mamagina

sammy thank you for your beautiful mail

Sep. 21st 07:18 AM 2008

PROFILEJAZZ.COM

mamagina

thank you for your friendship

Sep. 17th 09:49 PM 2008

STARSHA.COM

kacialove

" THKS!"

Sep. 17th 08:24 PM 2008

U STAY SWEET TOO MA BROTHER!

Dguy

sammy

Sep. 17th 01:18 AM 2008

10x for the comment - stay cool

hollsammy

Masaba, the man with 86 wives

Sep. 15th 03:20 PM 2008

INCREDIBLE things constantly happen in Nigeria but perhaps none is as bizarre and engaging as that of Mohammed Bello Abubakar Masaba who married 86 wives. The man from Bida, Niger State, is father to over 170 children. To minimise overcrowding, he has a second home in Lagos. His lifestyle is intriguing if not frightening. Where does he find the strength, people are asking again and again, to minister to 86 women some of whom are younger than his daughters? At 84, he must have unlimited libido to revel in such voluptuous occupation. Some of his wives are even expecting.

Masaba is a Moslem teacher and preacher who over the years has been practising as a healer. He parades himself as some sort of mystic who cures women-specific illnesses. Women with medical problems come to him and he apparently cures them so thoroughly that they put their trust in him. In return, he obliges them by marrying them. The relationship is quite voluntary and unforced as it is the women who come to him of their own free will and not he to them. His wives look happy and hold him in great esteem often breaking into a chant upon his appearance. But the crowd of 86 wives and 170 children have no vocation and yet they consume 36 kg of rice per day.

At a time of so much hardship in Nigeria, curious neighbours have so far been unable to discover how Masaba sustains his large family. All they know is that when his money runs short, he sends some of his children to augment the family purse by going out to beg for alms on the streets. Masaba does not believe in western medicine and denies the existence of malaria. He claims to have seen God and therefore there has not been for him a need to read the Holy Quoran in the past 20 years. He boasts that whereas many men would collapse with 10 women under management, God has given him the power to control 86 women. But he warns all other salivating men who may be tempted to follow his example that his lifestyle can be lethal, and that all should refrain from it. Unlike politics, polygamy is more than a game of numbers, he quips.

On why he chose to gather so many wives when his religion limits him to not more than four, Masaba retorts that there is no stated punishment in the Quoran for a man who marries more than four wives, but the Quoran has punishments for fornication and adultery which he is not guilty of.

Masaba's lifestyle has put him at odds with Moslem leaders in Nigeria who say that he is a heretic running a cult. The Sultan of Sokoto, Mohamed Sa'ad Abubakar has condemned the activities of the randy octogenarian and warned Nigerians to be careful of persons intent on causing mischief and confusion. The Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Alhaji Lateef Adegbite, has described Masaba's actions as un-Islamic. The Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) has tried and sentenced him to death according to Sharia law if he failed to get rid of 82 surplus wives and repent within three days. They did not however, say how they planned to execute the sentence.

But just as JNI modified its position saying that it has no power to declare Fatwa on anyone, a new storm started blowing over Masaba. From his home state of Niger, the The Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, has given Masaba a two-day ultimatum which expired on Saturday August 30 to divorce 82 of his wives or leave Nupe land. He also wants Masaba to be taken to a psychiatrist for medical examination.

Quite clearly, Masaba seems to have posed a peculiar problem to all. Civil rights groups have now sprung to his support, arguing that as a secular state, Nigeria has no provision in its Constitution for a death sentence to be passed on anyone for marrying so many wives, or even on religious grounds. They are at a loss as to how Masaba's alleged pecadillos pose a danger And they would appaer to have a point. The sin for which he is being castigated is typical in many Nigerian homes where there are persons with wives and girl friends and concubines and children from many illicit liaisons scattered everywhere like wild oats. Old man Masaba has onlypicked the steps of many men of power in Nigeria.

He has become an extreme example of a national malaise. Love him or hate him, Masaba has become a subject of great interest as his story has captured the imagination of the world. Indeed we should be seeking to get him into the Guinness Book of Records for a man capable of these gargantuan exploits with women must not go unsung. We should encourage our psychologists and social scientists to study Masaba, the man who has more wives than years and who specialises in converting women into wives after therapy.