No fewer than 10,000 women registered for the kano state sponsored mass<\/p>\n
wedding programme are now frustrated as the event has failed to commence
\nas planned.<\/p>\n
Director of Morality Police otherwise known as Hisbah, Ustaz Abba Sufi
\nsaid the economic situation in the state as well as the country, has made
\nit practically difficult to carry out the Mass Wedding ceremony.<\/p>\n
Ustaz Abba sufi said at the moment, over 10,000 women who have registered
\nfor the mass wedding programme and are waiting to be introduced to
\nprospective suitors.<\/p>\n
Hisbah said it had arranged 4,461 marriages since the programme began in
\nKano in 2012. This year records the highest number of women seeking to be
\nmarried at the Mass Wedding.<\/p>\n
The women include divorcees and girls of marriage age registered in person
\nand via social media platforms we operate like facebook, twitter, whatsapp
\nand among the others.<\/p>\n
The matchmaking programme began in 2012 During the Rabiu kwankwaso
\nAdministration to help divorcees remarry in Kano state.<\/p>\n
Under the scheme, the state government pays the bride price and provides
\nfurniture and household utensils for the newlyweds. A total of 1,111
\ncouples tied the knot in an elaborate event at the Kano central mosque in
\nDecember 2013.<\/p>\n
Other Northern states such as Jigawa, Adamawa, Gombe Among others have
\nstarted the matchmaking programme.<\/p>\n
Nigeria, one of Africa\u2019s main oil producers, depends on the sale of crude
\nfor 70 percent of government revenue but income has been slashed since
\nprices plunged around the world two years ago.<\/p>\n
State governments have struggled to pay public sector salary the naira has
\nweakened, causing a shortage of foreign exchange, hitting investment and
\nkey imports of goods, fuel and food.<\/p>\n
At the same time, inflation has soared to nearly 11 year highs, with
\npredictions of more devaluation to come and further rises in the cost of
\nliving.<\/p>\n
“The cash crunch has compelled us to halt the programme in which has
\nresulted in a huge backlog of women intent on getting the right husbands
\nto marry through the matchmaking process,” mallam Abba sufi said.<\/p>\n
Farida ABubakar Samanu, a divorced mother of four children, said she
\nregistered to find a husband two years ago but has been frustrated because
\nof the lack of funding. “We are calling on the authorities to resume the
\nmass wedding so as to help those of us in need,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We are not asking for too much, just the basic things we need to start a
\nnew married life,” she said.<\/p>\n
Widespread poverty has been blamed for the rising number of divorces in
\nKano city and the surrounding state.<\/p>\n
Kano\u2019s economy declined sharply in the 1980s because of electricity
\nshortages, which forced up production costs to reduced by almost 48%, high
\nbank lending rates and competition from cheap foreign imports. More than
\n400 of Kano city\u2019s 500 textile factories were forced to close, leaving
\nthousands jobless and creating the highest unemployment of rate of any of
\nNigeria\u2019s 36 states.<\/p>\n
The economic decline has had a direct impact on families, leading to
\ndivorces in a mainly Muslim society where polygamy is prevalent. With no
\naccess to education and parental care, children from broken homes have
\nended up on the street, fending for themselves and also falling into crime
\nand drugs.<\/p>\n
“I have four children and their father is unable to feed them and I am
\nliving in my fathers house currently. We are struggling to survive and I
\ncan\u2019t afford to provide the furniture, which is an essential provision for
\nmarriage in our culture,” said one divorcee, who asked not to be
\nidentified.<\/p>\n
Another divorced named Khadijah Isma`il Abba said “I have been divorced
\nfor five years and I so much need to remarry. I registered a year ago it\u2019s
\nworrisome the mass wedding has been delayed due to the economic downturn.”<\/p>\n
The mass wedding project was seen as able to prevent Boko Haram Islamists
\nfrom recruiting affected and impoverished youths.<\/p>\n
The north\u2019s conservative culture gives a husband absolute powers in
\nmarriage but men have often abused it and divorced their wives at will.<\/p>\n
Under the matchmaking project, couples can only divorce with the explicit
\nconsent of the state government and the Hisbah. Any man who unilaterally
\ndivorces his wife risks going to jail, according to Hisbah Management.<\/p>\n
The security the mass wedding programme provides for the wife makes many
\nwomen prefer getting married through the programme because she knows her
\nhusband cannot divorce her at will, said Sufi.<\/p>\n
To resume mass weddings, the Hisbah wants funding from the private sector
\nand wealthy individuals to help so as to make the programme succeed in the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
“But in the current climate that is proving difficult we can\u2019t allow the
\nprogramme to crash because of its immense social benefits which makes
\nstopping it altogether unthinkable despite the economic crunch, said Sufi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No fewer than 10,000 women registered for the kano state sponsored mass wedding programme are now frustrated as the event has failed to commence as planned. Director of Morality Police…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n