Pa Masaba, The Octogenarian Megapolygamist, Speaks!
Sunny Chris Okenwa
October 26, 2008
Fellow Nigerians at home and abroad,
I greet you all in the name of Allah the Almighty who is in a Supreme position to judge us all in all fairness and truth. The pleasure is wholly mine to break my silence after going through "hell" in the past two months in a gulag. My terrible experience has somewhat demonstrated in a small measure comparatively what some great Nigerians, living and dead, (MKO, Fela, Gani, Saro Wiwa etc) must have gone through while campaigning for an egalitarian society devoid of state-assisted oppression. But freeing our long-suffering people from the continuing generalised stunted development of the mind and body is a struggle worth whatever price!
The psychological torture I have been made to undergo underscored the sharp conflict existing between the Sharia law regime in the north and the Nigerian much-deprecated federal constitution. I guess, gentlemen and ladies, my name rings a certain bell in your consciousness -- for good or bad -- thus any formal introduction may not be that necessary here. At my age I should be praying Allah for longer life and sounder health and not seeking for fame or attention from the Guinness Book of World Records. But if my peculiar case strikes that organisation, famous globally for documenting history from the sublime to the incredible, as a positive record-breaking one like the Olympian 'thunderBolt' from Jamaica then I am not against; let there be recognition!
This brutal intervention in its combative element, therefore, is considered imperative to issue forth my own side of the story, a striking story of the modern man playing both Abraham and King Solomon! Much as I am widely seen differently -- hero or villian -- by people of diverse creed (depending on the side of the divide one chooses to belong) there is nothing extra-ordinary in my character or about my humble personality; I am no super man!
Suffice to say however that the Bida Emirate Council, the Sharia law(lessness) in the north and the Niger State Government are persecuting and prosecuting yours sincerely for marrying 86 wives! According to them I committed a crime punishable by their law. But I beg to disagree with the Etsu Nupe, the traditional ruler of my native Bida Emirate, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar who had asked me to recant and divorce 82 of my 86 wives to be in conformity with the stipulation of our religion. My dogged refusal to heed his order or be cowed by the 'fatwa' I was imposed on stemmed more from my conviction rather than disrespect.
The first salvo to be fired immediately is: where were they when I was courting these women and marrying them 'sans' coercion? As a great grandfather, grandfather and father Allah has been very faithful and merciful in my entire life. To Him alone I owe any explanation over my stewardship in life.
When the Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako declared openly that he is married to four ambitious women did the government or Sharia establishment bother to ask him of his other mistresses and concubines out there? If he had declared marrying more than four women would he have been prosecuted? How many of our politicians today are satisfied with their wives? And thus loyal to their marital vows?
Late Bashorun MKO Abiola, a democracy hero from all indications, was known to have married many women in his lifetime fathering many sons and daughters and even bastards. Because he was rich and famous no one ever dared question his huge appetite for beautiful women of different backgrounds. Yet this great man was a benevolent prominent Muslim!
When former Zamfara State Governor now Senator of the Federal Republic stirred a huge controversy in his state few years back by introducing Sharia law during the Olusegun Obasanjo civillian dictatorship little did we all know then that he was playing politics with religion. Some poor people who disobeyed the law were punished by public flogging and amputation of limbs yet Yerima Sani Ahmad had multiple corruption charges in his stewardship record!
When President Yar'Adua jetted out of the country few months back for the Holy Land his handlers told a nation under leadership trauma that he had gone to perform the lesser Hajj. Events afterwards exposed the lies and half-truths of those we 'elected' to lead us aright. Upon his return from his medical sabbatical in Saudi Arabia President Yar'Adua betrayed his faith by administering the oath of secrecy on the presidential staff as a fallout of massive media hunt for the exposition of the hypocrisy and duplicity in and around Aso Rock.
Telling a deliberate falsehood or seeking to maintain certain secrets in the management of men and resources cannot be seen as a sign of statesmanship or 'servant-leadership'.
