When the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) stepped in, it wasn’t to celebrate — it was to challenge a court decision in Kano that ordered two...
.jpg "NBA says Kano court overstepped by ordering influencers to tie the knot")
When the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) stepped in, it wasn’t to celebrate — it was to challenge a court decision in Kano that ordered two popular TikTok creators, Idris “Mai Wushirya” Idris and Basira Yar Guda, to get married within 60 days. The twist? The marriage order came as a result of a video deemed “indecent” by local authorities. It’s a shocker — you’d think influencers in Lagos or Abuja, like when Tayo Sobola stirred social-media waves, would face backlash — but this one’s different.
The controversy began when a Magistrate Court in Kano, headed by Halima Wali, handed down an order that two adult content creators must marry each other within 60 days. The court gave this directive after the Kano State Films and Video Censorship Board flagged videos in which Mai Wushirya and Basira appeared in affectionate scenes — a move the board claimed breached local moral and religious standards.
In the order, the magistrate instructed the state’s Islamic morality‐policing unit (the Hisbah) and the censorship board chairman to ensure the marriage is solemnised. Failure to marry within the timeline was set to amount to contempt of court.
Enter the NBA. The lawyers’ body slammed the ruling as a blatant violation of constitutional rights. In a statement signed by President Mazi Afam Osigwe, the NBA declared that no court has the power to force marriage — “Marriage, by its very nature, is a voluntary union between consenting adults. It cannot … be imposed as a form of punishment, moral correction, or judicial remedy.”
The NBA further warned the precedent is dangerous. Such an order could erode public trust in the judiciary, the organization argued, especially when courts are meant to guard rights — not impose a moral lens on private lives.
From the local side: Basira and Mai Wushirya had already been at the mercy of the board’s crackdown. Mai Wushirya was arrested and remanded for a previous video; Basira’s video-clip was circulated widely, sparking waves of outrage in Kano’s conservative setting.
This isn’t just a local kerfuffle; it touches on the global tension between digital content, youth culture and traditional authority. For example, earlier this year in Uganda, authorities targeted TikTokers and Instagram influencers for “immoral content” — a sign social media stars are increasingly in the crosshairs of moral regimes.
Critics argue the Kano ruling fails even basic human-rights tests: it disregards personal liberty, dignity, and privacy — all guaranteed under Nigeria’s constitution. More so, it raises the question: where is the line between content regulation and coercion? The NBA says that line has been crossed.
And if we zoom out, this looks like a pattern. Northern Nigerian states under Sharia influence often lean on boards such as the Kano Censorship Board to police social media content. A few years back, the arrest of influencer Murja Kunya in Kano for “un-Islamic” TikTok content stirred debate about the limits of state power.
At the moment, what’s next is murky. Will the court review its decision? Will Basira or Mai Wushirya fight back legally? The NBA wants immediate review and monitoring of the case via its Citizens’ Liberties Committee and Women’s Forum.