that are graduates from various higher institutions in the country. Some of them are fully employed. The rest of them are not fully employed. My own biological daughter who read law is not employed. She graduated in 2015. But she is married.”
On his advice to his newly wedded daughter, he said: “My advice to my daughter that got married on November 24, 2023 in Kaduna is the same advice that I used to give to all my children. She should work hard and respect her husband. She should do her very best and leave the rest to God. She should try to be truthful and nice to all. If anybody offend you, forgive such person, though you may not forget.”
What is his idea about intertribal marriage? He said: “I believe in inter tribal marriage. I have four wives, none of them is 100 percent my tribe. This has answered your question. So, I believe in inter tribal marriage.
“The one that got married today is another example of my belief in inter tribal marriage. I am giving my daughter to a Kanuri man from Borno State and I am a Fulani man from Adamawa State.
“Of all my wives, only two are 50 percent Fulani. The other two are not Fulani at all. I never believe in tribe, I for once don’t believe in tribe. I believe not to be a tribal man. I am a very religious person, I don’t discriminate against people because of tribe.
“You can testify to this (pointing at the reporter) who he has known for years. We should call ourselves citizens of Nigeria and relate with one another. We should be able to build the nation together as citizens, but not segmenting ourselves as Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. This is primitive. We should be able to graduate the younger ones to take over from us as quickly as possible.”