Today our Katsinian 'servant-leader' has gone haywire dramatically baring his fangs, digging in, closing down media houses and arresting journalists while exposing his incompetence on a daily basis.
The Police Chief in Niger State who led a police squad to my house said in his report that they found neither "knife nor skull" in my home, so there is nothing incriminatingly wrong I did to warrant prosecution. If certified treasury looters (N64 trillion was stolen by Nigerian rulers in three decades!) and other shady characters could be rewarded with juicy appointments and national honours I wonder why I should not be given an award for what I have achieved.
Prior to the commencement of my ordeal following the persistent media focus on my exploits with the opposite sex I have been a cleric and a natural healer. Charging me of " inciting contempt of religious creed" is the height of hypocrisy and a flagrant attempt by the authorities to subdue my manhood -- one that is unique in its procreative prowess!
Be that as it may one must denounce in strong terms the Sharia state terrorism (mostly tailored against the poor, powerless and downtrodden) that is holding sway in northern Nigeria. An Islamic court in Bauchi had recently sentenced a 20-year-old unemployed man to six months in jail and 30 strokes of the cane for idleness. A sharia-induced father Samaila Tahir brought the case against a "delinquent" son!
None of my children is an 'almajiri' in Kano or Minna, an area boy in Lagos or a thug in Onitsha. None of my daughters has ever gone abroad for prostitution. None of my sons has ever been charged for political fraud or '419'. None of them has ever been caught peddling hard drugs, manufacturing fake drugs or breaking banks -- societal ills that assail our society today. So I wonder why the government should abandon its responsibility of providing quality leadership and making Nigeria whole again for trivial issues like mine which constitutes no threat to societal development or security.
My polygynistic escapade may not go down well with some people but I have the right of choice, polygamy remains something that is quranically legal and islamically permissible. Even Prophet Muhammed married more than four wives! While it is true that Quran does vaguely suggest four wives for a Muslim man, it is not specific. For me and my house the Quran casually advices every adherent to marry as many wives as possible as far as there is a commensurate economic stability and an atmosphere of equal love sentiment and treatment in the relationship between the man and his wives. Four wives cannot therefore be the limit because it is not obligatory, in the first instance, for one to marry neither is it a sin before Allah the merciful for one to marry as many wives as he pleases provided there is equity and balance in the exhibition of love sentiment towards one and all.
The Nigerian constitution does not specify the number of wives a man can marry and the provisions of the sharia law cannot be super-imposed on the federal constitution. My traducers (whose state of spiritual righteousness is suspect and whose patriotism is as doubtful as that of Tafa Balogun or late Lawrence Anini) maintain without convincing many folks out there that Islam frowns at marriage beyond four wives (according to the Holy Quran) but they have failed thus far to tell the world which or what punishment is prescribed by the islamic holy book against defaulters.
Fellow compatriots the pleasure in adversity is mine obviously to conclude this missive by declaring openly that I owe no apology to any one for the marital decision I consciously took in my life -- which is fast approaching its twilight. I have complained to no one of any frustration or unhappiness living with my eighty six wonderful wives! Neither has any one of the women and children living comfortably in my household voiced out any complaint or frustration of any kind towards me. Every one of them is satisfied with my biological and matrimonial capability and responsibility -- to the best of my knowledge.
But if eventually I die in prison my octogenarian blood should be in the hands and on the heads of both the Sharia controversial law(lessness) in northern Nigeria and the Nigerian disjointed federal constitution. The Nigerian unjust federation has wasted and shed too many blood of the innocent so, if today I succumb to mortality it cannot be said to be an untimely one. After all the average life expectancy in Nigeria of today is less than half my age! Therefore I have no regrets about the travails I am passing through now.
