Ahmed Sani Yarima, the former Governor of Zamfara state is indeed a man who derives joy in controversy.
He has lived most of his active political years pursuing trivial agenda laced with religious sentiments. His hypocritical nature is seen in the way and manner he personalised the issue of Sharia and currently the issue of under-age marriage. His position on these issues has shown that he is a delusional human being who will always hide under the cover of religion to advance his egocentric agenda.
He has become a sort of demagogue who in trying to justify his divisive decisions must not only misinterpret the Holy Quran but also put logic on its head all in the name of covering up his moral bankruptcy.
In retrospect, Ahmed Sani Yarima was the first Nigerian Governor to implement Sharia law in his state, which came into effect on 27 January 2000. Even though the introduction of Sharia in his State was greeted with mixed reactions, he was able to garner the support of Muslim majority in the State. Unfortunately, the introduction of Sharia law in Zamfara state under Yarima did not achieve much because it was not followed to the latter. The burden of Sharia law was felt majorly by the downtrodden masses while the political class became the sacred cows.
Ordinarily, one would have expected Ahmed Sani Yarima, a proponent of Sharia law to be above board and be an embodiment of morals but unfortunately his true nature became manifested when he was indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for corrupt related issues.
Even as a lawmaker, controversy continued to trail his career. Yarima was accused of marrying an underage girl from Egypt and was investigated for having violated Nigeria’s Child Rights Act of 2003. However, under Article 61 Second Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution, the Nigerian Government has no power to legislate on marriages under Islamic law and customary law including matrimonial causes relating thereto. Based on that Article 61, Senator Yarima had no legal case to answer and the investigation was dropped.
In his usual deceptive stance, he maintained that he had not violated Sharia and that Prophet Muhammad did marry a young girl as well. But what he failed to explain was how and why Prophet Muhammad married an underage! History has it that Prophet Muhammad never had the intention of marrying Aisha who was then an underage. The marriage between the Holy Prophet Muhammad and Aisha was purely for political reason rather than sexual pleasure which today is the hallmark of what is making the likes of Yarima and his fellow sex maniacs to engage in the act. The marriage between Prophet Muhammad and Aisha was carried out to bolster a relationship between Prophet Muhammad and Aisha’s father who was a very close associate of the Holy Prophet. Also the marriage was not consummated until Aisha came of age.
Yarima was alleged to have paid $100,000 dowry to the child’s parents before they gave their consent for the marriage to be consummated. The truth about this is that the lawmaker could be said to have induced the family of the under-age monetarily before they agreed. The question Yarima should answer is whether the Holy Prophet bought Aisha’s family with money?
History has it that after 25 years of a monogamous relationship with Muhammad’s first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Prophet Muhammad partook in 10 years of polygyny, marrying nine wives. Prophet Muhammad’s nine marriages were depicted purely as political unions rather than sexual unions. In particular, Muhammad’s unions with Aisha and Hafsah associated him with two of the most significant leaders of the early Muslim community, Aisha’s and Hafsah’s fathers, Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khatt. Now we expect Yarima and his fellow partners in pedophilia to come out and tell the whole world their own genuine reasons other than their insatiable appetite for sex.
Senator Ahmed Sanni Yarima’s case perhaps requires great medical attention because he is most likely suffering from psychiatric disorder. The reason for this is based on medical diagnosis which states that, pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder that is typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest toward prepubescent children (generally age 11 years or younger.
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) defines pedophilia as a “disorder of adult personality and behaviour” in which there is a sexual preference for children of pre-pubertal or early pubertal age.
Religious bigots like Ahmed Sanni Yarima belong to the class of pseudo-scholars who in trying to justify their moral bankruptcy must hide under the cover of religion. They are buffoons who misinterpret the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad to validate their idiosyncratic deficiencies.
Islam as a religion lends credence to the issue of education. That is why it is imperative for every Muslim to acquire both Islamic and western education. The Holy Quran further posits that to seek knowledge is a sacred duty; it is obligatory on every Muslim-male and female. That is why the first world revealed of the Holy Quran was “Iqra”, meaning read! Seek knowledge, educate yourselves! Be educated.
Unrepentant sex perverts like Ahmed Sanni Yarima and his fellow comrades in pedophilia should be seen from the angle of delusional hypocrites whose mission to portray Islam in bad light must be condemned. For the first time in our democratic experimentation, I saw the seriousness that came with the passage of under-age marriage but why is that we don’t often see such seriousness when it comes to bills that support peaceful co-existence in the country? Why is that we don’t see such pure attention when it comes to passing bills that have impact on the lives of the masses?