Over 4,000 intending couples have applied to be beneficiaries of the Kano state-planned mass wedding to be held in October.
According to the Hisbah Deputy Commander General (operations), Dr Mujahid Aminuddeen, the first batch of the scheme aimed at supporting 1,800 intending couples, however, over 4,000 had registered.
He said mass registration into the scheme was evidence of the harsh economic realities faced by Nigerians at the moment.
Aminuddeen explained that due to the recent economic downturn currently plaguing the nation, many people want to participate in mass weddings, especially girls and women whose parents want to marry them off but are unable to afford the cost of preparing the wedding process.
He told Daily Trust in an interview, “The government has made provision for only 1, 800 but we have received thousands that have indicated interest to participate in the mass wedding. But when we briefed the Governor on the issue, he assured the government’s commitment to continue with the programme. He even asked us to write and start processing for the next batch.
“After going through the applications, we would further screen the list to verify genuine participants and then forward it to the governor.”
In August, no fewer than 1,800 intending couples under the Kano State mass wedding scheme were benefactors of N800 million allocated by the state for their wedding.
The N800 million allocated by the state government was used to procure furniture, food items, and clothing materials for 1,800 intending couples.
According to the state Hisbah board commander, Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, each of the 1800 brides would be entitled to a set of beds with mattresses and pillows and N20,000 to start up a business.
He said the 1,800 couples would profit from the generous gift, which would go a long way towards reducing societal vices and poverty, as many marriages were postponed due to parents’ inability to finance the wedding.
Giving an update on the event slated to be held next month, Aminuddeen, revealed that the selected couples would be subjected to HIV/AIDS, genotype and drug tests before they would finally be drafted for the sponsored mass wedding.
Shedding more light on the process, the Deputy Commander General (Women), Dr Khadija Sagir Sulaiman, said the budgeted N20 million set aside for the wedding party, was not set aside for the Walima (wedding party) only but would also cover the pre-wedding activities including three days induction course for the couple and the entrepreneurship course for the women.
“An entrepreneurship course would be organized for the women. You know the women are to be given N20,000 each as capital, so when they learn a business skill such as soap making, car wash production, pomade, etc., they will be able to start a business with that capital. These are the things the said amount would be spent on,” she added.
