This Yerima is truly Yem-nri-ma

Who hasn’t heard of Yerima? Think hard. I bet you too must have. Like a goldfish, Yerima doesn’t hide. Nevertheless, Yerima isn’t a fish, let alone a goldfish which is known for its sterling qualities. Yerima is a man, a true Nigerian by birth from the northern enclave of the country. He is heavily bearded. Many argue he would have been handsome if not for the blanket of vegetation on his jaws…and… No, wait! That’s not a rational way to introduce this man who has done so much attention drawing, not just for himself but for our dear nation, Nigeria.

Yerima, whose full name is Ahmed Rufai Sani Yerima, is a 49-year old two-term former governor of Zamfara State, north of Nigeria on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). First elected in 1999, and reelected in 2003. Before he left, he introduced the Sharia Law (Am tired to proffer its definition) to the state which caused so much ripples nationwide. He has since moved to the Senate of the Nigeria 6th National Assembly to represent the Zamfara West Senatorial District at the expiration of his tenure as governor. I mean he is a serving Senator in Nigeria, and was born on July 22, 1960. Yerima will be 50 years old next two months... Just making sure my mathematics isnt failing.

Still, this is barely a perfect way to introduce him. Well, I really don’t like reeling out his CV. Wont even envy his publicist. But I believe a sure search on google will definitely throw up veritable articles on my subject of discourse.

Recently, the media became inundated because of him. He knows how to hit the spotlight. He is always in your face. But regrettably, only for the wrong reasons with his numerous controversies. He just took a fifth wife after divorcing the fourth. But that’s not the issue here. Not even the fact that he has not sponsored any bill since getting into the Senate. After all, there are many sit-down-look Senators like him. And if it were the number of his wives, I won’t be boring anybody with this mind-boggling piece. After all, a certain Nigerian has 86 wives (joking apart). The context of this content is Paedophilia. Does that word still exist?

Yerima’s new wife (call her number five) is a 13-year old Egyptian girl. You see? Didn’t your jaw drop at the mention of the age? A 49-year old getting married to a 13-year old. The same thing happened to wife number four who was barely 15 when he married her. Right now she is about 17, and has a baby for this distinguished (truly distinguished) Senator Yerima. But she is back at her parents' house after the divorce.

For the latest marriage, it was reported in the media that he paid a mouth staggering $100,000 (about N15million) as bride price for the child in question. Obscenity! Obscene wealth! The people’s tax money! Where else can such madness happen if no be 9ja? Abeg, we too much jo! Though sadly for the wrong reasons.

On a serious note, I thought men are moved by what they see. Or has that noble conception changed? Maybe not. I still have troubles with my flab whenever my eyes stray. Now, what possibly could Yerima had seen in a 13-year old girl to have taken her in as wife? I may be naive, but naivety itself is not much of a crime if we truly seek knowledge. I seek that knowledge. So, I want to know if at 13, any girl would have had well developed boobs, firm thighs or a portable backside that are the delight of most men. Ok, even if she has started paying her monthly dues, would she have possibly known how to pad up and change her sanitary wares? Perhaps, this Yem-nri-ma guy must be more intelligent in women affairs than in Senatorial matters. And he is not telling.

My people say if one must eat a toad, then one should endeavour to eat the rotund ones so that when one is called a toad eater one should feel proud to take up the appellation. Now, let’s even expand that analogy. If this child bride of Yerima were an amphibian, wouldn’t she still be a tadpole, considering her age? Not even a toad, let alone a rotund one.

There must be something Yerima is chopping/eating in these child brides that he is savouring with so much relish. And we dont get it. But if not, let us hastily diagnose peadophiliac insanity.

While the moralists in the Senate are already armed to the teeth with petitions for his suspension, the women rights activists are already in the trenches calling for Nigeria's Child Rights Act of 2003 to be revisited. Yet, Yerima is defiant that he has not violated any law by marrying a MINOR! Adult age in Nigeria is 18, mind you.

By the way, Yem-nri-ma in my half baked Igbo translation means, “Give me let me eat.”