A Nigerian couple from the Northern city of Kano, known as the country’s “divorce capital,” are being celebrated for their 50-year marriage. Mahmud Kabir Yakasai and Rabiatu Tahir shared the secrets to their lasting happiness in a BBC interview, attributing their success to Tahir’s generous nature.
A video of the interview has sparked widespread discussion about marriage in the region. “She is a very unselfish person and she overlooks a lot which has contributed to the success of our marriage,” 76-year-old Yakasai told BBC Hausa.
With a smile, Tahir, in her late sixties, praised her husband’s calm demeanor amid family challenges. “He is a very patient man and I feel that was also key to our success,” she said.
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The couple, who have 13 children, also attributed their love and respect for each other as one of the reasons for the success of their marriage. Their evident contentment impressed Hassana Mahmud, a 39-year-old divorcee who has been married five times.
“In all my marriages I have only spent four years with a spouse – so to see them on social media celebrating this milestone was refreshing,” she said. “My husbands were all nice and caring during courtship but changed after the wedding,” said the mother of four.
“I feel bad whenever I hear people call Kano ‘the divorce capital of Nigeria’, I hope things will change,” she added.
Kano, Nigeria’s most populous state, earned the label “divorce capital” in the 1990s due to soaring divorce rates, a reputation it still holds. Research by the BBC and local government in 2022 found that 32% of marriages in Kano state last only three to six months. It also revealed that some individuals aged 20 to 25 had already been through three marriages.
The Hisbah, a Kano state-funded Islamic agency enforcing Sharia law, is deeply concerned about the high divorce rates in the region. It oversees public morality, including gender segregation and alcohol bans for Muslims. The agency also provides counseling services to support struggling married couples.
Many women queue outside Hisbah offices, seeking assistance with child maintenance issues from their ex-husbands. In Kano, many marry young, often before the legal age of 18. Easy divorce methods in Islam, where a husband can simply say “I divorce you” or write it down, even via social media, contribute to high divorce rates.
Aminu Daurawa of the Hisbah works to address this issue by offering counseling and preparing couples better for marriage. The Hisbah also organizes mass marriages, called “Auren Zawarawa,” especially for divorcees, acting as a large-scale matchmaker to provide second chances at marital happiness.
Since 2012, the Hisbah in Kano has been organizing these large wedding ceremonies, providing couples with financial assistance to start businesses and acquire household items.
Despite these efforts, Daurawa acknowledges that divorce rates remain high in the region.
“We know about that problem – that is why we set up a committee to check on each couple after the marriage so we don’t get the former [same] results,” he said.
