Encounter with Sokoto’s oldest known twins

At over 72, Hassan and Husseini Haliru Mai Anguwa are the oldest known twins in Sokoto. In Yarkatarga area of the ancient city on Sultan Bello Road where they live, these identical twins are highly respected and adored by the community if not for anything, for the fact that they remain together through thick and […]

At over 72, Hassan and Husseini Haliru Mai Anguwa are the oldest known twins in Sokoto. In Yarkatarga area of the ancient city on Sultan Bello Road where they live, these identical twins are highly respected and adored by the community if not for anything, for the fact that they remain together through thick and thin, each one living for the other.
Clad in the same native babbanriga with cap, shoes, wrist watches, rings all the same, these twins who are now grandfathers say they both fancy the same things. They have everything in common, whatever Hassan likes, Husseini also likes.
One interesting thing about them is the manner they dress with everything to match which makes it difficult for people to differentiate between them.
In the late 70s, people celebrated their arrival at occasions and when passing by, many craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the famous neat looking twins.
“We started like this as you see us, right from the time our parents used to sew our clothes for us,” they said smiling.
The Mai Anguwa twins – the only in their family – are the 7th among the 20 children of their parents.
Right from when they were young, rice has been their favourite meal. “We prefer rice to any kind of food,” both chorused.
The twins did not get the opportunity to acquire western education, but they had their Islamic education at Malam Alu’s School in Marmaron Garo area of Sokoto metropolis.
“We share our friendship with the same peer group. We don’t have separate friends and we don’t fight or cause trouble,” they said.
Most members of their peer group have died, but at least the companionship between the twin brothers has remained unshaken.
As youths, they learnt tailoring and around 1962, Hussaini left Sokoto for Gusau in Zamfara State where he secured appointment at the Zamfara Textile factory. Hassan stayed behind in Sokoto to fend for their elder brother who needed his presence at that time.
Husseini was in Zamfara for three years. This was essentially the only time the twin brothers lived apart and, according to them, they greatly missed each other during those times. They also had to be shuttling frequently between Zamfara and Sokoto to see each other.
Their first attempt at marriage failed, but the second attempt was quite a success. They married the same day and their wives gave birth to their first issues same day – both females.
Husseini had 11 children but four died so he has seven now. He also had a set of twins among his offspring, but one of the twins was among the four children he lost. He has 13 grandchildren.
Hassan has nine children, but did not give birth to twins as his brother. He has 20 grandchildren.
The two brothers live in the same compound with their wives.
They revealed: “We eat from the same plate, our wives cook for us at the same time. On rare occasions, the wives sometimes could not identify who is who among us.”
The Mai Anguwa twins say their children know them by face.
Both were tailors and used one shop for their business along Old market area Sokoto. It was through the tailoring business they catered for their families all along.
They have, however, retired from the business apparently due to old age but the twins still appear very agile and lively.
“We use to visit the palace to see the Sultan because of our relationship and he also likes us as twins. But we refused to take the title of Mai Anguwa, which we inherited from our father for certain reasons,” they said.
Interestingly, their pastime includes swimming, catapulting, as well as cutting of grass for sale to animal breeders.
For the wives of the twins, it is simply unique.
Mariya, wife of Hassan, said it has been an exceptional experience having one of the twins as her husband. She said all the things both do are collective, noting that they even go to toilet together.
She said when she was newly married, she found it difficult to recognize who among the two is her husband, but later started recognizing them by their voices.
Similarly, Lauratu, Hussaini’s wife said: “At the initial stage of my marriage, I couldn’t recognize my husband when he is with his twin brother, except if he comes to me.
“I appreciate the way they conduct themselves, dressing in same type of clothes. I also admire their mode of dressing and the unity surrounding their existence, they are very special persons.”
Fadimatu, wife of an elder brother to the twins, said she knew them as toddlers and that they related very well with people and always move together.
Aishatu, who is wife to another elder brother of the twins, says: “They remain together even when sick. They dress same, they even ride same vehicle or use same model. Everything about them spells unity.”
Aminu Hassan, son to one of the twins, said this about their fathers: “It is very interesting staying with them. The  way they stick to each other is amazing. If one is sick, it will be as if both of them are sick. Once one of them is sick, none of them would go out. They are always there for each other. If they are going to toilet, they go together; just to go and urinate, they would follow each other to make sure the other does it peacefully.”
He said: “I remember one day when Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau wanted to test them, he brought two bottles of soft drinks – one Coca-Cola and the other Fanta – and gave to them. Each took one and started drinking but as soon as the content got to half they swapped the bottles. We keep wondering how the other would survive if one of them should die? Only God knows.”
It is not only family members who spot their exceptional camaraderie. Hassan Abi, a neighbour of the twins, also pointed to their strong bond. He recalled that the Sultan of Sokoto once gave them two different brocade of 10 yards each. Instead of each person to sew his own cloth, they decided to share in a way that each has five yards from his brother’s brocade, which they sew and wore uniformly.
He added: “the twins live peacefully with all manner of people in the area; they don’t interfere in other people’s business which endears them to all. I admire their mode of dressing like all other people.”
Another neighbour Hassan Aliyu also said: “the twins are just like parents to us and they treat us like their own children. They don’t discriminate, which makes it easy for the young and the old to interact with them freely. We like their lifestyle; it is a role model to the upcoming ones.”
“We stand out in Sokoto because we remain united. You hardly can see one of us without the other,” said the spectacular brothers.