EVER since the story broke and Nigerians took to the streets and social media platforms to express their dissatisfaction with the retention of Subsection 4(b) of Section 29, there have been all manners of reactions from across the country. The enormity and passion of the protests have been quite impressive.
There has been a few names calling, labelling and derogative remarks about persons, groups and sections. Feelings have been hurt and enemies made. The issue has shifted from Citizenship and Section 29 (4b) to something more pertinent, Child marriage.
Ironically, Yerima being the “Face of child marriage in Nigeria” and with the dust from his marriage to a 13 year old Egyptian girl three years ago yet to settle, it is unfortunate that he is caught again in the middle of this crisis as the arrowhead for the campaign in favour of child marriage. Yerima’s reaction to the allegations against him has not helped his case. In a purported text message via BlackBerry Messenger, Yerima was alleged to have written and I reproduce here:
Nigerian has many uncountable problems and none of them is early marriage. As a matter of fact, early marriage is the solution to about half of our problems. For those who wonder if I can give my daughter(s) out in marriage at the age of 9 or 13, I tell you most honestly, I can give her out at the age of 6 if I want to and it is not your business.
This is because I am a Muslim and I follow the example of the best of mankind, Muhammed (PHUB). In Islam, marriage is not only about sex. It is about family and helping one another in achieving their goals, which is the attainment of Pardise. In Islam, a girl can be given out in marriage as early as 6 years old but consummation of the marriage can only be done when the girl becomes physically mature and she gives her consent to it because unlike English law, it is not permissible for a man to rape his wife in Shariah law. So what can anybody tell me?
I live in a city where young girls at the age of 12 have already become serial fornicators and cannot count the number of men they’ve had sex with.
I live in a city where primary school children disvirgin themselves behind toilets on Valentine day
I live in a city where young girls flood the streets at night looking for men that would give them N500 to have sex with them.
I live in a city where parents send their daughters out overseas to prostitute and send dollars down.
I live in a city where government officials pick undergraduates from university car parks with coastal buses to wild sex parties.
I live in a city where abortion is so common that even a Chemist store owner can perform abortion with just N2,500.
These are your daughters and this should worry you and not Yerima’s private matters. So, ask me again why I support early marriage and I will slap the Jinn (demon) out of your head.
Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima.
If anything, this text has not helped his case and I doubt that he indeed wanted it to. This message only affirms him as an unrepentant supporter of child abuse and serial paedophile and sociopath.
It is a fact that Nigeria has ‘many uncountable’ (sic) problems as stated in Yerima’s alleged defence. What he has failed to admit or figure out as a “distinguished” Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a former two-term Governor of a State in Northern Nigeria is that many of them are linked with his “pet project”, child marriage. Poverty, high maternal mortality, malnutrition, illiteracy, gender inequality, over population, food shortage, discrimination, violence against women and children, child slavery, child sexual abuse, social insecurity and indeed, youth unrest and poor parenting can be adequately tackled if we pay priority attention to the education and empowerment of our young people, especially the girl-child.
The adage that says, educate a woman and you educate a nation has not been faulted to date. Only a woman who is fully developed physically, emotionally and mentally can be a successful wife, mother and productive citizen of any nation. Education gives her an added advantage to contribute her quota to nation building in whatever capacity she may find herself.
Challenges of matrimony.
So, I beg to disagree with the Senator and his colleagues that early marriage is the solution to our national problems. If anything, it is a major part of the cause. Perhaps Yerima and his colleagues need to be informed that analysts have linked the high level of restlessness, crime and violence involving young people and indeed children in the North to poor parenting and even lack of parenting. For, what type of parenting can a 10 year old mother give to her child?
Yerima also declared with pride that he can give his daughter out at age 6 if he so wishes and it is nobody’s business. I ask, how many of his daughters has he given out at that age so far? If he has not, does it then mean that he does not have female children or he is yet to convince himself that they can survive the challenges of matrimony? Those who kill by the sword are often afraid of anyone holding a knife.
Again, we were informed in the text message that marriage in Islam is not about sex! Pray, what is marriage in Islam then about? If an old man is hell bent on assisting a female child of six years from an indigent poor family, must he marry her to do so? If these men don’t sleep with these young girls, who does? Where do they get the pregnancies that ravage their young underdeveloped bodies from?
Any child pampered with gifts and attention will give her consent to almost anything once she is assured of the continuum of such largesse. This does not mean that she is prepared for the challenges of matrimony as posited in the above statement by the Senator. Any man who takes advantage of such situation is guilty of statutory rape and will be prosecuted if it were in an organised society where no one is above the law.
The message went on to list six points on activities he believes young people in big cities are exposed to and which according to him is more grievous than child marriage. Yerima may be right on all six points but has he ever read anywhere that Nigerians approve of all these vices and are lobbying for them to be constitutionalised?
No one cuts the nose to spite the face.
Source: Vanguard
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