Dutse — Jigawa State Governor Alhaji Sule Lamido, has listed some harmful cultural practice as responsible discrimination and violation of women right in Nigerian society.

"Many harmful cultural practices have been perpetuated as religious injunction, when in actual content it contravenes religious orders," he said.

"Hence forth such practices must be eliminated and people should be properly acquainted with religious teaching, if the rights of the women as enshrined in the sharia laws are to be actualize"

Lamido made this assertion at the opening ceremony of the Islamic Family Law and Practices in North Western Nigeria,

Lamido who was represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud, explained that such distasteful cultural practices has been creating difficulties, hardship and subjecting women to inhuman treatment over the years.

The meeting which was organised in joint partnership between the Jigawa State government and women Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) involved ulamas, academia, NGOs and political class was to analyse and come up with acceptable positions on the rights of women as enshrined in the shari'a laws.

He noted that, Jigawa State government is now ever ready to partner with NGOs and in particular WRAPA with a view to bringing changes, so as to improve the living standard of women in Nigeria .

"Islam proclaims, guarantees and protects the right of women. Allah's injunctions on muslims to respect women and their rights appear in many chapters of the Holy Qur'an. "Various traditions of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad (SAW) and his last sermon have enjoined all to respect the rights of women"..

According to him, government is optimistic that the validation meeting would help identify the extent to which culture and tradition have inter mingled to dilute the provision of shari'a with respect to the rights of women in muslim societies.