BY: ADAMU ALHAJI LAWAN, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026/ 10:57AM
My dearest Fatima,
Today, you turn 50, and as I look back at the years we have shared, I find myself thinking not about how much time has passed, but about how much of my life has you in it.
On 4th November 2000, I took your hand in marriage. I could not have known then all that life would bring us—the happiness, the challenges, the laughter, the quiet moments, the sacrifices, the disagreements, the forgiveness, the prayers, and the countless memories that would slowly turn two people into a family.
Almost 26 years later, you are still the woman whose hand I am grateful to hold.
Fatima, you have seen me at my best and at moments when I was far from my best. You have known my strengths and my weaknesses. You have shared my dreams, carried burdens with me, celebrated my successes, and walked beside me through seasons that only you and I truly understand.
That is why what I feel for you today goes beyond romance.
It is the love that comes from having lived life together.
When I look at Waleed, Kwaise and little Muhseen, I see three beautiful reminders of the life Allah has allowed us to build together. I see pieces of you in them, and my heart fills with gratitude for the mother you have been to our children and for the home we have created together.
I am proud of Dr. Fatima Adamu Lawan, PhD, and everything you have accomplished. But when all the titles are put aside, the woman I treasure most is simply my Fatima—the woman I married, the woman who knows me in ways few others ever will, and the woman with whom I have grown through almost three decades of life.
We are not the same young couple who began this journey in November 2000. Life has changed us. Parenthood has changed us. Time has changed us.
But there is something deeply beautiful about being able to look across all those years and say:
We are still here. Still together. Still writing our story
And if life gave me the chance to return to the beginning—to stand again at that doorway on 4th November 2000, knowing everything that these years would bring—the laughter and tears, the easy days and difficult ones, the triumphs and trials…
I would still reach for your hand. I would still walk this road with you. I would still choose you, Fatima.
On your 50th birthday, I want you to know something that perhaps ordinary days do not allow me to say often enough:
You are deeply woven into the story of my life.
Some of my happiest memories have your face in them. My greatest blessings call you Mum. And so much of the man I have become has been shaped by the years we have walked side by side.
My prayer is that Almighty Allah grants you a long and beautiful life, good health, peace in your heart, fulfilment in all you do, and the joy of watching Waleed, Kwaise and Muhseen grow into everything we have prayed for them to become.
And selfishly, I ask Allah for one more blessing:
More time with you.
More mornings. More conversations. More laughter. More family celebrations. More anniversaries. More memories. More years of growing older together.
Because after almost 26 years, there are still chapters of our story that I want to live with you.
Happy 50th birthday, my beloved Fatima.
Fifty years of your life have passed, and I thank Allah that for almost twenty-six of those years, I have had the privilege of calling you my wife.
May this Golden Jubilee be the beginning of an even more beautiful season of your life.
I loved the young woman whose hand I held in 2000. I admire the woman you have become. And I look forward to growing old beside you.
Happy 50th Birthday, my Fatima. ❤️
Forever grateful for you,
Adamu Alhaji Lawan