BEVERLY HILLS, May 24, (THEWILL) – The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has called for a ban on marriages of child brides and girls below 18 years.
The Emir, who spoke at a workshop organised by the Northern Islamic Forum on Primary Health care in Kano, on Tuesday, said most of the women suffering from reproductive health challenges were products of such marriages.
He declared that it was time to peg marriage age in the Nigeria adding that time had come when the Muslim community should live by the reality of economic recession and consequences of early marriage.
The former Central Bank Governor explained that Nigerian Muslims are ardent followers of Maliki school of thought like Morocco, Malaysia and Egypt, revealing that those countries had since pegged marriage age.
“I believe the time is ripe to take a stand on this age long practice of early marriage, and coincidentally we subscribed to Malikiyya school of thought like Morocco, Malaysia and Egypt who had since pegged marriage age to 17, 19 and 18 respectively,” he said.
The Emir said that in the past, the rich and the poor married four wives and bore between 30 and 40 children because the economy was buoyant and the people were not relying on government for sustenance.
He thus frowned at cultural practices that encourages polygamy noting that “most of those who engage in this practice do not have the necessary economic power to support himself.
“Unfortunately our people do not change and somebody with virtually nothing still give birth to 20 or 30 children and this must stop.”
Commenting on wife battery, the Emir said that Islam discourages any form of assault on women and he enjoined those involved in the act to desist from such practice.
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