By Osa Mbonu-Amadi

Zainab is the maker of the documentary film titled “My Father, The Emir: A Portrait of Ado Bayero”. Since the demise of their late father, HRM Ado Bayero, the former Emir of Kano, Zainab, Ahmed her younger brother and their mother, Hauwa, have been on their own struggling to eke out a living. In this interview, Zainab and Ahmed speak to Vanguard about the difficulties they are passing through, appealing to kind-hearted Nigerians to come to their rescue:

Zainab J. Bayero 

The story of what I’m going through should be a cautionary tale. My father, the late Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, was a man who believed in peace and unity. He saw the beauty in diversity, and that’s the premise of my parents’ love story — Two different personalities from different generations and cultures finding each other, and I was born.

Maybe that’s the reason I born; to change the narrative, to bring a change to a culture and a society by being different and unique.

I am a passionate storyteller, but I am not being encouraged by my country, which is really unfortunate. I am telling a historical tale about Nigeria but rather than being encouraged, I am ignored, and my project is viewed as a political issue that is just not true.

My dad wasn’t a politician but a peacekeeper, and that’s why this story needs to be told. I have other beautiful stories to tell, but I don’t have the resources. I guess I feel people judge me harshly for my choices or for speaking out, but I have no choice. If I am pushed to the wall and my future is at stake, what can I do but speak up.

I am a citizen and I don’t want to believe no one cares about my pain. My father changed so many lives, and now his kids need to be saved. I don’t think he imagined no one would be there for us. He gave people shelter during the Biafra war, which saved many Easterners from persecution. Today, his daughter and his son are in a similar predicament, but no one wants to help. I can’t believe this is my country. This can’t be the society we live in.

Ahmed Tijjani Ado Bayero

This is my first interview, my mom and sister have been protecting me from the drama and the backlash of being in the spotlight. I insisted that I want to speak because it feels like people don’t believe our side of the story.

We’re not lying, we’re not attacking anyone. We are not lazy. We are in a difficult situation. We just want a chance at a normal life and be productive members of society.

I have been out of school for ten years now. I was in SS2 in secondary school but I didn’t get a chance to finish.

I haven’t had a social life. I have no friends  All my peers have moved on. As a young man, it’s not easy. I am trying to be strong for my family, but it’s getting harder everyday. All I am asking for is a chance to get my education and provide for myself.

We’re not begging. We are just asking for a chance to survive. My father and maternal grandfather were great men, and I want to make them proud. I was named after my late grand dad Ahmed Guruza Momoh and my late uncle Ahmed Tijjani Hashim the late Galadiman Kano who was also a father figure. I believe they would want people to help us. I want a chance to continue their legacy.