File image of Kano government’s mass wedding for 1,500 brides. Photo: AFP
By Juliet Umeh
The wedding bells have gone silent in Kano. The colourful outfits have been put away, the rice served, prayers offered and the 1,500 couples who participated in the Kano State Government-sponsored mass wedding have begun what may be the most difficult part of the entire exercise – marriage itself.
For the newlyweds, the real ceremony begins after the celebration.It begins with rent, food, electricity, healthcare, transportation, employment and, eventually, the cost of raising children.
That reality has transformed Kano’s mass wedding programme from a celebration of matrimony into a debate about poverty, governance and government priorities.