Signed:
Alhaji Mohamed Bello Masaba
Marabout, Islamic Cleric, 21st Century King Solomon, GCONW (Grand Commander of the Order of the Nigerian Women)
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
I greet you all in the name of Allah the Almighty who is in a Supreme position to judge us all in all fairness and truth. The pleasure is wholly mine to break my silence after going through "hell" in the past two months in a gulag. My terrible experience has somewhat demonstrated in a small measure comparatively what some great Nigerians, living and dead, (MKO, Fela, Gani, Saro Wiwa etc) must have gone through while campaigning for an egalitarian society devoid of state-assisted oppression. But freeing our long-suffering people from the continuing generalised stunted development of the mind and body is a struggle worth whatever price!
The psychological torture I have been made to undergo underscored the sharp conflict existing between the Sharia law regime in the north and the Nigerian much-deprecated federal constitution. I guess, gentlemen and ladies, my name rings a certain bell in your consciousness -- for good or bad -- thus any formal introduction may not be that necessary here. At my age I should be praying Allah for longer life and sounder health and not seeking for fame or attention from the Guinness Book of World Records. But if my peculiar case strikes that organisation, famous globally for documenting history from the sublime to the incredible, as a positive record-breaking one like the Olympian 'thunderBolt' from Jamaica then I am not against; let there be recognition!
This brutal intervention in its combative element, therefore, is considered imperative to issue forth my own side of the story, a striking story of the modern man playing both Abraham and King Solomon! Much as I am widely seen differently -- hero or villian -- by people of diverse creed (depending on the side of the divide one chooses to belong) there is nothing extra-ordinary in my character or about my humble personality; I am no super man!
Suffice to say however that the Bida Emirate Council, the Sharia law(lessness) in the north and the Niger State Government are persecuting and prosecuting yours sincerely for marrying 86 wives! According to them I committed a crime punishable by their law. But I beg to disagree with the Etsu Nupe, the traditional ruler of my native Bida Emirate, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar who had asked me to recant and divorce 82 of my 86 wives to be in conformity with the stipulation of our religion. My dogged refusal to heed his order or be cowed by the 'fatwa' I was imposed on stemmed more from my conviction rather than disrespect.
The first salvo to be fired immediately is: where were they when I was courting these women and marrying them 'sans' coercion? As a great grandfather, grandfather and father Allah has been very faithful and merciful in my entire life. To Him alone I owe any explanation over my stewardship in life.
When the Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako declared openly that he is married to four ambitious women did the government or Sharia establishment bother to ask him of his other mistresses and concubines out there? If he had declared marrying more than four women would he have been prosecuted? How many of our politicians today are satisfied with their wives? And thus loyal to their marital vows?
Late Bashorun MKO Abiola, a democracy hero from all indications, was known to have married many women in his lifetime fathering many sons and daughters and even bastards. Because he was rich and famous no one ever dared question his huge appetite for beautiful women of different backgrounds. Yet this great man was a benevolent prominent Muslim!
When former Zamfara State Governor now Senator of the Federal Republic stirred a huge controversy in his state few years back by introducing Sharia law during the Olusegun Obasanjo civillian dictatorship little did we all know then that he was playing politics with religion. Some poor people who disobeyed the law were punished by public flogging and amputation of limbs yet Yerima Sani Ahmad had multiple corruption charges in his stewardship record!
When President Yar'Adua jetted out of the country few months back for the Holy Land his handlers told a nation under leadership trauma that he had gone to perform the lesser Hajj. Events afterwards exposed the lies and half-truths of those we 'elected' to lead us aright. Upon his return from his medical sabbatical in Saudi Arabia President Yar'Adua betrayed his faith by administering the oath of secrecy on the presidential staff as a fallout of massive media hunt for the exposition of the hypocrisy and duplicity in and around Aso Rock.
Telling a deliberate falsehood or seeking to maintain certain secrets in the management of men and resources cannot be seen as a sign of statesmanship or 'servant-leadership'.
