The proposed mass wedding of 100 orphaned girls in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State has attracted more attention than was intended. A move that began as a simple intention to help girls whose parents were killed by bandits has metamorphosed into a full fledged verbal war tinted with religious connotations.

The invitation card announcing that the Speaker Niger State House of Assembly, Barrister Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, would be giving the hands of 100 orphans in marriage was first sighted on the social media platform, Facebook.

According to the information contained in the invite, the mass wedding would be done alongside the flagging off of a 5km road network within the local government headquarters and distribution of cars to the eight district heads and other critical stakeholders in the local government area. The event was scheduled to hold on May 24, 2024.

The Speaker had confirmed to journalists who reached out to him for further clarification that the hands of100 female orphans who lost their parents in banditry attacks in Mariga Local Government Area would be given out in marriage. He said he would pay the dowries for the bridegrooms and had already procured all the materials the 100 girls needed for proper marriage.

The Speaker, who represents Mariga Constituency at the state Assembly however did not disclose the age range of the girls but stated that the girls who would be married off were carefully selected from the 170 girls whose names were submitted to him. The Speaker had said the wedding of the 100 girls was being done with the best of intentions and would serve as a way of ameliorating the sufferings of the poor.

In comes the Women Affairs Minister

Two days after the information became public, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye blazed with anger on national news platforms over what she perceived as underage marriage and announced that the Ministry has filed for court injunction to stop the Speaker from marrying off the orphans.

Kennedy-Ohanenye also said she had petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and an investigation had been launched into the issue. At a press briefing in Abuja, she declared the planned mass wedding “unacceptable” to her ay the Child Rights Act, according to her, every child belongs to the state. Hence the rights of every child would be protected from harm, violence or anything that would infringe on them, “because there is something called the Child’s Right Act, and I said it from the outset that it is no more business as usual.

“These children must be considered, their future must be considered, the future of the children to come out of their marriage must be considered.

“So I have gone to court. I have written him a letter and written a petition to the IG of Police and I have filed for injunction to stop him from whatever he is planning to do on the 24^th, until a thorough investigation is carried out on those girls, find out whether they gave their consent, their ages, find out the people marrying them.”

The Minister emphasised the need to ensure girl-child education and empowerment, arguing that the Speaker should have rather thought of empowering the women, sending them to school or giving them some kind of training support financially.

Kennedy-Ohanenye then announced that the Ministry was going to take up the responsibility of the children and educate them.

“Those that do not want to go to school, we will train them in a skill, empower them with sustainable empowerment machines to enable that child to build his or her life and make-up her minds about who and when to get married.

“If for any reason the Speaker tries to do something contrary to what I have just mentioned, there will be a serious legal battle between him and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs,” she said.

Speaker defends self, withdraws from attending mass wedding

Few hours after the Minister spoke to journalists, the Speaker came out to also defend himself, saying that he was approached by religious and traditional leaders in his local government area and told that some girls whose parents were killed in banditry were of marriageable age but did not have the funds to conduct their marriage.

He said he only agreed to support the marriage of the girls who he said were of marriageable age when he was approached by the traditional and religious leaders in his constituency, adding that he knew they would not propose to give out underaged girls for marriage.

In a typical Islamic marriage, the bride would be required to take some things like furniture, kitchen utensils, boxes, clothes and other things to the house of the groom.

The Speaker faulted the hasty steps taken by the Minister of Women Affairs, saying that she should have reached out to him for clarifications before taking such steps. He then said he would be withdrawing from attending the mass wedding but would not withdraw the monetary support he had already given out for procurement of the materials the intending brides would be taking to their husbands’ homes as well as the dowries for which he had already made advanced payment.

He Insisted that the Minister’s approach to the issue was very wrong, especially as she knows nothing about his constituency, their plights and their needs and has no right to criticise his decision to help his people.

The Speaker said: “I am a typical Hausa man. What is out of order in what I have done? Why is this issue being over flogged?

“I have pledged to take care of orphans, and that is what I am doing. If the federal government through the Ministry of Women Affairs wants to extend their helping hands, let them do so, they are welcome.

“Where was the Minister when my people were facing insecurity?

“Let her go to the local government (area). Let her find out who those girls are. They are not underaged.

“If she wants to help them, she is welcome. She should stop tarnishing my image. I am a public figure and the Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly.

