More than 10,000 Muslim women have registered their desire to be married at a mass wedding ceremony in Kano state.
The Hizbah, which is a state sponsored programme in Kano, serves as the city’s “morality police” and has over the years arranged mass weddings in a bid to reduce the number of single women in the state.
The women who are hoping to be introduced to prospective suitors via the scheme include divorcees and girls of marriageable age. The Islamic board introduces the women to possible husbands and leaves it to them to make the final decision.
Under the scheme, the state government pays the bride price and provides furniture and household utensils for the newlyweds.
Most of the women who register with the board say they have searched endlessly for a partner but couldn’t find and therefore turned to the board for help. Some others say they have suitors but no money to do their wedding.
The Hizbah board is yet to announce a date for the mass wedding. A total of 5,000 men and women have been married since mass weddings were introduced in Kano in 2012.
A total of 1,111 couples tied the knot in an elaborate event at Kano’s main mosque in December 2013. At the time, the Hisbah said it had arranged 4,461 marriages since the programme began.
Similarly, the Jigawa State Government has inaugurated a 19-member Committee to organise a mass wedding for widows and divorcees in the state.
In a statement issued by Ibrahim Isma’il, the Public Relations Officer, Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) on Tuesday in Dutse, the SSG, Alhaji Adamu Abdulkadir, while inaugurating the committee, said the gesture was to checkmate social vices in the society.
The statement said that the Committee was to identify the total number of widows and divorcees in each of the 27 local government areas of the state.