REMARRIAGES ARRANGED

Politicians have come up with an ingenious plan to solve the scourge of divorced women. They are arranging marriages; with the enticement of a payment courtesy of an entrepreneur and traditional wedding gifts provided by local government. You have to share your wedding ceremony with a few hundred other people, but otherwise the only snag, depending which side of the fence you are on, is that there’s a pre-condition making divorce this time around just a little harder.

No, before you gasp with disbelief, can I just impress that this initiative is taking place in Nigeria and not here. Over there divorce is rising and with the ability to divorce one’s wife by simply reciting under Sharia law “I divorce you,” three times, one might say it is little wonder. In the absence of tax credits and income support, thousands of divorced women and their children have found that their blood relatives have been unable to assist them and inevitably have ended up begging on the streets.

In these hard pressed times, one, of course, does wonder if our current government with its commitment to saving the institution of marriage and cutting state-benefits, might be tempted to introduce something similar here. Or, am I just being too cynical?