In Kano, the poor now marry for free

Some weeks ago in Kano State, another in the series of the state-sponsored mass wedding, took place. KOLA OYELERE reports that the programme has given succour to hundreds of those who could not afford the cost of organising their weddings.

WEDDINGS all over the world are often celebrated with fanfare. Sometimes, they are celebrated in ways only fit for royalties or celebrities. In most parts of the Northern region where the bride’s family shoulders this responsibility, it is more difficult for most ladies whose parents are poor to settle down in matrimony. In other areas where it is the other way round, still, poor parents can hardly afford to sponsor a wedding for their sons.

This has been the lot of many in the North, until the past governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, took over the mantle of leadership. Kwakwanso, came up with the Mass Wedding idea in 2011.

Five years on, the idea has become a tradition of sort that most parents, including the rich, now eagerly look forward to. In the edition, according to Hisbah commander, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa, 1,000 couples were joined in matrimony, the couples also underwent medical screening to determine their health status.

On February 26, 2017, 3,000 couples were screened but 1,520 were finally selected or were found suitable to be wedded in the mass celebration. And thus far, records show that the state has sponsored about 5,000 marriages since 2012 when the programme was first introduced. Among those selected as first batch of potential husband and wife two weeks ago were 60-years-old Muhammad Ibrahim from Bunkure Local Government Area and Habiba Inuwa, 19 years. Both of them never dreamed that they would have formal weddings in their lives, let alone be involved in one befitting a royalty.

This year their prayers were answered as the incumbent governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, carried out another mass wedding to the delight of many from poor homes. Dr Ganduje served as Dr Kwakwanso’s deputy governor when the idea was mooted, and executed. But many people had thought he would not continue with the lofty project.

Unknown to the anxious indigenes, Ganduje, on assumption of office, had promised to continue all projects jointly executed while he was deputy governor and among them was the mass wedding programme.

When the governor arrived at the venue at the Government House Coronation Hall on the wedding day, he allayed the fears of many by explaining that the rationale behind the mass wedding was to halt the rising divorce cases in the state. The mass wedding, he explained, was informed by unsavoury outcome of marriages that had become part of the state’s history; divorces. At a point, both the governor and his deputy realised that there were many divorcees, widowers and elderly men who could not secure wives or husbands. They felt it would be dangerous to allow this set of people to continue living their lives without spouses.

This worried Kwakwanso who decided he was going to rewrite the history of Kano State as a divorcee state, as he introduced mass weddings for those who wanted it. If divorce couldn’t be stopped, resettling divorcees in new marriages could bring fresh succour, he figured. So, for those who had either been separated, resettling divorcees in new marriages was another option. Those desirous of getting married for the first time, as well as finding partners for those who, for financial reasons, are not able to settle down on time, also benefit from the mass project all at once.

The state Commissioner for Local Government, Murtala Sule Garo, said that about N200m was spent on the wedding and, unlike in the past, couples were picked from all of Kano’s 44 local government areas this time. The success and social benefits of the programme have made other states like Katsina, Gombe and Kaduna to embrace it.

60-years-old Ibrahim was full of gratitude and joy to the government for making possible his dream of settling down with his new wife. “I already I have one wife,” he told Sunday Tribune, but with this gesture from the governor, he prays that the man and the state government would be able to continue to sustain the project. “May God continue to bless him so that he will succeed in his good work,” he added.

Inuwa, who had feared that the poor financialsstanding of her parents would prevent her from getting married, was also full of gratitude that she was united with the man of her dream.. Like Ibrahim, the mass wedding that took place in Kano State two weeks ago was her saving grace. “I am so happy to get married to the man of my choice,” she enthused, debunking the insinuations that most of the ladies that were given out that day were coerced into it.

“I was not forced to marry my husband. It was a decision we both made and I’m glad it has finally happened,” she told Sunday Tribune.

Sheiikh Yunusa Rikwan, a cleric who was one of the guests at the wedding, commended the governor for organising the programme, saying it would go a long way in curbing the many problems that used to be associated with divorcees and widows in the state.

He said: “because many divorcees and widows could not find wives or husbands, they could be tempted to engage in illicit sex and other activities that may endanger their lives and those of others.”

To curb some vices, however, Commander General of the Kano State Hisbah Board, Sheikh Daurawa, said an agreement entered into between the government and the grooms stipulated that nobody could divorce his wife without the board’s permission. “Any of them contemplating divorce must report to the Hisbah Board before such approvals would be granted,” he said.

Besides trying to assist the poor in getting married, the governor is upbeat about his expectation of increasing the population of the state.

“With the wedding, the population of Kano State will increase as we expect Allah to bless it with babies,” he said. He charged the 1,520 beneficiaries to be submissive and be tolerant of each other, reminding the couples that marriage requires endurance, perseverance, patience and understanding.

The wedding was witnessed by hundreds of people across the country.  The husbands and wives were dazzling in their white bridal apparels, with different caps and Hijab to match as they drew most eyes at the Coronation Hall to themselves, even as they waited patiently to collect their gifts, which included beds, chairs and other household furniture, from their sponsor. To empower the local carpenters, most of them were engaged to make the furniture that was handed over to the couples. The state Commissioner for Information, Mallam Mohammad Garba, also gave N20,000 each as dowry to representatives of the grooms.