Yusha’u Sani Yankuzo, Esq.
The recent mass wedding organised and financed by the Kano State Government at a reported cost of more than N1.5 billion deserves serious public scrutiny, not because marriage is unimportant, and certainly not because the men and women who participated in the programme are undeserving of compassion and assistance, but because the expenditure raises fundamental questions about the priorities of government at a time when Kano State is confronted with enormous challenges in education, employment, electricity, potable water and economic development.
Marriage is unquestionably a noble institution in Islam and in our society. It is an institution that deserves encouragement, protection and responsible support.
However, the responsibility of government extends far beyond facilitating wedding ceremonies.
A government has a duty to create the economic and social conditions under which citizens can build sustainable families, educate their children, access healthcare, obtain clean water, find productive employment and live with dignity.
This is why the reported expenditure of more than N1.5 billion on a mass wedding involving about 1,500 couples should provoke a serious conversation about whether public resources are being deployed according to the most pressing needs of the people.
The Kano State Government has every right to explain the social objectives of the programme, and it is possible that some of the beneficiaries genuinely needed assistance.
Nevertheless, the central question remains whether spending such a substantial amount on a one-off intervention is the most effective way of improving the lives of vulnerable citizens in a state where hundreds of thousands of children remain outside the education system and where basic infrastructure is still inadequate.
The latest IGR figure makes the expenditure even more significant
The argument that N1.5 billion is insignificant when compared with the overall finances of Kano State can no longer be sustained without qualification.
The Kano State Internal Revenue Service has disclosed that the state generated approximately N102 billion in Internally Generated Revenue in 2025, representing a substantial increase from about N74 billion in 2024.
The 2025 figure was announced by the leadership of KIRS in 2026 and reflects the most recent full-year IGR figure publicly reported for Kano State.
When the reported N1.5 billion mass-wedding expenditure is compared with N102 billion in internally generated revenue, the wedding program represents approximately 1.47 per cent of the state’s entire 2025 IGR.
That may appear small when expressed as a percentage, but N1.5 billion remains an enormous amount of money in practical terms.
More importantly, the question of public expenditure should not be determined simply by asking whether government can afford an expenditure.
The more important question is whether the expenditure represents the best possible use of public resources given the competing needs of the population.
If Kano can generate N102 billion internally in one year, then the state has demonstrated that it possesses significant fiscal capacity.
That capacity should be used to address the structural problems that prevent millions of Kano residents from escaping poverty.
The state needs to invest in human capital, education, water infrastructure, electricity, healthcare, industrial development and employment-generating enterprises.
A government that has succeeded in increasing its internally generated revenue should be even more conscious of ensuring that every naira collected from citizens produces lasting public value.
The education crisis should make every government expenditure a matter of conscience
The most disturbing part of this debate is the situation of children who are growing up without access to formal education.
According to the latest UNICEF data cited in its 2025 child-related reporting, Nigeria has approximately 10.2 million children of primary-school age who are out of school. UNICEF has repeatedly described Nigeria as one of the countries carrying the world’s largest burdens of children who are excluded from education.
The situation in Kano is particularly alarming.
UNICEF’s latest figures cited in November 2025 indicate that Kano has nearly 900,000 out-of-school children, while Jigawa has more than 330,000 and Katsina has more than 300,000.
Together, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa account for approximately 16 per cent of Nigeria’s 10.2 million primary-school-age children who are out of school.
This is an extraordinary figure.
It means that Kano alone has a number of out-of-school primary-age children approaching one million.
It is important to note that an earlier UNICEF figure released in 2023 placed Kano’s number at 989,234, but the more recent 2025 UNICEF figure cited publicly is approximately 900,000.
The difference illustrates why the latest available data should be used rather than repeatedly relying on the older 989,234 figure.
Whatever precise figure one chooses, the underlying reality remains the same: Kano is facing an educational emergency.
Every one of those children represents a human being whose future is being compromised by the absence of education.
A child who does not acquire basic literacy, numeracy and vocational or professional skills is more likely to remain trapped in poverty and informal economic activity and is less likely to contribute meaningfully to the state’s future productivity.
This is why the opportunity cost of N1.5 billion deserves to be discussed.
If the same money had been channelled into building and rehabilitating schools, providing classrooms and furniture, recruiting and training teachers, supplying learning materials, supporting girls’ education and expanding vocational training, the government could have created an intervention whose benefits would extend far beyond one wedding ceremony.
