28 June, 2013
Politics
Marriage, to many people, stands for different things. Just as some believe it is the union of man and woman in wedlock, others believe it goes beyond joining two consenting adults together. This is why such people, when it comes to celebrating the joint union, always want to leave a record to prove that their celebration was the best ever.
But in spite of the fact that “the best-ever wedding in town” doesn’t exist, many are falling over each other to make sure theirs is the talk of the town. On such occasions, friends, families, relatives and, quite often, strangers come to wish the couple well and get refreshed with whatever the couples are able to provide. It takes people years, months or days to prepare for their wedding, each depending on the circumstance.
In Nigeria, we have had several cases of marriages that turned out to be more of political unions between two families with popular political pedigree. To some extent, such marriages may stand with attendant political benefits while, in other cases, the reverse is the case. LEADERSHIP FRIDAY unearth a number of marriages that, apart from the normal marital relationship, also have the prospects for mutual political rewards.
Bukar Abba Ibrahim And Khadija Waziri Ibrahim
The three-time former governor of Yobe State, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, is a dyed-in-the-wool politician. He was born into politics and grew in it. He always says, “As long as there is the Talaka, I will remain in politics for his sake.”
Was it, then, an act of politics when he brought home or “domesticated” Hon. Khadija, who is a daughter of the late advocate of “politics without bitterness”, Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim?
The beautiful and highly educated Hon. Khadija was first made a commissioner by Bukar when he was the governor of his state, but she resigned after their marriage.
She has been in the House of Representatives since 2007 while her husband is in the Senate.
Uloma Okorocha And Uche Nwosu
The first daughter of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Uloma, recently got married to Uche Nwosu, the deputy chief of staff and commissioner for lands, survey and urban development in Imo.
The marriage proved to be one of the most celebrated in the state, as it drew attention across the state and the country before the marriage was solemnized. It was gathered that the groom had been serving the governor for several years before the marriage.
Nwosu was Okorocha’s personal assistant (P.A.) even before he became governor. He has also remained a confidant of His Excellency who has entrusted him with several jobs and which he executed to the satisfaction of the governor.
There is a political implication to this marriage, considering the fact that Okorocha’s commissioner is now his son-in-law. It is not impossible and not unlikely that the governor may influence his son-in-law’s election to replace him in the Imo State Government House when he leaves office.
Govs Isa Yuguda, Saidu Dakingari And Yar’adua’s Daughters
This may sound incredible, but Kebbi State governor Sa’idu Dakingari never looked like someone who was kidding when he revealed that his wife, Zainab, daughter of ex-president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was the one who decided to “capture him” the moment she saw him on the television screen. Dakingari married one of the then first daughters in Katsina in 2007, not long after her father assumed office as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Each of us in this life is a slave of destiny and destiny can always manipulate anybody’s life the way it wills when we little notice. For instance, it may surprise you to know that my wife, Zainab Yar’Adua, first saw me on television screen and said ‘That is the man I will marry’ and today we are husband and wife,” Dakingari told a national newspaper in an interview on July 20, 2009.
Also, on Saturday, January 24, 2009, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and another daughter of the then President Yar’Adua, Nafisat, joined hands in marriage in Katsina State. The marriage followed swiftly after Yuguda had begun a vibrant courtship with Nafisa, having met her in Aso Rock during one of his visits to the presidency.
After their first meeting at the office of the then first lady and mother of the delectable bride, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua, this per-chance meeting culminated in the blissful union that gathered the high and the mighty in society.
No doubt, Yuguda’s marriage to the president’s daughter has further brought to the fore his mien as a calm and gentle politician whose antecedents facilitated his smooth ride to power.
The return of Umaru Yar’Adua in a vegetative state, with the reality of his inability to function as president, had set two of his daughters, Zainab and Nafisa, both married to sitting governors, at war path over whose husband would be vice president to the then acting president Goodluck Jonathan.
Unconfirmed reports had it that when reality dawned on their mother, Turai, she desperately wanted to impose either Yuguda or Dakingari as a vice president so that the interests of the family would be consolidated and protected.
Both Yuguda and Dakingari were among names on the list of PDP hopefuls for the coveted office of vice president, if they could not get the top job itself.
It was however learnt that Turai was more favourably disposed to Yuguda considering his role during the drama. He was in Saudi Arabia and then later the US. Aside from being by his wife’s side when she gave birth, he was also scouting for a hospital that could provide better service for his father-in-law. Dakingari was seen by Turai as laid-back, even though our source said that his wife, Zainab, is the apple of Turai’s eye.
Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi And Aisha Babangida
Aisha, the first daughter of former military president General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), gave the marriage institution another trial after dumping her first husband.
After her failed marriage to Basheer Garba, the beautiful daughter of IBB, married the then governor of Zamfara State, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, on April 11, 2008.
Aisha became the first lady of the state, attending public and state functions. But, curiously, the union headed for the rocks shortly after Shinkafi lost his re-election bid as the governor of the state.
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