31 October 2019
A. Definition Of Marriage:
The definition of marriage varies
from religion to religion, from culture to culture and from one historical era
to another. While the New Penguin Dictionary defines marriage as “the
institution whereby a man and woman are joined in a special kind of social and
legal dependence”, the Baker's
Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology defines it as “an intimate and complementing union between a man and a
woman in which the two become one physically, in the whole of life.” The New
Bible Dictionary defines it as “the state in which men and women can live
together in sexual relationship with the approval of their social group.” The
Wikipedia online encyclopedia defines it more elaborately as “a culturally
recognized union between people, called spouses, that establishes rights and
obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and
between them and their in-laws.”
From
these definitions the following five basic and essential ingredients of
marriage emerge:
i.
A man and a woman cohabiting,
ii.
Sexual relationship,
iii.
Procreating,
iv.
Having certain rights towards each
other and their relatives
v.
Doing all the above in a manner acceptable
to their social group.
More outlandish definitions of
marriage over the centuries have included:
1.
A
mystical relationship preordained by cosmic forces?
2.
A
blessed physical and spiritual union that mirrors for us a human experience
akin to God’s indissoluble steadfast love as it has found expression in the
life of Christ?
3.
A
legal relationship that protects property and inheritance?
4.
A
social relationship that forms a basic fundamental unit of almost all human
society.
5.
A
less-than-optimal but necessary religious concession to the realities of the
uncontrolled instincts and passions of earthly human creatures. An
institutional social convention that restricts and restrains the boundaries of
human relationship through social proscriptions and legal constraints on
individuals’ sexual expression and personal identity.
6.
A
self-chosen, psychologically driven relationship that offers stability and
intimacy for human growth and development.
B. State And Marriage:
Marriage can be
recognized by a state, an organization, a religious
authority, a tribal group, a local community, or peers. It
is often viewed as a contract. When a
marriage is performed and carried out by a government institution in accordance
with the marriage laws of the
jurisdiction, without religious content, it is a civil marriage. Civil marriage recognizes and creates the rights
and obligations intrinsic to matrimony in the eyes of the state.
When a marriage
is performed with religious content under the auspices of a religious institution,
it is a religious marriage. A religious
marriage recognizes and creates the rights and obligations intrinsic to
matrimony in the eyes of the religion. A religious marriage is known variously
as sacramental marriage in Catholism,
nikah in Islam, nissuin in Judaism, and various other names in other faiths, each
with its own constraints as to what it constitutes and who can enter into a
valid religious marriage.
Some countries do not recognize a locally performed
religious marriage on its own, and require a separate civil marriage for
official purposes. Conversely, a civil marriage does not exist in some
countries that are governed by a religious legal
system, such as Saudi Arabia,
where marriages contracted abroad might not be recognized if they were
contracted contrary to Saudi interpretations of Islamic religious
law.
In countries governed by a mixed
secular-religious legal system, such as Lebanon and Israel,
a locally performed civil marriage does not exist within the country, which
prevents interfaith and various other marriages that contradict religious laws
from being entered into in the country.
C.
International Convention:
Article
16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states
that, "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They
are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its
dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent
of the intending spouses."
D.
God Established
The Marriage Institution According To The Bible.
God’s
actions and pronouncements in Genesis 2:18-24 started the marriage
institution with Adam
and Eve.
He said:
It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper fit for him…so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its
place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made
into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This, at last, is
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she
was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
E.
The Status Of
Marriage In The Bible
The Bible regards marriage as
normal to the extent that the Old Testament has no word for ‘bachelor’.
Monogamy is also implicit in the story of Adam and Eve since God created only
one wife for him. The Bible also shows that polygamy brings trouble, which
often results in sin (Abraham, Gen. 21; Gideon, Judges 8:29 – 9:57; David, 2
Samuel 11, 13; Solomon, 1 Kings 11:1-8). In normal marriages, the wife came to
the husband’s home.
F.
Betrothal And
Wedding Are The Two Marriage Customs In The Bible.
1.
Betrothal.
It is almost as binding as marriage itself. Betrothed women and men were referred
to as ‘wife’ and ‘husband’ in several instances (Gen. 29:21; Deut. 22:23, 24;
Matt. 1:18, 20; Joel 1”8; Matt. 1:19). The Bible does not legislate for broken
betrothals.
