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From John Adams, Minna
Following controversies surrounding the decision of the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji to sponsor the wedding of over 100 girls in his constituency, Mariga Local Government Area, he has suspended his plan.
He, however, said all the expenses already incurred and the materials purchased towards the success of the wedding would be handed over to the parents of the brides, saying, “If the parents wished to go ahead with the marriage of their daughters, so be it, but I have removed my hands.”
The speaker announced the withdrawal of his involvement in the mass wedding in Minna, yesterday, when he addressed the press to clarify the controversies generated by his intention.
He described as unfortunate and embarrassing the actions of the Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, whom he alleged blew the matter out of proportion without first all finding out from him the motive behind the gesture.
“I am highly disappointed in the Minister for Women Affairs, and it is unfortunate that she allowed herself and her office to be misled by social media reports without finding out from me the true situation on ground concerning this marriage.
“She never bothered to get across to me to even find out the motive behind this humanitarian gesture, because I didn’t force any girl into marriage. It was the parents of the girls that approached me and solicited my support and I gladly accepted to assist them.
“Again, this was done after due consultations with religious leaders, traditional leaders, and other critical stakeholders before the brides were carefully selected. They were 270, but I told them that I could only provide support for 100 of the intending brides for now.
“So, for the women affairs minister to be threatening me with court action on an issue that she knows nothing about and never bothered to find out the true situation of things is quite unfortunate. My action has the blessing of the parents, religious and traditional leaders, including key stakeholders from my constituency.
“The minister should know that both my religion and tradition do not allow girls of marriageable age to roam the streets. We don’t allow prostitution or promiscuity in the north. This thing is being done with good intentions but some people decided to make an issue out of it.”
Sarkindaji said it was disheartening to hear the minister for women affairs who has never visited any Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps as a result of bandits’ activities in Niger State to see the plight of women and children, but only sit in Abuja and be threatening to stop marriage of orphans, whose parents are victims of bandits attacks.
“This is politics taken too far by the minister. She should be properly educated on the culture and tradition of the north, that girls of marriageable age are not allowed to roam the streets.
“But, I have decided to distance myself from participating in the marriage, and if parents of the girls allow the minister to stop the marriage of their children, so be it.
“I have provided the material support needed, and I will not go beyond that. If the parents like, let them stop the marriage of their children because a minister sitting in Abuja has threatened to go to court.
“I will leave the minister with the parents of the girls. Let the minister go to Mariga and stop the parents from marrying out their girls. People are playing dirty politics over what they know nothing about,” he added.