The issue is therefore not whether the couples deserve assistance. The issue is whether the people of Kano deserve better forms of assistance.
Nigeria’s wider education crisis is even more alarming
The national picture makes Kano’s situation more difficult to ignore.
UNICEF’s recent reporting places the number of Nigerian children outside school at approximately 18.3 million, comprising about 10.2 million children of primary-school age and 8.1 million of junior-secondary-school age. UNICEF’s 2024 annual report similarly recorded that more than 10 million primary-school-age children remained outside school.
Nigeria therefore faces a crisis that requires an enormous and sustained investment in education.
It is not a problem that can be solved by occasional programs or by political speeches.
It requires governments at every level to make education one of their principal budgetary and policy priorities.
Kano, being one of the states carrying one of the heaviest burdens, should logically be at the forefront of this effort.
When hundreds of thousands of Kano children remain outside school, the most consequential question is not how many people government can marry this year.
The more consequential question is how many children government can put into school, how many teachers it can train, how many classrooms it can build and how many young people it can equip with skills that will allow them to become economically independent.
What about unemployment and economic opportunity?
There is also a serious economic dimension to the mass-wedding programme.
The last state-level unemployment data published by the National Bureau of Statistics under its previous labour-force methodology placed Kano’s unemployment rate at about 7.6 per cent, while the state also had millions of people engaged in informal economic activity.
More recent national labour-force statistics have changed the methodology and therefore should not be casually compared with the older state-level figures.
The important point is that unemployment alone does not capture the economic hardship experienced by Kano’s population.
A person who survives through irregular petty trading, casual labour or another low-income informal activity may technically be employed, but may still have no reliable income with which to maintain a household.
That distinction is particularly important when discussing marriage.
The government may help a young man obtain a wife, provide furniture and assist with the wedding ceremony, but the government cannot permanently provide his food, rent, medical expenses, children’s school fees and other household obligations.
The real measure of economic empowerment is therefore not whether a person has been assisted to marry.
It is whether that person has been assisted to become economically productive enough to sustain the responsibilities that marriage creates.
A government that genuinely wants to help young people establish families should therefore place greater emphasis on vocational training, access to productive capital, apprenticeships, agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprises, industrial development and employment-generating infrastructure.
Kano is still struggling with electricity
The electricity situation presents another powerful argument for reconsidering priorities.
Kano is one of Nigeria’s historic commercial and industrial centres, yet reliable electricity remains a major obstacle to economic development.
The state has continued to grapple with power shortages and has been working towards reforms intended to establish a stronger and more independent electricity framework.
In 2026, the Kano State House of Assembly revived efforts to reform the electricity sector in response to persistent blackouts, high energy costs and the state’s dependence on alternative power sources.
The proposed reforms included the establishment of a state electricity agency and the development of a more independent electricity market.
This should concern every policymaker.
Electricity is not merely a convenience. It is an economic necessity.
A tailor cannot operate efficiently without electricity.
A barber cannot operate without electricity.
A cold-room operator cannot operate reliably without electricity.
A hospital requires electricity. Schools increasingly require electricity. Internet-based businesses require electricity.
Manufacturers require electricity. Water treatment and distribution also depend on reliable energy.
If Kano wants to reduce poverty, create jobs and enable young people to support families, the state must address its electricity deficit.
A young man may receive government assistance to marry today, but if his business cannot operate because of unreliable electricity, his ability to provide for his family will remain severely constrained.
The water crisis is equally troubling
The situation becomes even more difficult when we consider access to potable water.
Kano has experienced persistent shortages in public water supply, with the state government itself acknowledging serious deficiencies in water infrastructure and working to rehabilitate treatment facilities and pipelines.
Reports in 2025 indicated that Kano metropolis required approximately 700 million litres of water per day, while production was estimated at only about 300 million litres, creating a daily shortfall of approximately 400 million litres.
This is not a minor infrastructure problem.
Water is one of the most basic necessities of human life.
Families should not have to depend on expensive private sources of water because the public system cannot provide sufficient potable water.
It is therefore difficult to reconcile a situation in which government can commit more than N1.5 billion to a mass wedding while the state continues to confront such a substantial water deficit.
