I watched Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima the former Governor of Zamfara and currently a Senator of the Federal Republic. On the AIT kaakaki show today, the two women who were interviewing Yerima asked him what his definition of “female maturity ready for marriage”, he said that defining maturity with age does not exist in his dictionary. According to Yerima, he said that he can’t use age of a girl to define maturity, if a girl has started experiencing menstruation and puberty, she is matured and can be given out for marriage. “Maturity has very little to do with age” Yerima said.
According to Yerima, he said he married his first wife at the age of 16 and almost all his daughters are married, he gave them out in marriage at the ages of 15 and 16. He also gave an example of his daughter who is an accountant now, he gave her out in marriage at the age of 15, she has 3 children now, she’s currently 21 while the daughter who is a pharmacist was married out at the age of 16, she has 2 children now and age 20. He said one of his daughter is getting married soon and she’s age i6. Yerima said he doesn’t see anything wrong in a girl marrying at the age of 15 or 16 provided the girl is matured physically and in puberty stage. He said islam supports it.

He was asked what early marriage is to him, he said early marriage is where a girl who is yet to attain puberty and matured is given out for marriage. He also defended his marriage to his 14 year old Egyptian saying she was matured at that 14 when he married her, the Egyptian girl is 17 and has a child for Yerima now.

He was asked if he can give out his daughters for marriage at age 13, he said “yes he can” only if she’s matured and in puberty.

http://www.hovabuzz.com/news/355-i-gave-out-my-daughters-for-marriage-at-age-15-and-16-senator-yerima

So I want to ask now, what do you think about what yerima said? because he is major lawmaker advocating for this child marriage. So what do you think?

.

U 4 marry 2 ur grand father mate @ 5 na

I feel like putting a broom stick inside his d**k head, nonsense

Let's ask his colleague in Islam

This man is really a bad egg. He has nothing to offer as a senator.

Who koba this man sef...

One man food is another man's poison.

That is what his believes is but we don't want it shikena.

Seriously am begining to Dislike d word "ReliGon"......... People now use et to cover up for their Ignorance and Stupidity!!....

Shame on this Man .....

He is a big liar and if you want to know whether someone is lieing,the person will be contradicting himself.how is it possible to give out one of your daughters at 15 or 16 for marriage and is now a successful accountant.the 2 dont reconcile.a chikd married off has her hopes,dreams and ambitions shattered.how many abokis send their wives to school when they are still living in their husbands house.as far as i know the husband is the alfa and omega of that girls life.infact i read in the news paper of one of this abokis wife that said she wants to go to school,the husband did not support or allow it,eventually when the husband goes out to work (shes an house wife) she will go to school.when the husband found out that she attends one local secondary school,the husband cut her fingers so that she will not be able to write again and padlock her inside the house and go with the keys whenever he is going out.so that she will not sneak out for lessons.so tell me how a woman married of to an illiterate chauvenist that doesnt value education or the sanctity of womanhood ever allow his wife to be a doctor,accountant or whatever.someone that would have been impregnated immediately shes married and start raising kids.please tell me another story yerima :/

It's possible kulyie, my aunt married at 16 and she is a medical doctor now. I beliv it depends on who you are building your life with. Even if you are 25- 30 and marry to a wrong man, you are still going to have problem pursuing your dream. You can't argue if he is saying the truth or not when you don't have proof. I beliv he is educated and can't act as that man you describe up there.

In any developed country his career would be over by now and he considered a pervert.
See what backward perverts are ruling the country. Shame!

Hovabuzz: He was asked what early marriage is to him, he said early marriage is where a girl who is yet to attain puberty and matured is given out for marriage. He also defended his marriage to his 14 year old Egyptian saying she was matured at that 14 when he married her, the Egyptian girl is 17 and has a child for Yerima now.

He was asked if he can give out his daughters for marriage at age 13, he said “yes he can” only if she’s matured and in puberty.

This is heart-breaking!

