The Covid-19 outbreak led to the postponements, rescheduling and sometimes outright cancellations of many events both within Nigeria and around the globe. Even meetings and social events had to move online to reduce the risk of spreading the pandemic.
In Nigeria, schools – from kindergartens to tertiary institutions – were closed, as were markets, relaxation spots and worship centres. Many offices asked their employees to work from home where they can, while others introduced shifts to manage the situation.
With time, and the gradual reopening of the country, things are going back to normal even if with some form of restrictions. This allowed many parents to marry off their sons and daughters as well as hold other social functions.
Dateline Nigeria chronicles five weddings in Northern Nigeria that rocked despite the restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hanan Buhari and Turad Sha’aban
The wedding on Friday, September 4 of Hanan Buhari and Muhammad Turad Sha’aban was dubbed the First Wedding, being the first conducted inside the presidential villa.
The wedding fatiha conducted by the Chief Imam of the State was done in strict observance of the Covid-19 protocols, with few family members and friends of the couple in attendance.
The ceremony, as pre- and post-wedding pictures released by the First Lady Aisha Buhari showed, was not the ‘low-key’ event it was advertised to be. A video in which the couple were seen being spread with naira notes surfaced online, by the first family said that did not take place in the villa, but in the family house of the groom after the bride was taken to them.
Khadija Buratai and Zanna Umar Sani
The family of the Chief of Army Staff Lt General Tukur Yusuf Buratai would also not wait for the pandemic to be over before their daughter Khadija would marry her long-time friend, Zanna Umar Sani, a son Professor Ahmed Ahidjo, a consultant diagnostic and intervention Radiologist at University of Maiduguri Teaching hospital.
The wedding ceremony which took place on Friday, August 28 at the palace of the Emir of Biu in Biu Local Government Area of Borno State was attended Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and his Deputy Alhaji Umar Usman Kadafur, among other personalities, especially from the military to hierarchy.
Adama Indimi and Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim
The marriage between Adama, the daughter of billionaire businessman and in-law of the president, Mohammed Indimi, and Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim, seen as the heir apparent to the Ohinoyi throne, got so many people talking on and off the social media. Adama and Price Malik had dated for years before tying the knot, and their wedding solemnization in Maiduguri on Saturday, August 8 was attended by many personalities.
There was also an open display of affluence being a union of two wealthy and popular families in Nigeria.
Abdulaziz Malami and Khadija Dambatta
Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami, the eldest son of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, also married his heartthrob Khadija Abduljalil Dambatta on Saturday, July 11, 2020 in Kano.
Malami made an effort not to draw crowd to the wedding, but the events of the couple had all the characteristics of a grand ceremony. What with the spreading of naira notes on the couple as they danced to song after song, in celebration of their love.
MC Tagwaye and Hauwa Uwais
Obinna Simon, originally from Anambra but born and raised in Katsina, achieved fame mimicking President Muhammadu Buhari. His marriage on Saturday, June 13 to Hauwa, the daughter of Buhari’s Special Adviser on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, got many people talking on social media with the release of pre-wedding pictures.
On the day of the wedding, the mother of the bride took to her Instagram page where she posted: “So my daughter, Hauwa, got married today. And I got me a brand new son, MC Tagwaye. Fun, love, and laughter shall follow them all the days of their life. Please pray for a blessed and fulfilling union for this brand new couple. Marriage is never easy. But with God in their lives, and prayers of well-meaning people, it will be.”
