Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Zamfara residents who are mostly political supporters and admirers of Senator Kabiru Marafa trooped en masse to Kaduna on Saturday as the lawmaker gave out her own daughter, Aisha and 13 orphans in marriage.
Senator Marafa played full role of a father to the 13 female orphans whose parents were killed by bandits in Zamfara State some years ago and gave them out for marriage.
The wedding Fatiha which took place at the Almannar Juma’at Mosque in Kaduna had also the Zamfara State Governor, former governors, former and serving legislators and traditional rulers in attendance.
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle, former Kano State Governor Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Zamfara Governor Alhaji Mahmuda Shinkafi, former Kaduna State Governor Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi and many other dignitaries were in attendance.
The marriage was contracted by the Chief Imam of the Mosque Dr Tukur Adam Almannar who used the opportunity to call on other serving and former leaders to emulate Senator Marafa by also taking care of orphans in their localities.
‘The Groom to the Senator’s daughter Al’amin Ilyasu Abdullahi paid N100,000 as bride price for Architect Aisha Kabiru Marafa.
Dr Almanal commended Senator Marafa, saying that the lawmaker did exactly what a responsible father and leader should do for his daughter as well as the 13 orphans.
‘The 13 orphans were those whose parents were killed across Zamfara State due to bandits activities. We hope and pray to Almighty Allah to reward him for the gesture as we also urged other well to do to emulate him by assisting the orphans,’ the Chief Imam said.
He also prayed to God to bring an end to insurgency in states like Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Senator Marafa speaking to Journalists shortly after the wedding said: ‘My motivation to do this is the support I get from my people all the time. You can see the crowd that gathered here today, it is the demonstration of their genuine love for me, and I am not in office, I am not in control of resources. These are people who love me and believe in my struggle.
‘So, I am humbled by this show of love because this wedding ceremony is supposed to take place in Zamfara, but because of the security challenges, we decided to hold it here in Kaduna.
‘We also decided to hold it in a low-key due to Covid-19, yet people came in large number because of their love for me.’
On security situation in Zamfara state, the lawmaker appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to, “please in the name of Allah implement the resolution that was passed at the tail end of the 8th National Assembly where we called on the federal government to extend even if it is a small fraction of what has been done in North-East should be done in Zamfara, by constituting a President Initiative Committee on Zamfara state, give the Committee a seed money of N10bn and same amount to be given every year for 10 years to assist the situation on ground.
‘The situation is that, between 2011 and 2019, conservatively, 10,000 able-bodied men were killed in Zamfara State. If those 10,000 men had an average of two wives, that means, there are 20,000 widows in Zamfara, if you give them an average of four children per family, that means, there are 40,000 orphans in Zamfara.
‘That is what informed my gesture to sponsor the wedding of orphans because most of them are grown up, but their families cannot buy them even broom.
‘So, I am calling on Mr President as the father of the Nation to look at that Senate resolution of 2019 and implement it because that is the only way we can curtail the spillover we are now seeing in Katsina, Sokoto and other places.
‘Because, when people are hungry and someone gives them a hundred thousand Naira and AK47, they will follow the person. But if these orphans are properly catered for and trusted persons are appointed to manage the resources, we can tame the monster called banditry to the barest minimal,’ he said.