The
freedom to marry more than one wife as enshrined in the doctrines of
Islam is set to the limited by the law to curb the menace of poverty in
the northern part of Nigeria.
Muhammad Sanusi II
The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II has said that he would
introduce a law prohibiting poor men from marrying more than one wife,
saying there is a connection between polygamy, poverty and terrorism.
He said because muslims practice polygamous marriage, most poor men
end up marrying up to four wives with as many as 20 children whom they
sometimes don’t train in schools hence, some of them become thugs and
terrorists.
The Emir said: “Those of us in the [mainly Muslim] north have
all seen the economic consequences of men who are not capable of
maintaining one wife, marrying four. They end up producing 20 children,
not educating them, leaving them on the streets, and they end up as
thugs and terrorists.”
The emir discussed different areas to be covered by the
wide-ranging family law, which he said would be passed by the Kano state
government.
“The law will address what Islam says on marriage, it will
outlaw forced marriages, it will make domestic violence illegal, it will
put in conditions that you need to fulfil before you can marry a second
wife, it will spell out the responsibilities of a father beyond
producing a child.
"It is a big law which covers a whole range of issues from
consent to marriage, to maintenance to divorce, to maintenance of
children and inheritance. It will be the first time in northern Nigeria
that a Muslim law on personal status will be codified," he said.
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