No turning back on law banning poor polygamists - Emir of Kano

The Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi II, has stated that there is no going back on his planned law on restricting polygamy for poor men in the Nigerian State. ‘‘I won’t be backing down from making the law against poor men seeking to marry more than one wife,’‘ he said in an Instagram post.

The second most powerful Muslim leader in Nigeria weeks back disclosed that there was a family law in the offing meant among others to restrict polygamy for men who could not cater for extra wives.

He also warned in his post that leaders under the Kano Emirate who beat their wives would be stripped off their titles. ‘‘I have warned all district heads, village heads, ward heads and Imams to also desist from the bad habit of beating their wives and whoever among them is reported to me to have beaten up his wife, would outrightly lose his title.

‘‘Although the law was not meant to stop Muslims from marrying up to four wives, it regulates how a man should treat his wives and children according to the tenets of Islam,’‘ he further clarified.

The Emir has averred that for people in the largely Muslim north of Africa’s most populous country, there was a relationship between polygamy, poverty and terrorism, the reasons that necessitated the proposed law.

He said a sub-committee of scholars in the Kano palace had been working for over a year on the bill. A meeting on Wednesday is expected to review the over 80 pages of the law and make the necessary adjustment before presenting it to the State House of Assembly for passage into law.