BY ISMAIL MUDASHIR, TURAKI A. HASSAN AND ISA SA'IDU
Zaria — Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima and former Governor of Zamfara State is no stranger to controversies. When civil society organisations called for his head after "his victory" at a Senate vote on the concept of "full age" for female Nigerians, it was a familiar turf.
Fifty-three-year-old and heavily bearded Senator Ahmed Sani, popularly known as Yerima, became a household name in Nigeria since 1999 when the country returned to democratic rule. One of the 36 governors voted into power in that year, Yerima became popular following his introduction of the Shari'a legal system in his Zamfara State in year 2000. Other states governors in the North embraced the legal system and introduced it in their states. Since then he has been associated with several controversies, the latest being the age in which a female Nigerian is qualified to renounce her citizenship.
ENTER A VOTE ON "FULL AGE" OF A FEMALE NIGERIAN:
During the Senate's voting on the report of its committee on constitution review on July 16, 2013 Senate president David Mark and Deputy Minority Leader Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima (ANPP, Zamfara), sharply disagreed over a recommendation by the committee on the minimum marriage age. Trouble started immediately votes were taken on clause 4 altering section 29 of the constitution, deleting subsection (b) which states thus: "Any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age." Subsection (a) defines "full age" as "the age of 18 years and above".
The controversial section deals with renunciation of Nigerian citizenship, which states that, "any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation." The Senator Ekweremadu-led panel recommended for the deletion of subsection (b) which states that, "any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age". When the votes were taken, 75 voted for, 14 against, while only 2 abstained.
Immediately, however, Senator Yerima raised a point of order drawing the attention of his colleagues to item 61, under part 1 of the second schedule to the 1999 constitution which barred the National Assembly from legislating on any matter that has to do with Islamic and Customary laws.
"Under Islamic law, any woman that is married is of age and if you say 18 years is the minimum age for marriage, then you are going against Islamic law," Yerima said. However, Mark rebuffed him arguing that the clause had already been voted upon and as such the Senate cannot go back on it.
Not long after that, votes were taken on whether to allow states establish prisons and 56 Senator voted against, and 34 voted for, thereby rejecting it. Apparently dissatisfied with the voting, Mark held back the gavel and cautioned his colleagues to desist fromdisturbing, advising them to go to the Senate tea room to chat and stop distracting proceedings.
The senate president then directed a retake on votes on the item. This infuriated Senator Yerima who angrily challenged the decision to allow for a vote on an item which has already been passed whereas his request for a second vote on clause 4b was rejected. He threatened to stage a walk-out from the Senate chamber if his request was not granted.
Again, Mark remained adamant saying, "Senate can revisit it, but not now because Islamic scholars can argue it and we can revisit later."
This further angered Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje (PDP, Gombe), who raised a point of order, accusing Senator Mark of "double-standard" saying, "why do we have double-standard in this Senate? On two occasions you allowed votes to be re-taken on other clauses, but you disallowed Senator Yerima."
Mark took "serious" exception to the accusation.
Yerima then demanded that another vote be taken on the controversial item. Mark then accused Yerima of not doing his job as a member of the committee by not raising the matter at the committee level before the report was brought to the floor. "Because of the sensitivity of issues on religion, I am revisiting it. It is serious enough for us to revisit," Mark said.
When votes were re-taken on the controversial item, 60 Senators voted in support of Yerima's position for retaining the constitutional provisions while 35 voted against it.
CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS DESCEND ON YERIMA
Civil society groups did not take kindly with Yerima's victory, as it seemed to be an endorsement of child marriage. Mrs Maryam Uwais, the Chairperson, Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative, Kano, while reeling out statistics and quoting copiously from the Holy Qur'an rose against the senator and a piece that has been widely circulated in the media. According to her, "Many of these adolescents are married off to men much older than they and because of the associated power differentials, this singular factor impedes communication between them, with the girl having no negotiation skills in crucial decision-making that may affect her life. Having lost out on these critical life opportunities, these married adolescents can never aspire to living as meaningful and productive members of society. Not being able to participate actively in the community translates to their losing out completely on benefitting from economic activity and earning a decent income. Many of these girls remain excluded from community life, having been separated from peers and family members by marriage. Depression sets in. A life of diminished opportunities. The community loses out completely; the economy cannot improve where half its population is stuck in this rut.
"Child marriage, from available statistics, ultimately hampers the efforts of these young adolescents from acquiring an education, as sooner than later, they find it difficult to combine the onerous responsibilities of being a wife and mother, with schooling. They drop out, if they have not been removed for the purpose of marriage, in the first place. Consequently, 70.8% of young women aged 20-29 in the North West zone are unable to read or write. Due to the fact that these girls are deprived so early of an education (including the access to information and knowledge) they remain bereft of the purchasing power necessary for an adequate diet, healthcare, skills, or even recourse to support in emergencies, all of which would enable them rise above the circumstances of abject poverty. It is paradoxical that Muslims like Senator Yerima would rather their wives and daughters be treated by female medical personnel if they fall ill, and yet they are, by continuously advocating for child marriage, deliberately closing the avenues for girls to aspire to such professions."
She argued further that "Countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Somalia and Bangladesh, with majority or high Muslim populations have set a minimum age for marriage as 18, in the acknowledgment that there are serious social, physical and mental health risks associated with child marriages."
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who has written a very strong opinion on this issue, said last night that under no condition should child marriage be accepted in Nigeria. According to him, "Paedophilia, child sex, child slavery, child rape and child marriage cannot be justified under any circumstances in any civilised country. It is not a matter of religion. It is a matter of human rights, civil liberties and basic morality. There is nothing more repugnant to the natural mind and wholesome soul than the prospect of a fully grown man mounting, defiling and having carnal knowledge of a child that is between the ages of 6 and 18.
