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Buhari’s In-law Ado-Bayero Breaks Down In Tears At Book Launch

Published

12 months ago

May 25, 2023

Editor

The Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado-Bayero, on Thursday, broke down in tears while paying tribute to his late mum, Maryam, at the official launch of her biography in Abuja.

The launch of the biography titled, “Maryam Ado Bayero: A Woman of Royal Virtue”, which took place at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, attracted political bigwigs and first-class monarchs in Nigeria.

The Emir, whose daughter Zahra, had an elaborate wedding with Yusuf, son of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), two years ago, wept for some seconds before continuing with his speech.

He said, “My late mother, Maryam Ado Bayero, was full of many qualities. She was bright, virtuous, patient, endurance and tolerant. She had a good relationship with her husband, co-wives and children in the palace.

“I also shared a special moment with her. I remember how she paid me a visit when she heard I was reluctant to accept the offer to become the second emir of Bichi. She said in her usual gentle voice and I quote: “Allah has blessed me with two gifts in my lifetime. Why are you trying to throw one of them away?

“I was completely disturbed by her words because whenever she wanted to criticise you, her criticisms were always constructive.”

The emir broke down in tears at that point.

The late Maryam Ado Bayero was the granddaughter of the seventh Emir of Ilorin; daughter of the eighth Emir of Ilorin; wife to the late Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, and mother of the current Emirs of Bichi and Kano respectively.

In a related development, President Buhari has recommended that the late matriarch for mention in the World Guinness Book of Records.

The president stated that aside from how she impacted humanity positively, Maryam appeared to be the woman to be linked with four first-class emirs in history.

Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, further described her as the embodiment of tradition and modernity, a thorough-bred royal who lived a life of a trailblazer.

“Nobody exemplifies the link between tradition and modernity than the lady we are honouring here today. As a professor of political science and a student of history myself, I am yet to stumble upon a more interesting personality such as my late elder sister, who in her lifetime had the good fortune of being the granddaughter of an emir, daughter of another emir, wife to the outstanding revered Emir of Kano and mother of two Emirs (Bichi and Kano).

“This should have entered the Guinness Book of Records. By virtue of this great piece of history by Ambassador Sani Hajo (author), we have captured and immortalised her life and works for future generations to rely on as a compass.”

The event was well attended by the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, serving Ministers, Senators, captains of industries, among other prominent Nigerians.

In his opening address, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, explained that the decision by his government to immortalize the late ‘Mai Babban Daki’ through his biography project was informed by their desire to inspire younger generations, especially the girl child.

Ganduje said documenting the life of a distinguished mother is a service to history, knowledge, and development, adding that “every part of her life is but a mirror for the present and future generations.

“The idea behind the book is in itself unique. It started as a discussion between the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and myself during the period of mourning for her departure, when he briefed me about her royal pedigree from the eminent scholar and leader, Sheikh Salihu al Alimi, the founder of modern Ilorin, through many emirs.

“The subject of this biography of Nana Maryam Ado Bayero is special in many ways. She has been recognized for her humility, generosity and unassuming. Despite her position, she lived a simple life worthy of emulation.

“The state government will also support the establishment of a foundation to continue with the good work she had been doing when she was alive which included the building of a Friday Mosque, an Islamiyya school as well as sponsoring an annual Maulud at the Kano Emir’s Palace and Qur’anic Recitation Competitions. Therefore, as a step forward, proceeds from today’s launch will be directed to that foundation.”

The Ooni of Ife, who described the late matriarch as her mother, further urged Nigerian women to train their children properly in such a way that it would bring them future glory.

The monarch said: “Our late mother is a virtuous woman and I am proud to have identified with her. I will urge Nigerian women to train their children so that one day they will bring glory to them.”
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Iran Hangs 53-year-old Woman, Six Others

Published

17 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

Iran on Saturday hanged at least seven people, including two women, while a member of its Jewish minority is at imminent risk of execution as the Islamic Republic further intensified its use of capital punishment, an NGO said.

Parvin Mousavi, 53, a mother of two grown-up children, was hanged in Urmia prison in northwestern Iran along with five men convicted in various drug-related cases, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said in a statement.

In Nishapur in eastern Iran, a 27-year-old woman named Fatemeh Abdullahi was hanged on charges of murdering her husband, who was also her cousin, it said.

IHR says it has tallied at least 223 executions this year, with at least 50 so far in May alone. A new surge began following the end of Persian New Year and Ramadan holidays in April, with 115 people including six women hanged since then, it said.

Iran carries out more recorded executions of women than any other country. Activists say many such convicts are victims of forced or abusive marriages.

Iran last year carried out more hangings than in any year since 2015, according to NGOs, which accuse the Islamic republic of using capital punishment as a means to instill fear in the wake of protests that erupted in autumn 2022.

“The silence of the international community is unacceptable,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told AFP.

“Those executed belong to the poor and marginalised groups of Iranian society and didn’t have fair trials with due process.”

