Halima Nwakaego Kazaure, former wife of Bashir El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, has opened up about her divorce, single motherhood, heartbreak and her struggles with love after the end of her marriage.
Halima, in a personal essay published on her Substack, Memoirs of a Single Nigerian Twin Mum with ADHD, reflected on her marriage, which ended in July 2024 after four years.
Bashir and Halima got married in 2020 and welcomed twin boys in 2021 before their relationship ended when their children were two years old.
Bashir had previously announced the end of the marriage, describing it as “Gen Z wahala”, a comment he later apologised for.
However, Halima said she entered the marriage with doubts, admitting that she had always struggled to believe that marriage would last.
‘Imagine entering a marriage already preparing for its funeral’ — Halima speaks on failed marriage
Halima revealed that she never had much confidence in the institution of marriage and already believed her relationship could end even before it started.
“Imagine entering a marriage already preparing for its funeral,” she wrote.
She explained that despite her fears about men, she still held a strong belief in love.
“For someone with so little faith in men, I have a ridiculous amount of faith in love,” she said.
The mother of two compared her relationship with love to her affection for white clothing, saying that although white clothes could easily become stained, she continued to embrace them.
Halima also disclosed that she found love again months after her divorce, but the relationship ended in heartbreak.
She said the experience reinforced some of the fears she had carried about relationships.
“There is a saying that men will stain your white,” she wrote.
The entrepreneur also spoke about navigating life as a single mother of twins, rebuilding herself after divorce and managing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
She described the period after her marriage ended as a journey of rediscovering herself while caring for her children and pursuing her personal goals.
Bashir and Halima’s marriage attracted public attention due to their backgrounds, with Bashir being the son of a former governor and Halima the daughter of former Jigawa senator Ibrahim Kazaure.
Since their separation, both have largely kept details of their private lives away from public scrutiny.
Halima’s latest reflection offers a rare insight into the emotional challenges surrounding the end of their marriage and her journey towards healing and finding love again.