“The approach of the Minister is bad. She should have reached out to me and discussed it with me.

“I would have accepted whatever suggestions she made because I value any help and assistance that would come to my people. I am disappointed with her actions and disheartened by it.”

“The traditional and religious leaders approached me and I decided to support the girls.

“They initially submitted the names of 210 girls to me and I told them there was no means for such. So we cut it down to 100 names. Does the Minister want to say that these leaders are wrong?

“They told me that I would bless the marriage and I told them I cannot attend every marriage, so they should do it in a day and I would grace the occasion. That is the reason for the event.

“I had wanted to grace the occasion, but I won’t do that again since helping my people has become a crime.

“But I have advanced the support and I will not reclaim or withdraw whatever support or donations I have given to the leaders and the parents.

“If they wish to get married, they can. If not, they can use the money and the items for something else.”

The Minister however Is yet to respond to the outburst of the Speaker.

We’re not underage; we only don’t have money for our wedding – prospective brides

Some of the girls proposed for marriage however told reporters that they had planned to get married for a long time but their marriage was delayed due to lack of funds resulting from the death of their parents.

One of the brides, Hussaina Abdullahi, said she is 21 years old and was not being forced into any marriage as she decided to get married by herself. She explained that she had desired marriage since she was 19 but her parents were killed by bandits and that halted her wedding plans.

Hussaina said: “I am not being forced into this marriage. I decided on my own to get married. I already have someone I want to get married to. So when they said we should submit names, I presented him and submitted my name.

“My parents are dead. They were killed in different bandits attacks in our community, and that is why there were no funds to conduct the ceremony, which is why we delayed it till today,”

Twenty years old Habiba Mohammed, who also lost her parents to bandits attacks, said she was not forced into the marriage as she presented the man she wanted to get married to before she was allowed to submit her name.

“Many of the girls who came forward to submit their names lost their parents to banditry and have been trying to do petty trading to help themselves.

“Many of us are already into relationships and we were saving money for our marriage,” she said.

A parent to one ofbthe would be brides, Amina Umar, said her daughter is already 23 years old and has been worried about getting married since their girls usually get married at 18 years. She lamented that lack of financial support led to the delay in her daughter getting married.

Umar said: “I thank God and the Speaker, who decided to sponsor this event in partnership with other well to do individuals. Since the father of my children was killed by bandits, we have been planning to get them married but could not.

“My daughter is already 23 years old, and based on our customs, we get them married between the ages of 18 and 19, but lack of funds and the liabilities we have taking care of the family stopped us from getting her married early.

“It isn’t that she does not have a spouse. We had no money to fund the wedding. We eventually got succour through this intervention.

“We thank and appreciate them for this. We are not the only ones who benefitted. There are others too in similar situations.”

One of the grooms, Saminu Manu, who did not state his age, said he and his prospective bride had been in love since they were children and their relationship blossomed till date.

He said that his parents had been expecting them to get married but lack of funds led them to postpone the wedding for a long time.

Manu said: “The intention to get married has been with us for a long time now but we just did not have the funds.

“My fiancée has no mother or father. She lost her father to bandits when they attacked our village. The mother died shortly after the incident. So there is no one to buy her wedding things for her and that has kept us from taking our relationship to the next level.”

The District Head of Kudun Mariga in Mariga Local Government Area, Shehu Iliyasu Mariga, said that underage marriage is not allowed in the local government area, as they have been warned against it and asked to report any parent who engages in it to the Emir of Kontagora.

He said majority of the girls who were slated to get married have lost both parents while others have only one parent. According to him, it is mostly the fathers who are killed by bandits but hypertension and high blood pressure developed by the mothers due to the burden of family responsibilities have led to the death of several mothers.

He debunked the claim that some of the girls are underaged, saying that they are all above 18 years, which was why serious screening was done before the 100 girls were selected.

He said that they are called girls because they are not married while some of their mates in other local government areas are already mothers.

Mariga said: “The girls are of age and want to get married but there is nothing we can do.

“We were in difficult times as we have been looking for ways to help them get married as we do not want them to engage in fornication.

“The Speaker is a blessing. When we approached him, he asked for a headcount of such children and decided to help.

“He warned us strictly about selfishness. We were told not to bring our own kids since we can afford it. We followed due process.

“The allegations that we forced these children and even removed some of them from school are just stories.

