LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The eagerly anticipated mass wedding of 100 orphans in Mariga local government area of Niger State was quietly conducted in private on Friday.
The wedding deviated from its initial plan of a grand celebration due to the attention it attracted.
One of the traditional leaders, Alhaji Shehu Iliyasu, affirmed that the orphans were individually handed over to their respective suitors.
He explained that this measure was taken to assure everyone that there were no hidden agendas behind the organisation of the event.
One of the parents of the brides, Mallama Amina Mariga expressed gratitude while receiving various items for her daughter’s wedding, including a bed, sewing machine, food items, kitchen utensils, and more, acknowledging everyone who contributed to the success of the ceremony.
She remarked that, if it were solely up to her, she wouldn’t have been able to furnish her daughter with such items for her new home with her husband.
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Village heads, community leaders, and well-wishers extended their heartfelt wishes for the bride’s happiness in her new matrimonial home.
Last Wednesday, the Minister for Women Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, convened a meeting at the Palace of the Emir of Kontagora, Alhaji Mohammed Barau Muazu, where parents, brides, grooms, and traditional rulers were in attendance.
She gave 10 Points of Service (POS) Machines to some of the 100 brides with 350 bags of 10kg rice, 100 wrappers and a promise of scholarship to University level for the girls willing to go back to school.
Represented by her Special Assistant on Private Sector, Engineer Adaji Usman, Ohanenye further instructed that bank accounts be established for all 100 prospective brides.
They would receive stipends for the next six months to facilitate their settlement in their new homes.
The Minister clarified that her intention was not to stop the marriages but to ensure that the girls were of legal age and were entering into marriage willingly, without force.
She acknowledged that her initial resistance to the proposed marriages was misinterpreted, resulting in a media dispute between her office and the Speaker.
She promised that the girls would receive close supervision in their new households to ensure that the goals of the empowerment initiative were not compromised.
Niger Speaker Abdulmalik Sarkindaji clarified hat his intention to support the marriage of the 100, mostly orphans was not politically driven, stating “I decided to support the marriage out of genuine concern for these girls majority of whom are orphan as a result of insecurity in my Constituency. It was with a pure heart.
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“They misinformed the Minister that I am playing politics with the lives of the children by forcing them into marriage. And the Minister, because of her passion for women and the girl child quickly waded into the matter even though she could not find out the through position of the things and the media began to amplify the whole matter.
“But thank God, today I have been vindicated, the Minister and the whole world have seen that these girls are of marriageable age and nobody is forcing them into it. It is being done through their consents.
“I equally commend the Minister for this empowerment scheme for the girls, she has shown that she is a mother and really meant well for the girl child in this country”.
The Emir of Kontagora, Alhaji Mohammed Barau Muazu, expressed gratitude to God and all parties involved for the peaceful resolution of the issue, which had unsettled the Emirate over the past two weeks.
He also thanked the Minister for the empowerment scheme provided to the girls, assuring her that it would be utilized for its intended purpose.
The Emir also confirmed that all essential medical examinations, including tests for HIV/AIDS, genotype, Hepatitis B, and pregnancy, were carried out, and the results were subsequently delivered to the Minister’s representatives.