WOMEN PROTEST TO GET MARRIED

Women in Zamfara state in the northern part of Nigeria have staged a protest to the government to help them get married.
The tradition in that part of the country says that women must provide furniture for the marital home before being allowed to get married, but this is expensive for most of the women in the region.
The women belong to an association that acts as a match-making service.
The Zamfara Widows Association represents divorcees, widows and orphaned girls looking to find suitable Muslim husbands
“Many of us cannot afford two meals in a day because there are no men to support us,” Nigeria’s Premium Times quotes the women on Thursday’s march as saying.

Abdullahi Muhammad Shinkafi, the commissioner of religious affairs for Zamfara state government, reported that he understood their plight and need for financial assistance.
“What the widows are after is to get married… and in Nigeria in particular, there are a lot of traditions that are money-demanding in the process of getting married,” he said.
“That is why they marched and are seeking for the government’s attention.”
He said their demands would be analysed as Zamfara did its best to help those living in poverty.
In Kano state, also in northern Nigeria, the board of the religious police, or Hisbah, often organises mass weddings for poor widows and divorcees.
The Hisbah pays for the wedding clothes, the bride price to be paid by the groom and the furniture to be provided by the bride.
But Mr Shinkafi said budgetary restraints might not lead to a speedy solution for the women.
“It is one thing to bring couples together, it is another to sustain their living,” he said