“The reason why I said so is because of the warning issued by the Emir of Kontagora on this same issue. He even delegated us to report such cases to him.

“Normally, even if a child with both parents alive is forced into marriage, we have been directed to notify the Emirate so action must be taken to bring the girl back and allow her to complete her education.

“That is why we give those without parents much more privileges so that it won’t be said that because their parents are dead, we now forced them.”

The District Head of Faggai in Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Jamilu Samaila Faggai, said that the initiative for mass weddings is not a new one as it is being done all the time, pointing out that this particular one is laudable because the Speaker decided to sponsor it and help those involved.

“This initiative isn’t new. The Speaker is the one responsible for this laudable initiative and we can’t repay him for this.

“Even if he comes out as President and we elect him, we can’t repay him for all he is doing for us. I am sure that not these 100 girls, but next year, we will carry out this similar initiative in folds.

“Those against it can continue. We are grateful for this initiative. There are those who have completed their secondary school education and these girls, one was even about going to a higher institution when her father was shot dead and she did not receive support, so she couldn’t go. We had to go out and ask for support.

“Those against this, we hope that their intentions are returned to them,” he stated.

Mass wedding will hold, Niger Imams vow

Niger State Imam Forum, made up of Chief Imams of Friday Mosques across the state and Islamic organizations, have vowed that the mass wedding of 100 orphans would be held because it did not contravene any section of the Nigerian constitution or the teachings of Islam.

The Director General, Niger State Religious Affairs, Dr. Umar Abdullahi, who is also the secretary of the Niger State Imam Forum, read out the resolutions of the forum’s emergency meeting in Minna, saying that the Imams have given the Minister a seven-day ultimatum to withdraw her court case and petition against the Speaker of the Niger Assembly or face legal action. The forum also asked her to apologise to the citizens of Niger and the Speaker over alleged blackmailing.

According to Farouk, the May 24, 2024 date fixed for the wedding remains sacrosanct. He said since the girls who are about to be wedded are between the ages of 18 and 25, including widows, the Imam Forum in conjunction with the parents of the brides would go ahead with the ceremony since the Speaker had done his part by donating funds to ensure the success of the wedding.

“The planned marriage has the blessing of all the religious and traditional leaders from the area. The sponsor of the marriage consulted widely before accepting to take the responsibility and we are strongly behind him.

“The girls are not underage and they are not being forced into the marriage as the Minister has made the public to believe. This is what the Minister failed to investigate,” the forum said.

The Imams warned the Minister to stay clear of religious and cultural matters and face her ministerial assignment, insisting that no amount of court action would stop the marriage from taking place. The Forum also called on President Bola Ahmed Bola Tinubu to sack the Minister for alleged incompetence and an attempt to cause religious disharmony in the country.

Ex-DG Child Rights says Minister is wrong

The Special Adviser on Public Private Partnership to the Niger State Governor, Jonathan Vatsa, advised the Minister to steer clear of the mass wedding, saying she is only fighting a lost battle because the parents or guardians of the girls will proceed with the wedding whether the Speaker is involved or not.

Vatsa, a former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in the state, said that under Islamic and Hausa traditions, parents have the right to marry off their daughters, adding that the Minister inability to investigate the issue led to her taking hasty steps.

“You cannot just sit in an air-conditioned office in Abuja and start threatening people without knowing what these orphans are going through. Does the minister have any plans for people she has never seen or know their plight or is she trying to encourage prostitution in the area?

“You don’t play politics by interfering with the people’s culture and tradition, more so that these girls have suitors who want to marry them.”

Vatsa believes the minister should have contacted the Speaker directly for information and offer advice instead of resorting to public threats and legal action. He emphasied that the speaker was not forcing the girls into marriage but merely providing support to the families.

The Special Adviser urged the minister to visit the state and witness the sufferings of those affected by banditry, particularly the orphaned girls, saying that the Minister needs to partner with the state government to empower these vulnerable groups rather than focus on legal action against the marriage plans.

Former Director General of the Niger state Child Rights Agency, Barrister Maimuna Kolo, alluded that the Minister is power drunk and has an ulterior motive, adding that she did not follow the right procedure before taking the step of seeking a court injunction to stop the wedding of the 100 orphaned girls.

According to her, the girls were verified to be above 18 years before they were approved to receive the Speaker’s benevolent intervention, adding that the gesture of the Speaker was honorable.

