It would be recalled that sometime in the year 1999, Sani Yerima, who was the Governor of Zamfara State declared that his State - Zamfara, was adopting the Sharia Legal system. That single act generated a lot of debates and it was greatly criticized.
Now, Yerima, a serving Senator, is in the news again. His latest wife is a child! She is just 13 years old for crying out loud!
I have had discussions with some moslems and one thing I have learnt from these discussions is that the Qur'an only permits marriage to more than one woman, on the condition that the man can support and treat them equally. Yap! The Qur'an does not make it mandatory to marry more than one wife! That is one part most moslems omit when relying on the provisions permitting them to marry more than one wife!
Yerima, who was born sometime in the year 1960, paid a whooping sum of $100,000 approximately (N15,000,000) as the bride price for this child and the wedding was allegedly conducted at the National Mosque in Abuja!
Nigerian women senators and various Women's Groups made this information known by writing a petition to the Senate. Following the petition, the Senate has ordered an investigation into this allegation - that one of its members married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.
The groups also want the senate to "estabish the legality or otherwise of this action, considering the high personal status of Senator Yerima, his status in society as a lawmaker and leader and the negative effect of such acts on the image of Nigeria".
In an attempt to raise a defence, Yerima said in a BBC telephone interview that he has not violated any rule as far as Islam is concerned. "I don't care about the issue of age since I have not violated any rule as far as Islam is concerned," he said.
THE CHILD RIGHTS ACT
In 1989, world leaders saw that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too. To this end, there was a Convention for the Rights of the Child which was adopted by the UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
By virtue of this Convention, every Member State is mandated to ensure that the principles of the Convention are implemented in their Countries. On this note, Nigeria passed this Convention into Law in July 2003. Under the Nigeria Child Rights Act, betrothal and marriage of children (as defined by the Act) is prohibited. The penalty/punishment is a fine of N500,000 {(£2,000) ($3,320)} or imprisonment for 5 years or both (ie fine and jail term).