2.
Usually
the parents of a young man chose his wife and arranged for the marriage. But
sometimes the young man did the choosing. Sometimes the girl’s consent was
sought.
3.
There
was an exchange of gifts associated with betrothal. There was a marriage gift
or compensation and a dowry.
4.
Wedding
ceremonies were an important feature. There were special garments for both the
bride and groom. There were bride’s maids and grooms friends. There was a
procession with music and dancing. The
marriage feast usually held at the house of the groom and often at night. Guests
wore festive clothes. The man covered the bride with his skirt. Parents and
friends blessed the couple and wished them well. The father of the bride drew
up a written marriage covenant of faithfulness as implied in Prov. 2:17; Ez.
16:8; Mal. 2:14). A blood-stained cloth or chemise was exhibited as a proof of
virginity (Deut. 22:13-21). The wedding festivities continued for a week or
two.
5.
The
Levirate law. When a married man died without a child, his brother was expected
to take his wife and have children for him. (The Berom people of Plateau State
had this custom before Christianity came to them). Where a brother objected,
the ‘next of kin’ rule came into effect as in the case of Ruth and Boaz. But
while a man is still alive, his brother is not allowed to marry his wife.
6.
Divorce.
In Matt. 19:8, Jesus said that Moses “suffered” (allowed) divorce because of
the hardness of the people’s heart. This means that Moses did not command a
divorce, but regulated an existing practice, and the form of the law is Deut.
24:1-4. A certificate of divorcement was given to the wife and she could
remarry, but not without it. Grounds for divorce were not specific but general,
like “some uncleanliness” or “anything unpleasant”. Mal. 2:16 is a mistranslation.
The word translated as “divorce” is elsewhere translated as “put away”. The
Hebrew word is Shalak, which the KJV
properly translates, but not the NIV. (The same word appears in Jer. 3:1, 8. “Putting
away” means sending a wife away without giving her a certificate of divorce (Deut.
24:1, 3; Is. 50:1). Jesus also emphasized that “putting away” meant the
marriage contract was still subsisting and so the wife and husband should not
remarry or they would be committing adultery. Jesus said the only grounds for “putting
away” is a wife’s infidelity (Matt. 5:32, 19:3-12; Mk. 10:2-12; Lk. 16:18).
G.
Three
Positions On Biblical Marriage
There
are three commonly held beliefs about what constitutes a marriage in the eyes
of God:
1.
The couple is married in the eyes of
God when the physical union is consummated through sexual intercourse.
2.
The couple is married in the eyes of
God when the couple is legally married.
3.
The couple is married in the eyes of
God after they have participated in a formal religious
wedding ceremony.
H.
Brief History Of
Christian Marriage:
The history of Christian marriage
is as complex and diverse as the history of Christianity, with the meaning of
that word “marriage” having changed and morphed as generations of faithful
Christians have sought to define for themselves the nature of a holy life lived
out in the midst of daily life. Marriage has meant numerous things in various
geographic settings over the course of history, and even now, when Christians use
the word “marriage,” it does not mean the same thing to all of them.
To understand what our moment in
history has to say about the nature of Christian marriage, we shall benefit
from an examination of the many things marriage has meant over the millennia.
1.
Jewish & Roman
Marriage (From Adam To Jesus Christ)
We learn from this era that
marriages can function in society as a means of ordering that society and protecting
the authority and property of those in power. Also, that western culture has a
long history of denying marriage privileges to the poor, the destitute and the
incarcerated.
2.
Christian Marriage in the Early Church (From 1st
to 3rd Century – up to the Nicene Council 325 AD)
The early Church, through its
several iterations, held various views of the nature of marriage. The reasons
for marrying are threefold: fidelity, procreation, and the fulfilling of a
sacred obligation. We see in this period of history a widening of
understandings of what it means to be human in a way that does not simply
equate the human condition with procreative capacities. Celibacy becomes a
virtue. We see an already present tension between the concepts of marriage as a
legal and societal act and Christian marriage as a blessed state of life given
by God and blessed by the Church.
3.
