President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement (North Central), Ms. Abiodun Essiet has accused the Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly , Barr. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, of instigating traditional and religious leaders against the federal government’s stance on underaged marriage.
Essiet in a long post on X revealed that among the 100 orphan girls are minors that dropped out of school in JSS 3 and SS 1 respectively.
“My attention has been drawn to the media interview of the speaker of the Niger state house of Assembly, Barr. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, concerning the marriage plans of 100 orphan girls I have been in touch with the speaker, the local government chairman, some of the girls, the Governor of the state, and other traditional and religious stakeholders on this issue.
“I offered to empower these girls and also capture them in federal government programs which was communicated to the speaker and the local government chairman. The speaker through his media interviews has successfully instigated traditional and religious leaders against the federal government’s position on underaged marriage in our child rights Act 2003.
“The President, on Monday, launched a campaign to promote inclusive education, skill development, and gender equity. The campaign tagged, #WeAreEqual, is an initiative of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD). The campaign has been launched in 15 African countries in different iterations, focusing on health, education, economic empowerment, and gender-based violence.
“The Niger State Imam Forum has vowed to go ahead with the marriage plan on grounds that it-did not contravene any sections of the Nigerian constitution and teachings of Islam. My team have been to Bobi , shadadi and Banji communities in Mariga local government Niger state where the orphans lives and we discovered that some of the orphans are under aged and dropped out of school at JSS 3 and SS 1.
“The speaker in his interview stated that his children are in the best private schools in Minna while he wants to marry of underaged orphans of the poor people. My advice to the speaker is to marry off his underaged girls before conducting the mass marriage of underaged orphans.
“I am not against conducting marriage for orphans above 18 years of age if they give their consent to the marriage but I am against underaged marriage. Let children be children When senior state officials hide under the cloak of religion or culture to embark on policies and programs that exploit the economically handicapped, increase poverty, and deepen ignorance, they are only fueling the prevailing inequality and weaponizing poverty in our country. I stand against child marriage.