Kuylie, While I understand your anger at this issue as we all are, I call you to caution you utterances and properly educate yourself.
1. Terming all Northerners "aboki" is discrimnatory and insultive.
2. Your question on "how many abokis send their girls to school" is ignorant at best. I am a Northerner with 7 Sisters, the least among us has a Masters.
3. The Northern Women are up in arms against this babarism, Justice Mariam Uwais and a few others even the Moslem Minster of women affairs have risen and stood against this nonsense and have argued intelligently questioning him with the same Scriptures he is using to jusify his lust.

I will advice that you make rational arguements and not abuse tribes or religions. It makes better smarter arguements.
There are baby industries and children rap3d all over, if we leave the child and start abusing tribes we won't get anywhere.
I am an Educated Rational Northerner and I am deeply offended by Yerima and also offended by your insultive and insenstive post.
Thank You

At least, they were all older than his 13 year old girl-bride.

pervs hiding under religion

biolabee: pervs hiding under religion

how's he a pervert for fück's sake?

coogar:

how's he a pervert for fück's sake?

is he not the dude that married the 13 year old girl and says his religion supports it

He is a sex offender and should not even be around any person under 18 not to talk of girl only

biolabee:
is he not the dude that married the 13 year old girl and says his religion supports it

does his religion not support it?

He is a sex offender and should not even be around any person under 18 not to talk of girl only

sex offender by whose laws? you really think it's proper for some white men in new york to decide what laws should govern the people of northern nigeria? if at all, there's something wrong with the practise, let the people of northern nigeria(especially the women) fight for their own destiny!

coogar:

does his religion not support it?




sex offender by whose laws? you really think it's proper for some white men in new york to decide what laws should govern the people of northern nigeria? if at all, there's something wrong with the practise, let the people of northern nigeria(especially the women) fight for their own destiny!

Seems the muslims should come and let us know
The religion says if the woman is mature and ready for marriage
I dont think a girl below 17 is

Means they went directly from childhood to adulthood with no chance for adolescence in between.

They skipped a stage.

biolabee:
Seems the muslims should come and let us know
The religion says if the woman is mature and ready for marriage. I dont think a girl below 17 is

maturity in islam means when the female hits puberty(menses)!

Maturity in what sense? If it is just marriage then fine. When u add child bearing, the health of the teen is in danger, no wonder u see VVF is common in the North. If the religion says marriage to a kid is allowed, fine but please let the girl develop properly before bearing kids.

I cant believe a senator can get himself involved in this crazy thought of activities, when we have so many issues on ground in Nigeria to get himself busy with.
Insecurity
Corruption
Boko Haram and many more that i cant list it all here.
Why has this old fool forgot his primary assignment and he his here yanning this rubbish.
With people like this Yarima or whatever! What is the future of girls children....

Gaggi: Maturity in what sense? If it is just marriage then fine. When u add child bearing, the health of the teen is in danger, no wonder u see VVF is common in the North. If the religion says marriage to a kid is allowed, fine but please let the girl develop properly before bearing kids.

If it's only marriage then it's ok? Really?
So a 13, 14, 15, 16 year old girl can decide who she wants to get married to and spend the rest of her life with?
Is she mature in this sense?

Does Islam also say girls can be forced to be married to men who could be their fathers or even grandfathers?
Does Islam approve of men sleeping with young girls against their will?

coogar:

maturity in islam means when the female hits puberty(menses)!

not sure....need clarification from a muslim on this.... they also look at the emotional maturity

@maclatunji.. any insight on this

biolabee:
not sure....need clarification from a muslim on this.... they also look at the emotional maturity

that's what any true islamic cleric would tell you...
the idea is to protect the girl-child from the cardinal sin called fornication. if she's married off before she discovers her sëxuality, the risk of fornication is technically nullified.....

coogar:

that's what any true islamic cleric would tell you...
the idea is to protect the girl-child from the cardinal sin called fornication. if she's married off before she discovers her sëxuality, the risk of fornication is technically nullified.....

kinky ish...

