The Emir of Kano, Mallam
Muhammad Sanusi II, on Thursdaycalled on wealthy individuals in the
North to use the wealth Allah blessed them with, not only in building
mosques but to also educate girls and discourage their early marriage.
The Emir made the call
on Thursday in his keynote address at the 3rd international conference
on Islamic Banking and Finance, organised by the International Institute
of Islamic Banking and Finance, Bayero University, Kano.
He
said, “I’m just tired of people coming to me to say I want to build a
new mosque. You know, we keep building mosques and our daughters are
illiterates.
“So, my appeal is that if you really want to help
Kano, don’t come to me with a request to build a N300m mosque because I
have enough mosques everywhere. And if I don’t have a mosque, I’ll build
it myself. If you really want to help, go and educate a girl child in
the village.”
According to him, over 50 per cent of girls between
the age bracket of 18 and 20 were given out in marriage in this part
of the country.
He added that the worrisome dimension of it was that 75 per cent of them could neither read nor write.
Calling
for a review of laws to prevent early marriage and encourage girl-child
education, he said, “It is not a mere coincidence that this is where
you have the highest levels of illiteracy, early marriage, divorce and
the highest levels of domestic violence…
“People need to
understand that the law has to change. If you look at the medical data
on maternal health, girls who get pregnant below the age of 15 are five
times as likely to die as girls who get pregnant at the age of 20. Those
who get pregnant under 18 are twice as likely to die as those who get
pregnant at the age of 20. So, it is important that we look at this
issue of early marriage.”
From Punch