Marriage is a legal institution established to promote love, care and tranquility. It’s also the best and legal channel for reproduction.
It’s worrisome the way people handle marital affairs today ignorantly and playfully. Playfully in the sense that a man who lacks the fund marries above his income, subjecting both the woman and the children into humiliation and hapless situation which inturn makes the wards a nuisance to the society. The act of polygamy is suitable for those who have the means and it’s hazardous for the poor man who lacks the resources for the well-being of the family.
It’s in this case that Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, while speaking at the 50th anniversary of the demise of Ambassador Isa Wali, revealed plans in the offing to introduce a law that will restrict poor men in the emirate from marrying many wives. This has generated hullabaloo on the social media, in which many openly and hypocritically opposed the move without given it a proper thought. Some argue that the Emir wanted to westernise the society by buttressing their untenable and flimsy statement that he wants to limit the muslim population in the North. That view is a blatant false! Others on the other hand, argue that he has no right to dictate the number of wives a man can take.
This made me to recall the ill- statements made by Mrs. Dame Patience Jonathan, former first lady, during the 2015 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) electioneering campaign that, ‘…………..Al-majiris! We for the South here, we no get al-majiris; because our men no dey born children wey dey no go remember their names; our men no dey born children wey dey no go fe count, our men no dey born children dem go throw way.’ alas! I thought our people would give her derogatory statements a thought then, to restrategise and regulate the marriage affairs but, no, it fell on a deaf ears. I concur with what she said even though it was said to mock and show political hatred towards All Progressive Congress’ candidates. The truth has to be told!
The poor men in Kano metropolis have polluted the environs by producing what they can’t take care of. However, their indiscriminate and unregulated polygamous marriage has caused menace to the society. This includes: high rates of both divorce and domestic violence, boy-child
begging (Al-majiranci), junkies and harlots, political thugs and terrorists to mention but a few.
The poor men lack the fund and the precious time to train their wards properly. Consquently, they leave their children to cater for themselves, making them eventually to fall as prey to the predators. An adage said, ‘An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.’ How won’t those untrained children be used as destructive weapon to threaten the peace of the society? Believe me, all those terrorists’ members name its Boko Haram, Al- Qaeda, Al- Shabab,Talibans’ members and others emerged as a result of the improper training instilled in their minds coupled with lack of parental care. Here, untrained wards are mostly the al-majiris who had nobody to cater for them. Hence, they came into contact with corrupt friends who, in most cases, lure them into bad gangs which in turn made them end up as child-soldiers to the terrorist group.
I could vividly remember during my undergraduate programme at Bayero University, Kano, we had some al-majiris, populary known as Debo-ruwas – the errand boys in the hostels. They usually chant some words as lyrics to solicit for works or to indicate their presence for whosoever have an errand to send them. In return, those debo – ruwas are paid cheaply. I interviewed some among those Debo- ruwa boys, and they disclosed to me that majority of them are from the North-west part of the country, particularly Sokoto and Zamfara States respectively. Furthermore, they told me they were sent by their parents to come and acquire Quranic knowledge without a proper welfare put in place for them. Hence, they rely on those petty money they raise from students’ hostel to cater for themselves. How won’t those children, who lack parental love and care, constitute nuisance to the society?
How won’t those children, not be lured and recruited by those deadly and lunatic terrorists to carry out an evil acts?
To be continued