Kingsley Nwezeh And Mustapha Mohammad
29 August 2005
Maiduguri — Governor Ahmodu Sheriff of Borno State yesterday said there was nothing in Islamic religion that prohibited the exercise of women and childrens rights.
His statement came on the heel of the recent position taken by the Supreme Council of Ulamas (an apex Islamic body) to the effect that some provisions of the Child's Rights Act should not be adopted by Muslim-dominated states as it conflicts with certain aspects of the religion.
Speaking while receiving the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Mariam Ciroma, in his office, Sheriff said there was no section in the Koran that precluded the development of women and children.
"Borno State is 80 per cent Muslim population, and we have problems that conflict with our culture and religion though not out of tune with our religion, but people take advantage to manipulate and inculcate the wrong values in our people. There is no place in the Koran that says women should not work or that children should not be developed or should not make progress. We believe in the cause you are pursuing because if you educate a woman, she will educate a family and the society. We are working on a bill that will redirect preachments in the society that are geared towards creating confusion among the people," he said.
He said women constituted 40 per cent contributions in every electoral process, noting that they deserved to be carried along in the political process. He promied to appoint more women into political positions as well as initiate the bill on child's rights at the state House of Assembly.
Earlier, Ciroma urged the governor to identify with the efforts of the Federal Government aimed at protecting the rights of women and children, while noting that contrary to expectations, negative reactions from a cross section of Muslims greeted the on-going campaign.
"One of the specific provisions which has generated negative reactions in recent times is that which prohibits marriage of girls below 18 years of age. Unfortunately, various erroneous colorations have been put on this provision. It is erroneously believed that if a girl does not marry earlier than 18 years of age, she will not be able to produce two or three children. Those who hold this believe also conjure that it is a ploy to introduce western standards with the ultimate aim of reducing the muslim population", she said.
She added" Your Excellency, you and I know that nothing could be farther from the truth given that a woman is productive until she reaches menopause and assuming a 3 year interval between pregnancies, the average woman who gets married between ages 18 and 20, is capable of having at least 8 children if Allah so permits", she argued while maintaining that the inclusion of the provision in the act was informed by two factors namely high linkage between early marriage/teenage pregnancy and the incidence of vesico varginal fistula (vvf) stating that a girl below 18 would not be able to withstand the strain of pregnancy and child birth.
At the State House of Assembly, the Speaker, Goni Alimmodu assured the minister that the House would work towards the passage of such a bill as long as it does not conflict with the practice of Islam but lamented that nobody has come up with such a bill.
We respect the rights of children and women. It is our duty to protect them as long as our religion is not tampered with. There are no laws that we cannot passed in the house. Laws guiding Christianity and Islam are from God and cannot be changed but laws made by man can be changed. We are willing to pass a bill on child's rights but we have not received the bill from anybody", he said while stressing that should the assembly receive such a bill from the executive arm or from any other quarters, it would be passed.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2005 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
