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How do I even start? Should I say once upon a time? This will sound as if I am about to narrate an ancient tale. That is not what I intend to do. What I intend to do is to narrate a recent but amazing story which peopleo call true life story. It is about a marriage proposal, allegedly from President Buhari to a food seller in Minna, Niger State. Of all people in Nigeria, why a food seller? This will naturally be the first thought.
If President Buhari must add another wife to the “OZA” room, she should expectedly be a princess, a renowned or rather first class widowed queen, daughter of a former president, or someone from such a prominent family. But for a president of a great country like Nigeria to make marriage proposal to a roadside food seller is amazingly unbelievable. Though there is nothing wrong in doing so, yet, it is amazingly un-Nigerian. So, how come? What really happened? Be patient as I briefly narrate the “tale.”
It happened that one Saudatu Aliyu—a 40-year-old food vendor (a divorcee and mother of five) in Niger State—married her daughter out around year 2018 to one Gambo Adamu who regularly buys food from her. The son-in-law works as a private security. After she married her daughter to Gambo, the latter, having observed that Saudatu (now his mother-in-law) makes a lot of money from her restaurant, encouraged her to set up a Non Governmental Organization (NGO).
The NGO shall focus on assisting the less privileged, especially orphans. The kind-hearted Saudatu agreed to found the NGO which she truly believed will be of great help to the less privileged. One may conclude that Saudatu is a philanthropist who is eager to help.
To cut the long story short, Gambo would ask his mother-in-law hundreds of thousands of naira, from time to time, to rent apartment as office for the NGO, furnish it, and put other necessary things on ground. He would serve as its spokesperson, he suggested, while the mother-in-law would be the chairperson. He promised Saudatu that she will soon be getting some benefits from both the State and Federal Governments which will include money and even Hajj slots. “One day”, Saudatu narrated in a recent interview with Trust Radio, “we visited hospitals and orphanage homes to help the sick and the needy. Before we went to those places, he said we should get a cameraman to take pictures and record videos for record purposes. It was after these visitations that he told me that he was going to take the video to Abuja to show to the Federal Government so that he could secure a contract for us.”
To, again, cut the long story short, Gambo claimed President Buhari saw the video and developed interest not just in the NGO but in Saudatu who runs the NGO. That is to say, the President thought she (Saudatu) would be a good material for the “OZA” room. Before you know it, Saudatu also fell in love with President Buhari. Who will not like to be a first lady!? Gambo, in connivance with his wife (Saudatu’s daughter), continued to milk his mother-in-law of her hard earned money with the news of marriage proposal from the President.
Saudatu was told her marriage to the President will be shrouded in secrecy as the President would not like to make it public. Secret or no secret, Saudatu could not hide her joy that she will soon become Buhari’s wife. In fact, she was told by her son-in-law that after the marriage is successfully conducted secretly, she will be succeeding the late Abba Kyari as Buhari’s Chief of Staff.
After a while, she was informed that President Buhari will be visiting her secretly in Minna. Of course, being a food vendor, she prepared the most deliciously sumptuous food anyone can think of with her money. To her disappointment, however, she did not meet her sweetheart (President Buhari).
The food she prepared was allegedly taken to the President. At some points, she started harbouring some doubts. If the President really loved me, he should have spoken to me, at least once, even if via phone. To clear her doubt from the onset of the so-called President’s marriage proposal, Saudatu asked her daughter (Gambo’s wife) if truly President Buhari made a marriage proposal to her through Gambo.
Hear her: “I didn’t believe him until I asked his wife (my daughter) and she swore by Allah and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that what her husband said was true, that she was present when ex-President Buhari said it. I could not control my tears. My son-in-law later brought out a paper, alleging that it was a letter written by Buhari to me and read it to my hearing. He said Buhari requested for my personal pictures.” That should be a love letter. I remember those days when guys write love letters. Don’t ask me if I have ever written one! Anyway, the naive Saudatu became more convinced of the President’s love for her.
After the toast letter was read to her, she was asked if she accepted the proposal. She answered in the affirmative primarily because Buhari is a northerner and Fulani like her. One decoy after another, she was asked to go shopping in preparation for the secret marriage. She, with her money, bought very expensive cloths, shoes, and whatnot, to the taste of the President.
These were also sent to Buhari who said were okay. While she was awaiting the wedding date to be fixed, she was informed by her son-in-law that the marriage had already been solemnized in Abuja in 2020. As evidence, Gambo presented to her the sum of N100, 000 as pride price, a basket of kola nuts, and fried chicken in a bag as gifts from Buhari during the wedding solemnization.
Thereafter, this woman stupidly believed she was married to President Buhari. They gave her a date Buhari would come to take her to Abuja to stay with him. She kept waiting till after one year; Buhari did not come for her.
Meanwhile, Gambo continue to dupe her—collecting money from her for different purposes. In 2021, after one year of the supposed marriage without meeting or seeing the President, her son-in-law advised her to do wedding anniversary with Buhari. Like a fairy tale, this 40 year-old-woman (Saudatu) did not overcome her “senility.” She even went to inform her father and mother that they should be ready to receive President Buhari as their guest on the 29th of May 2021. That was when the wedding was a year old.
This time, she vowed that if President Buhari (her sweetheart) did not show up on the fixed date, she will accept marriage proposal form other serious suitors. When Saudatu regained her sanity, she took the matter to court. She alleged that Gambo (her son-in-law) extorted money to the tune of N5 million from her to run a phantom NGO and arrange a marriage scam on her behalf to the President. I don’t know that a woman could be this stupid. If there is any award such like “the most foolish woman of the century”, Saudatu can hardly have a rival. But it seems Nigerian courts pay less or no attention to the foolishness of plaintiffs, no matter how foolish they are. In a nutshell, her case was judicable. Last month, a magistrate court in Minna, Niger State, sentenced Gambo to 12 months in prison.
Lessons learnt: when we ask God for offspring, it should not just be anyone. Useless offspring could ruin one’s life. Ladies and women, though easily fooled, should learn how to apply some caution in their desperation for material things and fake promises. It is high time the wise among them (women) started counselling their fellows that wealth is not everything and not all that glitter are gold. What I briefly narrated above fits perfectly for a fairy tale; but sadly, it happened recently in Niger State.
Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.con
