Last week, Alhaji Sanusi, 55, married the 18-year old Sa'adatu, the daughter of the Lamido of Adamawa Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, at a secret ceremony in Yola. She was officially given away in marriage to the emir last Friday after Jumma’at prayers but the union will effectively be on hold until she completes her studies in 2019.
In January 2016, Sa’adatu will enrol for an undergraduate course in computer science in a UK university. According to one family source Emir Sanusi, an advocate of female education in northern Nigeria, is very delighted with the resolve of his bride to pursue her academic interest in information technology.
All of the emir's current three wives are university graduates, while one of them is currently undertaking a master’s programme. Sa’adatu was reported to have demonstrated significant knowledge of computer science in her O’Levels, scoring an A in her Senior Secondary School Certificate examinations.
“Her ambition is to be an IT expert and she has already secured admission to a UK university to further her studies. Effectively, she will be there till the age of 21 when she is supposed to return to Nigeria and, as it were, officially assume the position of Sanusi’s fourth wife,” the source added.
Her father, the Lamido of Adamawa, who holds a PhD in engineering, is said to be very excited at the example the northern royals are setting in giving education to women in a region considered to be very conservative about female and western education. Emir Sanusi’s first wife, who is a daughter of the late emir, Ado Bayero, holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the Bayero University Kano (BUK) and speaks Arabic.
His second wife, Maryam, who speaks Arabic and Italian, holds a BA in Arabic and Islamic studies also from BUK and is about completing a master’s degree in education from the University of Abuja. His third wife, Rakiya, has an LLB from Ahmadu Bello University and an LLM from the University of London.
Sa’adatu will now complete Sanusi II’s Islamic marital quota after her university education at the age of 21. She is older than several of Emir Sanusi's seven daughters, four of whom are currently undergraduates.
“One is studying law at Buckingham University in the UK, while the second is a biology major at New York University in the US. Both will graduate next year, while the third is studying accounting and finance at Swansea University, UK, with the fourth taking media studies at the American University in Paris, France.
“You can accuse Sanusi of all things but you cannot deny the fact that he takes educating girls and women very seriously. There is this stereotype out there that once a woman is married in northern Nigeria, she becomes a sex slave, which is very unfortunate,” the family source added.
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