Today our Katsinian 'servant-leader' has gone haywire dramatically baring his fangs, digging in, closing down media houses and arresting journalists while exposing his incompetence on a daily basis.
The Police Chief in Niger State who led a police squad to my house said in his report that they found neither "knife nor skull" in my home, so there is nothing incriminatingly wrong I did to warrant prosecution. If certified treasury looters (N64 trillion was stolen by Nigerian rulers in three decades!) and other shady characters could be rewarded with juicy appointments and national honours I wonder why I should not be given an award for what I have achieved.
Prior to the commencement of my ordeal following the persistent media focus on my exploits with the opposite sex I have been a cleric and a natural healer. Charging me of " inciting contempt of religious creed" is the height of hypocrisy and a flagrant attempt by the authorities to subdue my manhood -- one that is unique in its procreative prowess!
Be that as it may one must denounce in strong terms the Sharia state terrorism (mostly tailored against the poor, powerless and downtrodden) that is holding sway in northern Nigeria. An Islamic court in Bauchi had recently sentenced a 20-year-old unemployed man to six months in jail and 30 strokes of the cane for idleness. A sharia-induced father Samaila Tahir brought the case against a "delinquent" son!
None of my children is an 'almajiri' in Kano or Minna, an area boy in Lagos or a thug in Onitsha. None of my daughters has ever gone abroad for prostitution. None of my sons has ever been charged for political fraud or '419'. None of them has ever been caught peddling hard drugs, manufacturing fake drugs or breaking banks -- societal ills that assail our society today. So I wonder why the government should abandon its responsibility of providing quality leadership and making Nigeria whole again for trivial issues like mine which constitutes no threat to societal development or security.
My polygynistic escapade may not go down well with some people but I have the right of choice, polygamy remains something that is quranically legal and islamically permissible. Even Prophet Muhammed married more than four wives! While it is true that Quran does vaguely suggest four wives for a Muslim man, it is not specific. For me and my house the Quran casually advices every adherent to marry as many wives as possible as far as there is a commensurate economic stability and an atmosphere of equal love sentiment and treatment in the relationship between the man and his wives. Four wives cannot therefore be the limit because it is not obligatory, in the first instance, for one to marry neither is it a sin before Allah the merciful for one to marry as many wives as he pleases provided there is equity and balance in the exhibition of love sentiment towards one and all.
The Nigerian constitution does not specify the number of wives a man can marry and the provisions of the sharia law cannot be super-imposed on the federal constitution. My traducers (whose state of spiritual righteousness is suspect and whose patriotism is as doubtful as that of Tafa Balogun or late Lawrence Anini) maintain without convincing many folks out there that Islam frowns at marriage beyond four wives (according to the Holy Quran) but they have failed thus far to tell the world which or what punishment is prescribed by the islamic holy book against defaulters.
Fellow compatriots the pleasure in adversity is mine obviously to conclude this missive by declaring openly that I owe no apology to any one for the marital decision I consciously took in my life -- which is fast approaching its twilight. I have complained to no one of any frustration or unhappiness living with my eighty six wonderful wives! Neither has any one of the women and children living comfortably in my household voiced out any complaint or frustration of any kind towards me. Every one of them is satisfied with my biological and matrimonial capability and responsibility -- to the best of my knowledge.
But if eventually I die in prison my octogenarian blood should be in the hands and on the heads of both the Sharia controversial law(lessness) in northern Nigeria and the Nigerian disjointed federal constitution. The Nigerian unjust federation has wasted and shed too many blood of the innocent so, if today I succumb to mortality it cannot be said to be an untimely one. After all the average life expectancy in Nigeria of today is less than half my age! Therefore I have no regrets about the travails I am passing through now.
Signed:
Alhaji Mohamed Bello Masaba
Marabout, Islamic Cleric, 21st Century King Solomon, GCONW (Grand Commander of the Order of the Nigerian Women)
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
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