Can the muslim NL elders confirm if this is so...


I read an article by a muslim women and she seems to disagree
It baffles me though that few muslims have spoken against this.. even the southerners

http://rinsolaabiola.com/?p=538

Long article though..

Child Marriage Not Islamic
By: Rinsola Abiola on July 24, 2013 - 4:27am
inShare
If there’s one thing that I admire most about Islam, it’s the way and manner in which it elevated a society from the depths of savagery and made them the ‘best of mankind’. I happen to be of the opinion that when we do disagree in matters relating to religion, instead of resorting to personal attacks we should try to refute the ‘offensive’ argument with evidence from the Quran and Sunnah. I happen to believe that child marriage is neither advisable nor Islamically endorsed. ...And Allah knows best.

Those of us who take time to learn about reproductive health and teach it to others surely know the risks of early sexual exposure. It is a scientifically proven fact that childbirth below the age of 17 could have serious adverse effects on a woman’s health -- an increased risk of developing cervical cancer, vesico vaginal Fistula (VVF) and maternal mortality. It is also much more common for under-aged mums to attempt killing their babies. I totally acknowledge the fact that cervical cancer has many other risk factors, but evidence of its prevalence amongst women who had too early sexual exposure and became mothers below 17 cannot be refuted. With respect to VVF, there are an estimated 800,000 cases in northern Nigeria, and this would not matter if the practice of taking child brides was not prevalent there; unless, of course, someone can prove without an iota of doubt that these alarming statistics have nothing to do with this practice.

I totally acknowledge the fact that betrothal can occur years (or even decades) before consummation, but if these men were as patient with their brides, as some would have us believe, then, why is VVF so common? I won’t vilify the men, because some of them actually treat their wives right and wait for them to fully develop and even make appreciable impacts on their lives, but the fact remains that an overwhelming majority don’t.
The word ‘developed’ is very relative; some hinge this on menstruation, others on the moment a girl begins to grow breasts, but the one thing that I really wish would be put into cognizance is the fact that outward endowment and inner development are two extremely different things and therefore occur at different paces. I know many ladies who began to menstruate when they were 8; would those claiming that the ‘third menstruation should be in her husband’s house’ really suggest that these CHILDREN have adult organs shoved into their tiny bodies simply because they are ‘women now’? Would these people really recommend that an 8-year-old be allowed to indulge in a sex act and be put through child birth simply because she has started menstruating? Would they permit anyone do that to their own daughters?
One bitter truth: child marriage has always been closely associated with low socio-economic status. In reality, many of these girls are sold (not married) off in order to alleviate poverty. This is even more painful in light of the fact that, once these girls develop VVF, these same ‘loving’ husbands are quick to disown them and move on to the next child. All for what? The pleasure of marrying a virgin?

Also, most divorced women fall between the 18-25 age group; this is because rushing into marriage without fully understanding what it entails can only lead to beating a hasty retreat out of it. Married at 11, divorced (more like abandoned with VVF) by 19 -- is this the kind of life we want for our children? If this is not true, then, why is the rate of divorce so high?
Now, Islamically, what are the prerequisites for marriage? Mutual attraction (2:221. 30:21, 33:52. 2:235); similar faith (2:221, 60:10); the mahr (dowry) must be paid (4:4. 4:24); the two parties must fully understand what marriage entails (4:21. 2:232, 2:237, 24:33); to be matured (not maturing), i.e., one must have passed the stage of puberty (4:6, 24:31, 24:58-59). In the case of an unsuccessful marriage, one should be capable of initiating divorce and understanding the proceedings [2:226-232, 2:241, 4:35, 4:128-130, 33:49, 65:1-6].
Some have suggested that counseling/mental and physical evaluation centres be set up in order to determine who is actually developed enough for marriage and who isn’t, and that the decision of whether or not to go ahead be placed on the verdict of well-trained and qualified personnel. This would go a long way in solving the dilemma of an exact age not being specified and also stop these girls from being put in harm’s way. This would also be in line with Quranic provisions that they be tested until they reach this age.

