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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Professor Luqman Zakariyah, the officiating Imam at the wedding Fatiha of five daughters and five sons of Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, prayed for President Bola Tinubu’s good health and a tenure that restores hope to the hopeless.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, captured this in a State House press release on Friday.
At the National Mosque in Abuja, where President Tinubu, representing the Matawalle family, received the brides—Maryam, Safiyya, Farida, Nana Firdausi, and Aisha—along with grooms Ibrahim, Abdul Jalal, Surajo, Bello, and Fahad into his family. President Carlos Manuel Vila Nova of São Tomé and Príncipe also attended the grand ceremony.
Zakariyah, hailing Tinubu as “a father of all,” led the prayers: “We pray to Almighty Allah to give our President, who is representing all, the father of all the brides and the grooms, good health. We also ask Allah to grant our President long life, prosperity, and success during his presidency. We pray that his tenure will bring hope to the hopeless.”
The Imam further beseeched Allah to bless the new couples’ journeys, their parents, and grandparents.
Witnesses included state governors, National Assembly members, Federal Executive Council officials, Service Chiefs, diplomats, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and other dignitaries. Matawalle, former Zamfara State governor, hosted the multiple unions in a show of family and national unity.
