By Amah
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Princess Hauwa Momoh recently opened up about her personal journey of love, family, and the challenges she faced as the wife of the late Emir of Kano. Reflecting on her youth, she shared the story of how she fell in love with the Emir, describing herself as young and naive at the time. Despite her royal status and shared Muslim faith, her relationship with the Emir was met with resistance due to her not being from Northern Nigeria.
According to Vanguard, Momoh recounted that from the beginning of her relationship with the Emir, she encountered opposition and non-acceptance from those around her. The fact that she was not from the North overshadowed her royal heritage and religious background, leading to her being treated as an outsider. This lack of acceptance persisted even after she became the mother of two of the Emir’s children, highlighting the deep-seated cultural prejudices she had to endure.
The difficulties did not end with her own experiences. Momoh also revealed that her daughter, Zainab Jummai Ado Bayero, faced similar challenges, particularly during her schooling in Kano. Zainab, as a child of mixed heritage, became a target for bullying, which significantly impacted her early education. This bullying was so severe that Momoh felt compelled to take drastic measures to protect her daughter.
In response to the relentless bullying Zainab faced, Princess Hauwa Momoh made the decision to stay with her daughter at school every day during her primary education. For five years, she remained by Zainab’s side in Kano, providing her with the emotional support and security she needed to navigate the hostile environment. Despite the bond she shared with the Emir and the family they built together, Momoh’s non-Northern origin remained a barrier to full acceptance within the society they lived in.
She said, “The late Emir, after several interactions, made it clear he was in love with me. Like I said, I was young and naive, but I believed it was destiny. From the beginning, I was never accepted because I wasn’t from the north. Even after having two kids, my being royal and a Muslim, it didn’t matter. I was an outsider. Zainab experienced all this in school, the bullying. I even had to stay in school with her every day for five years when she was in primary school in Kano.”
