Low global oil prices have hurt Nigeria’s economy, taking it to the brink of recession. But the resulting cash crunch has also had a more unexpected effect – on mass weddings.
More than 10, 000 women have registered
for the state-sponsored programme in Kano, said Abba Sufi,
director-general of the northern city’s “morality police”, the Hisbah.
“At the moment we have over 10,000 women
who have registered for the mass wedding programme and are waiting to
be introduced to prospective suitors when the project resumes,” he told
AFP.
“The women include divorcees and girls of marriage age registered in person and via social media platforms we operate.”
The matchmaking programme began in 2012 to help divorcees remarry in Kano state, which has the highest divorce rate in Nigeria.
Under the scheme, the state government pays the bride price and provides furniture and household utensils for the newlyweds.
A total of 1,111 couples tied the knot in an elaborate event at Kano’s
main mosque in December 2013. At the time, the Hisbah said it had
arranged 4,461 marriages since the programme began.
– Funding problems –
Nigeria, one of Africa’s main oil
producers, depends on the sale of crude for 70 percent of government
revenue but income has been slashed since prices plunged around the
world two years ago.
State governments have struggled to pay
public sector wages; the naira has weakened, causing a shortage of
foreign exchange, hitting investment and key imports of goods, fuel and
food.
At the same time, inflation has soared
to nearly 11-year highs, with predictions of more devaluation to come
and further rises in the cost of living.
“The cash crunch has compelled us to
halt the programme, which has resulted in a huge backlog of women intent
on getting the right husbands to marry through the matchmaking
process,” said Sufi.
Hajara Umar, a divorced mother of three
children, said she registered to find a husband two years ago but has
been frustrated because of the lack of funding.
“We are calling on the authorities to
resume the mass wedding. We are not asking for too much, just the basic
things we need to start a new married life,” she said.
– Widespread poverty –
Widespread poverty has been blamed for
the rising number of divorces in Kano city and the surrounding state, as
well as the decline in traditional marriage ceremonies between men and
women.
Kano’s economy declined sharply in the
1980s because of electricity shortages, which forced up production
costs, high bank lending rates and competition from cheap foreign
imports.
More than 400 of Kano city’s 500 textile
factories were forced to close, leaving thousands jobless and creating
the highest unemployment of rate of any of Nigeria’s 36 states.
The economic decline has had a direct
impact on families, leading to divorces in a mainly Muslim society where
polygamy is prevalent.
With no access to education and parental
care, children from broken homes have ended up on the street, fending
for themselves and also falling into crime and drugs.
“I can’t afford to provide the
furniture, which is an essential provision for marriage in our culture,”
said one divorcee, who asked not to be identified.
“I have been divorced for five years and
I so much need to remarry. I registered a year ago… it’s worrisome the
mass wedding has been delayed due to the economic downturn.”
– Private sector –
The mass wedding project was seen as a
solution to the situation and also at preventing Boko Haram Islamists
from recruiting disaffected and impoverished youth for their violent
insurgency.
The north’s conservative culture gives a
husband absolute powers in marriage but men have often abused it and
divorced their wives at will.
Under the matchmaking project, couples
can only divorce with the explicit consent of the state government and
the Hisbah. Any man who unilaterally divorces his wife risks going to
jail.
“The security the mass wedding programme
provides for the wife makes many women to prefer getting married
through the programme because she knows the husband cannot divorce her
at will,” said Sufi.
To resume mass weddings, the Hisbah
wants funding from the private sector and wealthy individuals but in
the current climate that is proving difficult.
“We can’t allow the programme to crash
because of its immense social benefits which makes stopping it
altogether unthinkable despite the economic crunch”, said Sufi.
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