The newly married couples will need water just as every other family does.
They will need electricity. They will need schools for their children. They will need healthcare.
They will need roads and transportation. They will need employment and economic opportunities.
The wedding ceremony is only the beginning.
Islam encourages marriage, but marriage is a responsibility, not merely a ceremony
As Muslims, we must also approach this debate with honesty and religious responsibility.
Islam encourages marriage and recognises its importance in preserving morality, family life and society.
The Qur’an encourages the facilitation of marriage, including for those who are poor, and therefore it would be incorrect to argue that poverty by itself makes marriage prohibited.
However, Islamic teachings also make clear that marriage carries serious responsibilities.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed young people who are able to marry to marry, a wording that scholars have understood in the context of ability to undertake the responsibilities associated with marriage.
The same prophetic guidance also recognises that those who are not able to marry should exercise restraint until they are able to do so.
The husband has obligations towards his wife, including maintenance and provision according to his means.
Marriage is consequently not simply an event at which a man acquires a wife; it is a continuing financial, moral and emotional responsibility.
This is why we must be careful when presenting government-sponsored mass marriage as though the provision of wedding expenses automatically solves the problem facing poor young people.
It does not.
The government may provide the furniture today, but who will provide the food tomorrow?
The government may support the wedding ceremony today, but who will pay the rent next month?
The government may provide an initial grant, but what happens when the grant has been exhausted?
These questions are not attacks on marriage.
They are questions about whether government assistance is creating sustainable families or merely facilitating the beginning of marriages without adequately addressing the economic circumstances in which those marriages will exist.
The age and circumstances of beneficiaries also deserve careful consideration
The program has reportedly included beneficiaries from different age groups and circumstances, including widows and divorcees.
One publicly identified beneficiary was Malama Ainau Mudi, a 38-year-old widow, who had lost her husband four years earlier and subsequently remarried through the government-supported programme.
Her personal circumstances deserve compassion and respect.
A widow who chooses to rebuild her life through marriage should not be ridiculed or used as a political statistic.
However, her case also demonstrates why government policy should be based on individual needs rather than merely on the number of couples participating in a mass ceremony.
A 38-year-old widow, a divorced woman, an unemployed young man and a young woman entering her first marriage may have entirely different economic and social needs.
Government assistance should therefore be sufficiently flexible to address those circumstances rather than assuming that marriage itself is the solution.
The question should always be what happens to beneficiaries after the ceremony.
The government should publish the outcomes
If the mass wedding is genuinely intended as a social intervention, the Kano State Government should be willing to publish the programme’s measurable outcomes.
The public deserves to know how much was spent on each component of the program, how much each beneficiary received, how the contracts were awarded, how many businesses were established by beneficiaries and how many of those businesses remain operational after one, two or three years.
The government should also consider tracking the economic wellbeing of beneficiaries, including their employment status, household income, access to healthcare and the educational status of their children.
Such information would transform the programme from a political spectacle into a measurable social policy.
If the programme succeeds in lifting thousands of families out of poverty, then government would have strong evidence to defend it.
If, however, beneficiaries return to unemployment, poverty and dependence immediately after the ceremony, then the government must reconsider the approach.
Kano needs empowerment more than spectacle
There is nothing inherently wrong with assisting poor citizens to marry.
There is nothing wrong with supporting widows and vulnerable families. There is nothing wrong with reducing the financial burden associated with marriage.
The problem arises when government begins to treat marriage assistance as though it were a substitute for economic development.
A poor person does not cease to be poor because he or she has been married.
A child does not become educated because his parents have received wedding furniture.
A family does not acquire potable water because the husband and wife were married in a government-sponsored ceremony.
A business does not become productive because its owner has received a wedding grant.
The real solution to poverty is productive capacity.
That is why the government should consider transforming its approach to social intervention by combining marriage assistance with long-term economic empowerment.
Instead of concentrating the bulk of the intervention on the wedding ceremony itself, the state could provide vocational training, apprenticeship opportunities, access to productive assets, interest-free or affordable financing, agricultural support, health insurance, financial-literacy programmes and structured business mentorship.
Such a program would not merely help people get married. It would help them build sustainable households.
The question is not whether the couples deserve help; it is whether N1.5 billion was the best use of the money
This distinction is important because criticism of government policy should never become an attack on the beneficiaries.