‘Killing machine’

IHR said Mousavi had been in prison for four years. It cited a source as saying she had been paid the equivalent of 15 euros to carry a package she had been told contained medicine but was in fact five kilos of morphine.

“They are the low-cost victims of the Islamic Republic’s killing machine, which aims at instilling fear among people to prevent new protests,” added Amiry-Moghaddam.

The group meanwhile said a member of Iran’s Jewish community, which has drastically reduced in numbers in recent years but is still the largest in the Middle East outside Israel, was at imminent risk of execution over a murder charge.

Arvin Ghahremani, 20, was convicted of murder during a street fight when he was 18 and is scheduled to be executed in the western city of Kermanshah on Monday, it said, adding it had received an audio message from his mother Sonia Saadati asking for his life to be spared.

His family is seeking to ask the family of the victim to forgo the execution in line with Iran’s Islamic law of retribution, or qesas.

Also at risk of execution is Kamran Sheikheh, the last surviving member of a group of seven Iranian Kurdish men who were first arrested between early December 2009 and late January 2010 and later sentenced to death for “corruption on earth” over alleged membership of extremist groups, it said.

Six men convicted in the same case have been executed in the last months almost one-and-a-half decades after their initial arrest, the last being Khosro Besharat who was hanged in Ghezel Hesar prison outside Tehran this week.

There has been an international outcry meanwhile over the death sentence handed out last month to Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, seen by activists as retaliation for his music backing the 2022 protests. His lawyers are appealing the verdict.

AFP

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Israeli Leaders Disagree Over Post-war Gaza Governance Amid US Pressure

Published

18 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

New divisions have emerged among Israel’s leaders over post-war Gaza’s governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army has been battling Hamas militants across Gaza for more than seven months while also exchanging near-daily fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah forces along the northern border with Lebanon.

But after Hamas fighters regrouped in northern Gaza, where Israel previously said the group had been neutralised, broad splits emerged in the Israeli war cabinet in recent days.

Netanyahu came under personal attack from Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for failing to rule out an Israeli government in Gaza after the war.

The Israeli premier’s outright rejection of post-war Palestinian leadership in Gaza has broken a rift among top politicians wide open and frustrated relations with top ally the United States.

Experts say the lack of clarity only serves to benefit Hamas, whose leader has insisted no new authority can be established in the territory without its involvement.

“Without an alternative to fill the vacuum, Hamas will continue to grow,” International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.

Emmanuel Navon, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, echoed this sentiment.

“If only Hamas is left in Gaza, of course they are going to appear here and there and the Israeli army will be forced to chase them around,” said Navon.

“Either you establish an Israeli military government or an Arab-led government.”

US pressure

Gallant said in a televised address on Wednesday: “I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza strip.”

The premier’s war planning also came under recent attack by army chief Herzi Halevi as well as top Shin Bet security agency officials, according to Israeli media reports.

Netanyahu is also under pressure from Washington to swiftly bring an end to the conflict and avoid being mired in a long counterinsurgency campaign.

Washington has previously called for a “revitalised” form of the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war.

But Netanyahu has rejected any role for the PA in post-war Gaza, saying Thursday that it “supports terror, educates terror, finances terror”.

Instead, Netanyahu has clung to his steadfast aim of “eliminating” Hamas, asserting that “there’s no alternative to military victory”.

Experts say confidence in Netanyahu is running thin.

“With Gallant’s criticism of Netanyahu’s failure to plan for the day after in terms of governing Gaza, some real fissures are beginning to emerge in the Israeli war cabinet,” Colin P. Clarke, director of policy and research at the Soufan Group think tank, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“I’m not sure I know of many people, including the most ardent Israel supporters, who have confidence in Bibi,” he said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

Hostage ‘impasse’

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 125 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 37 the military says are dead.

Israel’s military retaliation has killed at least 35,386 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry, and an Israeli siege has brought dire food shortages and the threat of famine.

Many Israelis supported Netanyahu’s blunt goals to seek revenge on Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.

But now, hopes have faded for the return of the hostages and patience in Netanyahu may be running out, experts said.

On Friday, the army announced it had recovered bodies of three hostages who were killed during the October 7 attack.

After Israeli forces entered the far southern city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Gazans were sheltering, talks mediated by Egypt, the United States and Qatar to release the hostages have ground to a standstill.

“The hostage deal is at a total impasse — you can no longer provide the appearance of progress,” said Zonszein of the International Crisis Group.

“Plus the breakdown with the US and the fact that Egypt has refused to pass aid through Rafah — all those things are coming to a head.”

Headline

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Finalise Regional Alliance Project

Published

21 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

Junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have finalised plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia.

Their foreign ministers met Friday in Niger’s capital Niamey to agree on a text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)”, said Niger Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare as he read the final statement late Friday.

He said the text would be adopted by the heads of state of the three countries at a summit, without specifying the date.

“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been born,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said after meeting General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of Nigerien military regime.

The third foreign minister at the meeting was Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore.

The Sahel region has been subject to deadly jihadist violence for years, which they accused France of not being able to curb.

The three countries said late January they were quitting The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping.

AFP