“The position of the law is that any child below 18, even if she has given her consent, is not regarded as consent. What the Minister was trying to do was in order, but she was too hasty. She should have done a little bit of investigation to find out what is happening.

“The Speaker just did an honorable act of just giving the community money. He is not the one that has determined any criteria for the selection of these girls. It is the religious leaders that should be liased with.

“The Minister should have contacted our commissioner of women affairs and told her to set up a committee to investigate the matter, screen the children and liaise with the Speaker.

“What she did is totally intolerable. The Minister has been on seat for how long? Where was she when all the three-year-old girls were being raped? Where was she when below-10s were being raped and boys were being brutally sodomized? Why didn’t she say anything?

“She decided to talk now because she wants to gain cheap popularity. We will not stand by anybody abusing the norms and customs of our state, especially where it does not contradict any laid down rule or laws in place.

“What ulterior motive does she have against Niger State? She didn’t follow the proper process. There is a procedure for doing things. We should not be overwhelmed by power.”

Gender advocates condemn Speaker for supporting mass wedding

Some gender advocates have said that even though the Speaker had announced that he would not attend the wedding, he should not have supported such a move in the first place.

A Gender Advocate of Glads Consult, Gladys Otus, said the Speaker’s initial decision to organise a mass wedding for the young orphan girls was a short-term solution, adding that it would be more effective to provide sustainable interventions that address the root causes of the challenges faced by the young girls.

According to her, investing in their education, skills training and psychosocial support can equip them to overcome the traumas they have experienced and build a better future for themselves.

“Sustainable solutions should focus on empowering these girls to become self-reliant and independent individuals. The budget for the proposed mass wedding will be better utilised, with an eventual return on investment that is sustainable.”

“Despite the Speaker’s speech of defence, it is not certain or clear enough as to who gave the consent to marrying these girls off, seeing that their parents are lost to the banditry insurgency. It is also crucial to ensure that the girls involved can make informed decisions about their own lives and future.

“Options should be presented to them for other alternatives, such as learning a skill or trade besides being in school. Additionally, equal attention should be given to boys who are victims of similar circumstances, ensuring that their needs and rights are not overlooked,” Otus said.

The CEO of Succeeding Against All Odds, Dr Favour Itunu, said it was good that the Speaker had withdrawn from attending the mass wedding of the 100 girls, stating that adequate screening needs to be done to ensure none of the girls are underage.

“If the Speaker wants to assist them as he claims, it is to send those who want to get an education to school with full scholarships and enroll others in a skill acquisition centre,” Itunu said.

She further suggested ways in which the Speaker could help the orphaned girls, saying: “The first move is to book mental health counselling sessions for the girls who lost their parent(s) to insurgents. The next move is education or skill acquisition, because the trauma and other mental health disorders, if not addressed, will not allow them to make good wives and mothers.

“In the end, the society suffers because the society will keep breeding dysfunctional children while unrest and insecurity will continue to be on the rise. The baggage of depression, anxiety, traumatic stress disorder, low self-esteem, lack of confidence and other forms of mental health disorders will affect their daily lives and total wellbeing, family and society at large.

“When this comes, we will start blaming the devil and shouting government when someone somewhere fails to do the right thing for the right results or outcome.”

Mohammed Audu, another gender rights advocate, said he was concerned when he first read the report and condemned the decision of the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly to sponsor mass marriages for 100 girls who lost their parents to banditry and insurgency in Niger State.

He noted that while this decision may have been well-intentioned, it falls short of addressing the long-term needs and aspirations of these vulnerable girls, noting that it also undermines the importance of investing in their education and the empowerment of the state.

Mathew Oladele, the Director of Programmes at Initiative for Social Development in Africa (ISODAF), noted that the Speaker was not doing the best form of intervention for the girls he intended to marry off, saying that the intervention is a misplaced priority.

He said: “We have received from a reliable source that the community leaders actually submitted the names of the girls to the Speaker at his request. The young girls are majorly orphans selected across the 11 wards of the local government.

“It is unfortunate that the Speaker is working against that law passed in 2021 by the honourable house which he currently presides upon. He should have been informed of the consequences of his purported action.

“Hence, we hereby advise the Speaker to review his intention and look into profiling the girls, identifying their needs and providing such as required through empowering the girls educationally or skill building.

“This will better position the girls to have a means of livelihood and become less dependent on the community.” (The Nation)

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