Good that they have been cancelled. There are better ways to help the orphaned girls than sponsoring their marriages
Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, stirred a national controversy penultimate week when he announced his plan to sponsor the marriage of 100 orphaned girls in the Mariga local government of the state. He said that the girls had lost their parents to banditry attacks and pledged to pay the dowries for the bridegrooms, having bought all that were needed for the weddings.
Many Nigerians have expressed their outrage at the announcement. Neither the pictures nor ages of the girls have been made public. However, there is widespread suspicion that many of the girls might be under-aged. The latest Child Rights Act (2023) guarantees the rights of all children in Nigeria. The law has been domesticated by 34 out of the 36 states in Nigeria. Only Kano and Zamfara had not domesticated the act as at 2023.
The Child Rights Act deals with issues of child abuse, child labour, forced and underage marriage and other acts against the interest of children in Nigeria. On the other hand, the Nigerian Constitution (Article 18) states: “Every child shall be entitled to free, compulsory, and universal primary education, free from discrimination on any grounds whatsoever. Additionally, Article 15 guarantees the right to the dignity of the human person, which includes protection from any form of degrading treatment”. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an important agreement by countries that have promised to protect children’s rights.
Read Also; Governance began only three months ago due to Rivers crisis – Fubara
The Nigerian penal code applicable in Northern Nigeria and the criminal codes set the ages of 13 and 14 as the ages that a child is incapable of giving consent and therefore, a child marriage involving this age could amount to a crime. Curiously though, in Northern Nigeria, reports indicate that 48% of girls are married before 15 and about 78% are married before 18.5 and sadly, these contribute to the high rates of maternal and child mortality, illiteracy, exposure to spousal abuse and high illiteracy.
The speaker had earlier stated that the sponsorship of the weddings was part of his constituency project. Many Nigerians were opposed to the proposal. The women affairs minister, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, in an attempt to stop the said weddings. She equally filed for a court injunction to stop the weddings. Many other interest groups and civil rights organisations had raised their voices against the proposal. However, some Islamic clerics had risen in support of the speaker’s proposal, possibly because they feel it is the norm in the region.
The court has issued an order stopping the proposed weddings and the speaker is reported to have cancelled going ahead with the arrangement. This, to us, is a welcome development. Even though mass weddings and sponsorships by individuals or groups in Christianity or Islam are not new to Nigerians, many are worried that the orphaned girls’ ages were not made public. In a region where child marriages seem common, many believe that marrying off the orphaned girls will be an ill-wind that blows no one any good. The girls might be orphaned but other forms of assistance can be availed them for a functionally productive life.
We recall that in October 2023, the Kano State government sponsored a mass wedding of about 1,800 couples and equally supplied them with household furniture and other items of value. The speaker might have meant to replicate that act but there is a remarkable difference in the two events. Some of the Kano couples were up to 18 years and the marriages appeared consensual. The orphans of Niger State are feared to be under-aged as there seems to be no transparency in the arrangements.
While we understand that there are cultural practices that some people feel must be held on to, we believe that culture is dynamic and the world has changed. The speaker ought to know the laws better and, having sworn to the constitution, is bound to respect it. If as is being suspected some of the girls are under-aged, the speaker would have gone against the constitution if he had gone ahead with the weddings. As orphaned children, there are options better than marrying them off. We feel that they ought to have been found worthy foster parents. Nigerians have a very vibrant extended family culture. The speaker could have provided the prospective foster parents with materials to assist in cushioning economic hardship.
We also wonder whether there was consensual marriage proposals and acceptance. Did the speaker merely want to objectivise the orphans and merely found willing men to join the vulnerable girls with? The speaker ought to understand marriage better. Assuming the weddings took place, what economic plans did the speaker have in place for sustenance of the couples? The logical next step of marriages is consummation and 95% chance of pregnancies, what plans were in place to see the brides through reproductive health?
The maternal and child mortality rates, Viscos Vaginal Fistula (VVF), chronic malnutrition, retarded under-five growths, illiteracy and other socio-economic outcomes happen when marriages are both not well planned and or child-brides are involved. This is 21st century and Nigeria has to do better. Elected and appointed individuals must obey the constitution they swore to uphold during their inauguration.
The speaker of Niger State House of Assembly ought to be a beacon to the people and one who acts for the interest of the people at all times.
Governments exist to protect the welfare of citizens. If the girls were orphaned due to banditry attacks that killed their parents, we feel the speaker ought to be concerned about making laws to further protect the people.They ought to do their oversight functions to ensure the executive branch of government is on track.
While we appreciate that there are cultural issues that often influence certain decisions, we also believe that the dynamism of culture aids human flourishing. Having chosen democracy as a form of government and swearing to uphold the constitution, every arm of government must respect same and in this case, the UN treaties and acts must be respected by the citizens because laws exist to avoid anarchy. No individual or group should jettison the laws of the land.
We hope that now that the people have expressed their disapproval, the court has issued an order stopping the weddings, the speaker can do the right thing by finding other options of helping the young ladies so that they can be productive and contribute to their state instead of being made mere sexual objects that could be discarded anytime soon.
This can also serve as a lesson to many others that might want to take the route in future. The girls have already been traumatised by the deaths of their parents, they ought to be humanised and taken care of. Marriage is beyond paying for materials.
