The Niger State Council of Imams has given the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy- Ohannaya, a one-week ultimatum to withdraw her comments condemning the plan by the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, to sponsor the mass weddings of 100 girls of marriage age in his constituency, who are either orphans or their parents are too poor to fund their weddings.
The Secretary of the Imam Council in the state, Umar Abdullahi, made this known at a press conference on Wednesday, where he warned the minister not to overstep her bounds.
Abdullahi said the Niger Imam Council viewed the minister’s utterances as capable of causing a crisis in the state and the country in general.
The minister had on Tuesday in Abuja condemned the planned mass weddings, saying it was a violation of the Child Rights Act.
Kennedy-Ohanenye disclosed that she had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to stop the weddings, adding that she had also filed a suit, seeking a restraining injunction against the Niger Speake.
“The actions proposed by the Speaker are utterly unacceptable to the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and the government at large. We are duty-bound to uphold the Child’s Rights Act and ensure the welfare and future prospects of these girls,” Kennedy-Ohanenye declared at a press conference.
Reacting, however, on Tuesday, the Niger Speaker lambasted the minister, saying she was dabbling into an issue she had no understanding of.
Sarkindaji, while addressing journalists in his chamber in Minna, said he had withdrawn his support for the wedding but would not withdraw the monetary donations made to the parents of the girls to facilitate the wedding.
He lambasted the minister for her alleged ignorance, saying she did not know anything about the circumstances that confronted the girls, which made it necessary for their weddings to be sponsored.
Sarkindaji described as unfortunate and embarrassing the minister’s actions of blowing the whole matter out of proportion without first finding out from him the motive behind his gesture.
Backing the Speaker on Wednesday, the Niger Council of Imams warned the minister to steer clear of religious and cultural matters and face her ministerial assignment.
The Imams insisted that no amount of court action would stop the wedding from taking place as planned for May 24.
The council secretary said, “The planned weddings have the blessing of all the religious and traditional leaders from the area. The sponsor of the wedding 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 Imam council urged all other well-meaning individuals in the society to emulate the kind gesture of the Speaker and render similar assistance to other intending couples in the area.
Similarly, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Jonathan Vatsa, advised the Minister of Women Affairs to steer clear of the planned wedding of 100 orphans in the state.
Vatsa, a former Commissioner for Information and Tourism in Niger State, speaking at a media parley on Wednesday, said the minister was fighting a lost battle.
“The parents of these girls will go ahead and marry out their daughters as planned, whether the speaker is involved or not. The parents have the right to do so under the Islamic and Hausa traditions.
“No amount of threat of court action can stop these parents from giving out their daughters in marriage, after receiving the necessary support.
“Instead of sitting in Abuja and issuing threats of court action, the minister should have done her investigation first to know if these girls have attained the age of marriage by law, or if they were being forced into the marriage, before going on air to threaten the speaker who is merely offering assistance.
“You cannot just sit in an air-conditioned office in Abuja and be threatening people without knowing what these orphans are going through, after losing their parents to insecurity and for those whose parents cannot afford their marriage expenses though they have attained the age of marriage.
“Does the minister have any plans for people who she has never seen or known their plight or is she trying to encourage prostitution in the North? You don’t play politics by interfering with the people’s culture and tradition. More so, these girls have suitors who want to marry them,” he said.
He further said, “As members of the same political party, I had expected the minister to get in touch with the speaker and get firsthand information about the whole thing and offer her advice where necessary, instead of playing to the gallery and going to the media and issuing threats of court action.
“I am sure the speaker, being a trained lawyer, is not afraid of going to court. The speaker is not giving the girls out in marriage but just rendering support to the families and no law in Nigeria forbids someone assisting for marriage. That is why I said the minister is fighting a lost battle.”
Vatsa pointed out that the banditry across 12 local government areas of the state had produced over 5,000 orphans, widows and widowers and, therefore, urged the minister to come to Niger State and see the suffering of the orphans, mostly girls.
He also noted that as Special Adviser on Private Public Partnership to the Governor, he would be happy to see the minister going beyond issuing a threat of court action over the marriage of these girls, and come and partner with the state government on how to empower these groups of people and other vulnerable children in the state.