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| Zainab Jummai Ado Bayero, |
Zainab Jummai Ado Bayero, one of the daughters of the late Emir of Kano, has denied claims that she squandered the money given to her family by Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
In June this year, Bayero publicly sought financial support as she, her mother, and her brother faced eviction from their Lagos apartment.
According to Zainab, her family has faced numerous difficulties since the death of her father, including a lack of accommodation and funds for education.
Following her plea, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf reached out to the royal family to cover their accommodation costs and other expenses.
In a statement, the governor’s spokesperson, Mr. Sanusi Bature, mentioned that he visited Lagos on June 25, 2024, on behalf of the governor to meet with the General Manager of the apartment, Mr. Sunel Kumar, who had threatened to evict them.
Zainab expressed gratitude to the governor, noting that the intervention came just in time as some youths had been mobilized to evict them due to unpaid rent.
However, two months later, Bayero again sought additional help, stating that they needed more funds to settle their bills and send her brother back to school.
This led to mixed reactions, with some accusing her of squandering the money provided by the governor.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Zainab refuted these allegations, stating that she was not being greedy and had no intention of extorting Governor Yusuf. She explained that she sought further assistance to buy a house and ensure her brother could continue his education.
“I can’t be in this situation with no home, my brother not in school, and us moving from place to place. I decided to plead with him (the governor) again. I did interviews, and in those interviews, I thanked him. I’m not blackmailing him but said we need more help to get my brother back to school, to get a home, anything he wants to help us with. I was trying to reach out to him that instead of rent, maybe if he could buy us a home. I was pleading, seeking his assistance. That was why I went back to the media but he felt he has given us enough, he could have just made that clear but not making it seem like I’m greedy or I’m trying to blackmail him. I’m not greedy. I’m not trying to extort the governor if that’s what they’re trying to put out there. That’s not the case.”
She added, “I’m all over social media being seen as someone who is greedy. It is easy to judge what you don’t know. My story goes a long way. This is not something that started two months ago. It has been going on for 10 years. I keep saying that it’s like people don’t understand what’s going on. Ever since my Dad died 10 years ago, his family denied us any part of his inheritance and that is why this journey has been going on this way, where we have been trying to survive.”
Zainab lamented how their siblings and people close to their father abandoned them after his death.
“Different people pleaded with my father’s sons to give us something tangible to start living – to buy us a home, to get us back to school, to give us something to do business, but they refused. That is why we are going to our father’s friends, people to help us. The same people will go back to my father’s family and inquire what is going on. Is this true? And at the same time if they inquire from them they will shutdown, they won’t help us. I don’t know why, I don’t know what stories they tell them about us. So that is why this has been going on. Some people helped us along the way but it wasn’t much. They would rent a home for us for one year, then the rent would expire and we will be back to the streets with no where to go.
“I made it clear that the Kano State governor paid for our hotel bill and gave us money.”