I do not condemn the men and women who participated in the mass wedding. I do not condemn widows who chose to remarry.
I do not condemn poor families seeking assistance. I do not condemn marriage itself.
What I condemn is a public-policy approach that risks confusing the celebration of marriage with the empowerment of families.
Kano State generated approximately N102 billion in IGR in 2025, yet the state continues to face an enormous education crisis, with nearly 900,000 children out of school according to the latest UNICEF figures cited in 2025.
At the national level, approximately 10.2 million primary-school-age Nigerian children remain out of school, while the broader number of children outside school has been estimated at about 18.3 million when primary and junior-secondary age groups are considered.
Kano continues to struggle with inadequate electricity, while its water infrastructure has suffered from years of underinvestment and the state has faced a substantial gap between demand for potable water and available production.
These circumstances demand a government that thinks beyond ceremonies and immediate political gratification.
If N1.5 billion is available for social intervention, Kano’s people deserve to ask whether that money could have been used to return more children to school, train more young people, establish more businesses, improve water supply, expand electricity infrastructure or create productive employment.
That is not an unreasonable question.
It is the responsibility of citizens in a democracy to ask how their money is being spent.
Let us build families by building the society around them
The most effective way to support marriage is not merely to pay for a wedding. It is to build an environment in which married couples can thrive.
A government that builds good schools is supporting families.
A government that provides potable water is supporting families.
A government that improves electricity supply is supporting families.
A government that creates jobs is supporting families.
A government that develops affordable healthcare is supporting families.
A government that supports productive enterprises is supporting families.
A government that provides security and creates an environment in which people can invest, work and raise their children with dignity is supporting families.
These are the foundations upon which successful marriages are built.
The people of Kano are hardworking, enterprising and resilient. They do not need government to substitute ceremonies for development.
They need a government that will use its growing fiscal capacity to address the structural conditions that keep millions of people poor and dependent.
The increase in Kano’s IGR from approximately N37.4 billion in 2023 to N74.77 billion in 2024 and then to about N102 billion in 2025 demonstrates that the state’s revenue base is growing significantly.
That achievement should be celebrated, but it should also raise expectations.
As revenue increases, the quality of public services should increase with it.
The people should see more classrooms, better-equipped hospitals, reliable water supply, improved electricity, stronger infrastructure, more jobs and greater economic opportunity.
That is how public revenue becomes public value.
Conclusion
The Kano State Government should not interpret criticism of the mass wedding as hostility towards marriage or towards the beneficiaries.
The criticism is fundamentally about priorities, sustainability and responsible governance.
The state has almost one million children who are still outside the education system. Nigeria has more than ten million primary-school-age children outside school and an estimated 18.3 million children outside school when the broader age categories are considered.
Kano has significantly increased its internally generated revenue to approximately N102 billion in 2025, but the state still faces serious deficits in education, electricity, water and employment opportunities.
In such circumstances, every major expenditure deserves scrutiny.
The government should ask itself whether it is creating dependency or capacity, whether it is merely addressing today’s headlines or solving tomorrow’s problems, and whether the beneficiaries of its programs will remain dependent on government or eventually become economically self-sufficient.
Islam does not reduce marriage to the ceremony. Marriage is a serious covenant involving financial, moral and social responsibilities.
Encouraging marriage must therefore go hand in hand with creating the conditions that enable couples to fulfil those responsibilities.
The Kano State Government should consequently redirect the centre of gravity of its social policy from ceremonial assistance to sustainable empowerment.
If government wants young people to marry, it should help them acquire the education, skills, employment and productive assets necessary to maintain their families.
If government wants to support widows and vulnerable women, it should give them choices, economic independence and sustainable livelihoods.
If government wants to reduce poverty, it should invest in the human beings who will generate the wealth of tomorrow.
And if government has N1.5 billion to spend, the people of Kano have every right to ask whether there was a better way to spend it.
The real measure of a government’s success should not be the number of couples it can assemble for a mass wedding, but the number of citizens it can help move from poverty to prosperity, from illiteracy to education, from unemployment to productive work, and from dependence to dignity.
Kano does not merely need more weddings. Kano needs stronger families, educated children, productive young people, reliable electricity, potable water and an economy capable of sustaining the people who live in the state.
That is the kind of social intervention that will still matter long after the wedding photographs have faded.