"Every child, whether she be a Christian, a Muslim, a pagan, an atheist or an agnostic has the right to be fully protected by the state and by the laws of our land from sexual predators, sexual deviants, statutory rapists, unrepentant perverts and child molestors. That much we ought to be able to achieve and we ought to insist on. We are meant to protect our children and not bed them."
OTHER CONTROVERSIES INVOLVING YERIMA
Senator Yerima is on record as the governor who introduced the Shari'a law in Zamfara State in 2000. The rule was amplified as a result of the amputation of the wrist of a popular cow thief, Buba Bello Jangebe, following his conviction by a Shari'a court demonstrated Yerima's resolve to see Shari'a law through and stoked the flames of Yerima's popularity. In an interview recently, Yerima said that he has no regrets introducing the Shari'a legal system, noting that that was what his people wanted.
"I believe that every Muslim aspires to live his life according to Shari'a. I so much believe in it and my people also desired Shari'a. The constitution of Nigeria is not against Shari'a. People are ignorant about the constitution."
Then, the endorsement of his deputy, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi as his successor months after he won his second term election also made him to stand tall among his contemporaries. However, throughout Shinkafi's tenure, he was at loggerheads with Yerima. The battle between the duo grounded the state. During the 2011 election, Yerima removed Shinkafi and installed his 'boy' Abdulazeez Yari, the present governor of the state, a feat pundits said snowballed Yerima status in the country's political arena.
Another controversy in which the senator was involved included his marriage to a 14-year-old Egyptian girl in 2010, a development that spurred hot debate in the country and abroad. While Yerima who is a senator representing Zamfara West based his argument on Islamic injunctions, human rights groups saw it as a child abuse and they kicked against it. Muslim organisations and clerics stood by him. In fact, the Supreme Council for Shari'a in Nigeria (SCSN) instituted a legal action against the National Human Right Commission (NHRC), Senate President, David Mark and the then Speaker of the House Representatives, Dimeji Bankole for interfering with the private life of Senator Yerima at a Federal High court sitting in Abuja.
At the end, Yerima, who bagged a Masters degree in Economics from the Bayero University, Kano in 1987, came out stronger and popular. The Egyptian girl, now 17, is said to be happily living with the Senator with a child even as she is pursuing her university degree.
His arrest by the Kaduna State police commissioner, Mr Olufemi Adenaike, following his utterances on a live Hausa programme tagged Hanu da Yawa on FRCN, Kaduna over the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) added to Yerima's controversies portfolio. Proponents of the party were swift in their condemnation of Senator Yerima's arrest.
Weeks ago, Senator Yerima led Muslim clerics to the Presidential villa to "pray" for the president. This fuelled another hullabaloo as rumours spread that Yerima's objective was to advance the 2015 ambition of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. There were also speculations that he led the men of God there as part of a ploy to dislodge Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo come 2015. Yerima led the clerics to the president under the National Ulama Consultative Forum.
Explaining the rationale behind his action, Yerima exclusively told our correspondent that he did that based on the invitation of President Jonathan. His words: "When the president was Vice President to late Yar'adua, I led clerics to the villa under the umbrella of National Ulama Consultative Forum, which the formed when I was governor of Zamfara State with the twin aims of promoting unity among Muslims and championing the cause of Islam in the country. President Jonathan called me recently that he wanted me to lead the same group of clerics to him so that they can pray for the country and that was what happened."
EXPERTS SPEAK ON THE CONTROVERSY
Sheikh Alhassan Sa'eed Jos, who is conducting the annual Ramadan Tafseer (commentaries on the verses of holy Qur'an) in Zaria, said the right to marry out a Muslim girl rests with her father.
"It depends on how the father studies the nature of the girl. If the girl is the type that behaves responsibly, a father can allow her to stay as far as going to university. A father can as well marry out his daughter at any age but the husband would have to wait for her to reach puberty before he can have intercourse with her. Islam does not make age a condition in marriage.
"Conditions for any marriage in Islam are dowry, acceptance by the two parties, witnesses and siga (approval of parents during the wedding). They are not being fair to Islam because they always speak ignorantly without consulting Islamic literature. Even enemies of Islam know that it is a religion of wisdom therefore there are rules guiding marriage in Islamic jurisprudence, which these ignorant people should go and study for them to appreciate the divine nature of Islam."
For Sheikh Muhammad Bn Uthman Kano, who is presently conducting the annual Tafseer in Kaduna Polytechnic, Muslim senators and members of the House of Representative should know that allowing the law restricting the age of marriage to pass amounts to a slap on the face of Islam.
Responding to a question, Sheikh Uthman said; "what baffles me about those going against early marriage is their hypocrisy. Why are they not directing their campaign against early fornication (zina)? Marriage is a Sunna of the Prophet (pbuh) and age is not a factor. They should go and read what Islam says about marriage and the so-called early marriage and stop acting ignorantly. We are in this country where these advocates against early marriage are promoting the sale and use of condom, as a promotion for what they called a safe way for fornication (zina) and even extra-marital affairs," Sheikh Uthman said.
Beginning to lose his temper, Sheikh Uthman added: "We are going to marry out our children even at 15 and we would as well marry those of 15, and so what. We are far better than those promoting fornication. Even in the so-called developed world, how many underage mothers do they record every day? Uncountable, in fact, outside marriage."
In the same vein, the Chief Medical Director of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, Professor Lawal Khalid said marriage before 18 years is not one of the causes of VVF. "Instead of them to pass that law restricting marriage age, they should make provision for more hospitals where pregnant women, including those regarded as underage, can be going for their routine antenatal. I think we need more equipped hospitals than that law," Professor Khalid said.
No comments:
Post a Comment