The argument that I personally find most shallow is that of ‘13-year-olds can get pregnant for their boyfriends, but they can’t get married?’ to which I say: upbringing goes a long way in determining what activities a child will be engaged in at that age. That some lost their virginity at 13 does not mean that all of us did, or that every child will. Why are we making examples of those pregnant teens, and not of many sisters who married in their mid-20s and were chaste? Why not say ‘why should a 13-year-old have sex when 23- year-olds are virgins?’ The truth of the matter is: a 13-year-old shouldn’t be having sex in the first place and marriage is therefore not a solution to that! ‘Legalizing’ sex for children is like saying ‘why criminalize corruption when politicians are bound to steal? Why don’t we just increase their allowances by 100,000 per cent?’

Even more shocking was someone giving the excuse that ‘fathers rape their daughters because they get tempted by their outward appearance’. In other words, incest can be excused in cases where the ‘developed’ child has not been shipped off to the husband’s house because, after all, a man is a man and could find even his own daughter irresistible (aoodhubillah!). Somehow, the victim should be blamed for being ‘developed’ and we’re all supposed to sympathize with the harassed father, not castrate him. Men who paint fellow men in such a bad light and portray them all like irrational beasts with hormones raging out of control really deserve to be condemned by all sane men!
The aim of Shariah is not to cause hardship or suffering, or diseases for that matter! The 800,000 women living with VVF and thousands of others dying from complications during child birth are a serious situation that needs to be urgently addressed. Islam elevates mankind, yet we hinge a practice that puts our girls in early graves and leads to their abandonment after becoming diseased on Islam. How many wealthy men who go about buying child brides give out their own daughters as children? Child marriage, poverty and illiteracy among women are closely linked; any wonder why we still have many poor widows and women who find it hard to sustain themselves without a man in the picture? That many wealthy people do not have a college degree does not make them stark illiterates. Some child brides furthered their education; thousands of others did not. Would it not amount to selfishness to not consider this large majority too?

Are we as one Ummah going to keep quiet about this, or will we rise to the challenge and speak with one voice against a practice that has so many unfavourable side-effects? Islam was established as a way of life by defying the norm. If the blessed generation, the early Muslims, were concerned about not ruffling feathers, then, polytheism would have remained the status quo. Somewhere, a girl just bled to death because she had a child when her body could not support one. It’s high time we put an end to high maternal mortality, to VVF, to high divorce rates and reduced the risk of cancer in our women. It’s high time the concerned amongst us reached out to Muslim opinion leaders and clerics and made them realize the danger of continuing this way.

biolabee:
kinky ish...
Can the muslim NL elders confirm if this is so...

mac and jarus can confirm.....

I read an article by a muslim women and she seems to disagree. It baffles me though that few muslims have spoken against this.. even the southerners

http://rinsolaabiola.com/?p=538
Long article though.....

rinsola abiola is an alarmist and perhaps a semi-illiterate. VVF is a poverty disease, nothing to do with the age of the bride. the high number of VVF is to do with hygiene, lack of quality health care and illiteracy. why isn't VVF existent in the US(the country with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the universe)??

She made sense n she quoted scripture.. forget about the selling islam part

I will like to hear the nl elders speak though

Nothing do you SIR!

At least you ain't no CHRISTIAN HYPOCRITE!

He married a 14yr old? Omg!

The only criteria for marriage in Islam is maturity.. In different times/cultures, it is interpreted differently. For ancient arabs, a girl becomes mature when she starts her menses.

In New York, the official marriage age is 14... Some states in the US have 13 or 15 as the official age.

According to the catholic church, A girl is mature for marriage at 14:

A man before he has completed his SIXTEENTH year of age and a woman before she has completed her FOURTEENTH year of age cannot enter into a valid marriage.
§2. The conference of bishops is free to establish a higher age for the licit celebration of marriage.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P3Y.HTM

So this term 'underaged' is quite subjective.