Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, emir of Kano, has said a family law will soon be put in place to outlaw forced marriages in the state.
According to The Cable, the Emir said this on Sunday while speaking at the 50th anniversary of the demise of Isa Wali, a former Nigerian ambassador to Ghana.
He said the law had become important as many men marry women and have children they can’t take care of.
“It perhaps a tribute to Mallam Isa that today as I speak, in the palace in Kano, a sub-committee which I set up of scholars which has been working for one year is finalising sections of a family law we intend to introduce to Kano which would address some of the issues Mallam Isa was concerned about,” Sanusi said.
“The law will set up what Islam says about the minimum age of marriage, it will outlaw forced marriages, it will make domestic violence illegal, it will put in the conditions that you must fulfil before you can marry a second wife, it will introduce protection for divorced women, it sets out the responsibilities of a father beyond producing the child and the role of the court in taking care of children.
“It is a very big one because the law ranges from consent to marriage, to maintenance to divorce, to maintenance of children to inheritance.
“We have all seen the economic consequence of men who are not capable of maintaining one wife marrying four, producing 20 children, not educating them, leaving them on the streets end up as thugs and terrorists.”
