Ever since Kano State governor, AbbaKabir Yusuf reached out
to Zainab Jummai Ado Bayero, who is one of the daughters of the late Emir of
Kano, following her soliciting for help publicly, things have not been the same
for her family.
The whole issue went viral when Zainab reached the public to
seek financial support to save her family from being evicted from a Lagos
apartment. When she disclosed publicly that her mother, brother and herself,
had been passing through difficulties since the demise of their father, that
got the attention of governor Yusuf who reached out to them to settle their
accommodation challenges etc.
Surprising to those criticising Zainab, she was out in the
public again few months later to solicit for more help, pleading that they
needed more money to be able to settle their bills and take her brother back to
school.
This elicited reactions with many accusing her of
squandering the money the governor sent to her and the family.
In response, Zainab issued a statement, putting the record
straight.
Part of her statement reads; “I can’t be in this situation
with no home, my brother not in school and we’ll be going out from place to
place. I decided to plead with him (the governor) again. I did interviews, and
in those interviews, I thanked him. I’m not blackmailing him but said we need
more help to get my brother back to school, to get a home, anything he wants to
help us with. I was trying to reach out to him that instead of rent, maybe if
he could buy us a home. I was pleading, seeking his assistance. That was why I
went back to the media but he felt he has given us enough, he could have just
made that clear but not making it seem like I’m greedy or I’m trying to
blackmail him. I’m not greedy. I’m not trying to extort the governor if that’s
what they’re trying to put out there. That’s not the case.
“I’m all over the social media being seen as someone who is
greedy. It is easy to judge what you don’t know. My story goes a long way. This
is not something that started two months ago. It has been going on for 10
years. I keep saying that it’s like people don’t understand what’s going on.
Ever since my Dad died 10 years ago, his family denied us any part of his
inheritance and that is why this journey has been going on this way, where we
have been trying to survive.”
Zainab Ado Bayero’s
mother tells her story
Watching her daughter being bullied on social media and
called all sorts of names, is perhaps the hardest thing Zainab’s mother could
bear. She decided to tell her story from the beginning to save her precious
child.
“My name is Princess Hauwa Momoh. I’m the daughter of the
late Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Guruza Momoh. I’ve been very sad and heartbroken
for the past few days due to the social media attacks targeted at my daughter.
It’s a mother’s worst pain to watch your child suffer. She has been harassed on
social media, and she never wanted all this.
Zainab is a very shy girl, she has always been sensitive and
calm. As a little girl, she would hide behind me.
“My story started when at 18, I wanted to study journalism
at Bayero University in kano. My father was very protective of my life. I lived
at home shielded, and I never dated, and my mom felt Kano was too far. But I
was insistent so, my father decided I needed a protector. So, he wrote a letter
to fellow monarch, a custodian – Ado Bayero, whom he had encountered over the
years and had immense respect for. He felt he would be the right person to
protect me, so I set off on my journey. I had no idea how that meeting would
change my life.”
Princess Momoh shares how she was rejected from the
beginning because she is not a Northerner. “The late Emir, after several
interactions, made it clear he was in love with me. Like I said, I was young
and naive, but I believed it was destiny. From the beginning, I was never
accepted because I wasn’t from the north. Even after having two kids, my being
royal and a Muslim, it didn’t matter. I was an outsider. Zainab experienced all
this in school -the bullying. I even had to stay in school with her every day
for five years when she was in primary school in Kano.
“After their dad died like Zainab said previously,
everything changed. We were denied he’s estate. It was bound to happen because
they only tolerated us because the man was alive. So when he died their true
colours were revealed.”
“My daughter isn’t lazy; she’s a strong, decent and
intelligent young woman. Her documentary was written directed by her under the
most difficult circumstances. She had no help or funding from the government or
anyone but did everything with our savings. She worked so hard to tell her
father’s story but no one has supported her rather, the North is judging her on
how she dresses because she’s modern and she’s been herself. Is it a crime to
be western?
I’m a Muslim and in my state, Muslims can cover or choose to
be modern. We are liberal in Auchi; we don’t judge non Muslims or hate
different ideologies. I raised her to be a Liberal Muslim,” she explained.
Reasons Zainab went
public
According to her, Zainab went public with their situation
because it had gone on for long. “The reason Zainab spoke is because our
situation has been going on for so long. We couldn’t take it anymore. She was
reluctant at first but I told her to seek the current Emir Sanusi and her state
governor’s assistance as citizen of Kano.
“The Governor reached out but the situation wasn’t resolved
that’s why she decided to ask for his assistance again. She wasn’t insulting
him or being negative. He’s spokesman Sanusi Beture, texted her asking why she
didn’t say he sent a certain amount to us, she didn’t respond. The next day the
attacks began on social media calling my daughter names, saying she squandered
money. We were in shock. We never imagined the kano government would react to
my daughter that way. I thought as a daughter of their state and a daughter of
a king, that served them for fifty years, they would care about our situation.
“She thanked him but said the problems were not over; was
that a crime? Is that why she’s being bullied on social media? She’s passing
through so much emotional stress because of this. If the government wants to
attack someone let them attack me not my daughter.
I know they are doing this to her because I’m not from the
north; that’s the reason. It’s an excuse to torture her. If they don’t want to
help, it’s okay but not attacking her on the internet. It’s dangerous. Cyber
bullying can make people kill themselves. They should discourage bulling
instead of using it as a tool against a daughter trying to help her brother and
mother.”
SOS to eminent
Nigerians
“I am asking other well meaning Nigerians who loved and
respected their dad to help. People like the President, the Vice president, the
senate president, etc, to save us from this hell. We are not baggers but family
seeking help as citizens. When Prince Harry and Meghan left the Royal fold, he
had nowhere to go. It was a Hollywood celebrity in the person of Tyler Perry
who assisted them and gave them what they needed. He wasn’t begging; he was
Prince Harry but he needed help. So, I need well meaning Nigerians to help my
daughter and my son on this journey. I hope the attacks on her will stop. She
did this for me as a loving daughter, putting her pride aside and I love her
for it.”
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