Posted by Vanguard on
More than 2,000 divorcees and widows in Bauchi State have declared their desire to re-marry.The women are pursuing their ambition under the aegis of Widows Association in Nigeria (WAIN). They have therefore lobbied the Bauchi State Government to bear the responsibility of paying bride prices for any of them, who secures a willing partner.
BAUCHI-More than 2,000 divorcees and widows in Bauchi State have declared their desire to re-marry.The women are pursuing their ambition under the aegis of Widows Association in Nigeria (WAIN). They have therefore lobbied the Bauchi State Government to bear the responsibility of paying bride prices for any of them, who secures a willing partner.
The state coordinator of WAIN, Hajiya Sa'adatu Umar, told newsmen on Monday in Bauchi that the women were also willing to take part in any match-making arrangement if the government was willing to coordinate it.
Umar said the association had registered some 276 members in Bauchi metropolis, and more than 100 in each of the 20 local government areas.
She attributed the high number of unmarried women in the state to the prevalent economic hardship, which, she said, made it difficult for women to marry. Umar noted that the prevalence of the HIV/AIDS in the society was also scaring eligible husbands from marrying, especially those whose husbands died of such causes.
She expressed deep concern that the women had failed to secure any support either from government or individuals to undertake some trades to support them and their children.
"Even the continued pledge of the association to act as guarantor to enable the women have some access to credit has yielded no result," she said.
Umar, however, commended the patron of the association and a traditional chief, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero, "for the moral and financial support he had been rendering to them". She said he believed that it was in the best interest of the society to facilitate the marriage of the over 2,000 divorcees and widows to enable them contribute to the development of their communities.
It would be recalled that hundreds of such women were given out in marriage during the defunct military administration of Gov. Sani Sami, who paid their bride prices at a public ceremony.
Members of the association, Umar said, were willing to take part in such public ceremony to enable them get married.