I’m still bitter my husband divorced me via SMS –Rukayya Dawaiyya

Kannywood actress Rukayya Dawaiyya is one of the industry players who made it notwithstanding the challenges she encountered in Kannywood. Her film production company based in Kano boasts of interesting Hausa movies featuring A-Grade actors and actresses. In this interview with ALIYU ASKIRA she speaks on her career, the industry and her crashed marriage to Adamu Teku, among others.

What have you been up to since your marriage to Adamu Teku crashed about six year ago?

(Laughs), crashed? As if somebody was hit by a car. Why don’t you put it this way: “since my separation from my husband.” You journalist have language that you use in writing your reports to entertain your readers, especially entertainment stories

Anyway, I have been around. I am sure you have been seeing me and the truth is Rukayya Dawaiyya is doing fine. I revived my film production company and so far, I have produced good films that will soon be in the market. So, I invite you to wait for some of them.

There was a story that you met your ex-husband through Samira Ahmad and you were advised not to marry him because he had dated several ladies in the industry and hardly stayed with a woman for more than six months. Do you regret marrying him?

As a Muslim, regret should not be the correct answer, but honestly I am still bitter that my former husband decided to separate with me through a text message.

One day, my mother came from Saudi Arabia and I asked my husband’s permission to go to Kano and see my mother and he granted me permission.

I took off to Kano with my son, Arafat, and when we arrived at Kano I called him severally but he wouldn’t take my calls or reply my text messages. The next thing I received a  text messagefrom him telling me that he has decided to divorce me and the divorce came in three folds meaning, Saki Uku, which means I cannot go back until I marry another man.

This is a very painful experience in my life as a woman. I don’t deserve it because I am very beautiful, and can attract the attention of any man.

When I married Adamu Teku I discovered lot of things about him which I decided to bear because I wanted my marriage to succeed.

What were some of the things you discovered after you married him?

My brother, you will not believe this, I discovered that before me, Adamu Teku had married 24 times with several children from different mothers. In fact, he has nine children from different mothers. He also has grown up children, including a grown up daughter who has become a friend to me. His grown up daughter became my source of consolation. In most cases, she was the one that used to advice me to stay. Like I told you earlier, before I got married I was doing fine in business and I invested in several businesses in Kano. So, after I got married and started having problem, I never waited for my husband to put food on my table because I was determined to make the marriage a success. In spite of all that, when I travelled to Kano to see my mother who returned from Saudi Arabia, my former husband decided to send me a text message telling me that the marriage was over, and it is what we call Saki Uku because he made it plain that I can marry again if I get somebody interested in me. Since then, I have been getting on with my life and I am happy I have my son, Arafat, who is a legitimate son, and my business too is doing fine,

So, basically, I am okay. Honestly, some men can trek to Lagos if that is the condition I give to marry them.

Rumour has it that some ladies join Kannywood to prostitute and this is making the industry an all comers affair. What is your take?

First, you have to know what ones destiny in life is. Some beautiful ladies are destined to be street prostitutes, though some married women are also doing ‘runs’ more than single ladies.

In the universities, you have sex for mark syndrome; in the banks, you have female marketers who banks are said to employ basically to attract customers and what do they use, they use their bodies. In Kannywood there are some of the ladies, though I don’t have proof, who are said to readily zip down for directors or producers for roles in their films.

In fact, even in Islamic schools, you see ladies with big phones that they chat even when in class and only God knows what they talk about during their chat. So, whether you like it or not, you cannot be holier than the Pope or holier than a respected and decent imam.

You faced lots of challenges before you made it in the industry. Can you share your experience?

One must face challenges if one is to be successful in life. You are perfectly correct that faced challenges in Kannywood but one thing I know is that I did not use my body to become successful. I am pretty by all standard and producers use pretty faces like mine to sell their films.

Some of us became kings and queens, some became rich, some are the poorest of the poor, and some of us became disabled, while others are at the middle, not poor, not rich. So, I am happy that I am successful in my career and if I come across a real man that is not fake, I will try the marriage institution again. After all, most of my mates are married even though some face my type of problem the first time.

Please, the society should always project us positively not associating us with vices. Like I mentioned earlier, if one wants to be good, he/she will be good, if a lady wants to be generous with her body she will, it doesn’t matter the field the person finds him or herself.

We are all here to play our role and definitely one day we will return to our creator and face judgment, but Rukayya Dawaiyya wants to make it to heaven meaning paradise.

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