Beyond vanity, beneath pride, Halima Dangote treasures the name of her father. Perhaps because it carries her through curtains and clouds of prestige to haloed moons in circuits of pride. For reasons best known to her, the daughter of billionaire magnate and chairman of Dangote Group, has refused to adopt the name of her husband, Sulaiman Sani Bello.
She prefers to answer to the name of her father hence she introduces herself as Halima Aliko Dangote eight years after she tied the nuptial knots with her husband in a grand wedding ceremony in Kano state. Halima reportedly met her husband while schooling in the United Kingdom (UK).
The duo fell in love with each other and subsequently got married. But since they married in 2008, Halima has been flaunting her father’s name at business and social functions. The heiress to an expansive empire allegedly introduces herself as Halima Aliko-Dangote in her business and social interactions. This is a misnomer amid the hallowed circuits of Nigeria’s cultural and social institutions.
Pundits believe that a woman should ditch her father’s name and adopt her husband’s name immediately after she marries the man of her dreams but Halima apparently disagrees with such cultural norms. She would rather stick to her father’s name perhaps because it imbues her with greater prestige and sense of pride.
