‘If a man doesn’t marry off his child till the age of 18, what does she do between the age of 11 and 18?’ – Emir of Kano

Recently the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II came under a barrage of criticism when he married an 18-year old girl and he wrote so long a letter in response to his critics. Many people felt it is morally questionable for someone of his age to take a teenager as his wife.

On Tuesday, he headlined the “Strategies to Improve the Protection of Girl Child in Nigeria” conference in Abuja. His speech, reportedly, was against making 18 years the minimum age for marriage. According to reports, the emir emphasised that the first step is addressing the reason why girls get married off: the nation’s revenue sharing formula.

“If you tell a man in the village, ‘don’t marry your child off till the age of 18’, what does she do between the age of 11 and 18?,” the Emir asked. “We need to understand that the problem begins from the economy and from the management of the resources of the country.”
The monarch also, reportedly, pointed out the present system where the states get ‘residual’ of the country’s revenue after the Federal Government had taken the largest portions. “These are the states that are supposed to provide education and healthcare to hundreds of millions of people,” he said. “The states are starved of funds. Addressing funding gaps in the states is one step toward finding solution to the problem of girl child’s rights violation.”
But during her own speech, the wife of Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osibanjo, who represented the first Lady Mrs Aisha Buhari, questioned the non-implementation of the existing law that protects the girl child in Nigeria.
Source: Channels News