Marriage in the Medieval
Church (Middle Ages, 5th to 15th Century)
Betrothal was seen as essential
to a proper marriage and formed a basic contract of commitment between two
households. Marriage blessings were usually domestic in nature and often took
place at feasts and at the marriage beds. The Church required monogamy in
marriage. What marriage was, how it happened, and who was eligible to be
married were matters of debate in this era of the Church. A marriage might
involve a simple blessing by the priest at the doors of the church, a full
nuptial mass within the church, or a blessing of the marriage bed. By the late
medieval period, we see a deepening divide between all things sacred and
profane, as well as a fully developed societal and legal authority invested in
the officers of the Church. The continuing importance of the betrothal, with
its emphasis upon consent and commitment, led to the necessity to make this
consent an action done as a part of the marriage rite in the presence of the
priest. This led to a diminishment of the role and efficacy of the whole
communal betrothal process.
The Church required monogamy in
marriage. As the scholastic church of the late medieval period was narrowing
its understanding of how Christians were to understand sacrament, marriage
(along with its counterpart, ordination) came to be seen as one of the seven
sacraments of the Church. Both the man and the woman were now seen as entering
into a sacramental act, and now both the man and woman were expected to voice
their consent. Vows were exchanged in most circumstances, but not all. The
woman was required to swear her obedience to her husband.
4.
The Reformation Period and Marriage (16th
Century)
The primary changes to the
understanding of marriage that arose from the Reformation were theological
rather than practical. The rejection of the primacy of the celibate life was a
core tenet of Reformation thinking, and with that rejection came a new emphasis
upon marriage. Marriage was seen as the natural and original means of ordering
human life. Established by God in creation, marriage was expected of all
Christian people. In an adaptation of Augustine’s teachings on marriage, Luther
identified the three goals of marriage as procreation, a remedy for
concupiscence, and companionship. Protestant reformers saw the family as the
central building block of the Christian life. They saw the act of marrying as a
solemn act and a solemn obligation. They used marriage ceremonies as occasions
to teach the entire community the Church’s expectations regarding life lived in
marriage. In contrast to some earlier
periods of history, marital fidelity was an expressed expectation of both
members of the marriage and not just of the woman. Familial and communal feasts
and celebrations that had historically accompanied and been a part of marriage
were severely criticized in some reform communities. If the medieval period had
strongly urged that marriages take place in churches and be presided over by
priests, most reformers absolutely required church marriages with pastors and
witnesses present.
In 1653, during the Puritan
period of the English Commonwealth, the nature of marriage was once again reshaped
by theological constraints. In this radical, Puritan setting, marriage became a
simple vow between a man and a woman using a prescribed Puritan form from the
Westminster Directory. The vow was made before a justice of the peace, and
there were no prayers and no ordained minister involved, making it absolutely
clear that marriage was not to be understood as a sacramental act, thereby
allowing considerably more latitude in arguing for the potential dissolubility
of a marriage. Puritans saw marriage as an event with significant spiritual and
religious implications.
This period of history tells us
that Christian marriage, even when understood as both a legal and a religious act,
has not held the same meaning for all Christians across the Church, nor has
there been any form of consensus regarding the dissolubility of marriage. The
divide between Catholic and Protestant understandings of marriage continued in
the Reformation era to shape the Christian churches.
5.
Marriage in the New World
American understandings of
marriage were diverse from the founding of the United States. Puritan values regarding
marriage as a central building block of society were continued among white
Protestant Americans; and the sacramental, unbreakable bonds of marriage
continued to be upheld by Roman Catholic Christians of the New World.
A core stricture that entered
into Roman Catholic Spanish marriage practices and then quickly became a part
of Latin-American marriage practices was the principle of “equality” — not
equality as a source of mutual companionship between the genders, but social,
racial, and economic equality between the two parties marrying. While those who
were black or of mixed race were initially exempted from this law.
In addition, this act was unprecedented in
Catholic practice in requiring parental permission for any marriage to take
place, taking the power of choice away from the groom as well as the bride.
Once the marriage had been attained, the understanding within society and
within the Church was that the patriarchal role of head of household required
obedience of the woman in her relationship with her husband.
Seventeenth-century confessional
manuals that were used by priests of the New World define marriage as
contractual in nature, with expectations that husbands would support their
wives, and wives would be obedient to their husbands unless the husband’s
demands were deemed unreasonable, irrational, and unjust by civil authorities.
Beginning in the 17th century, we also see pastoral language of equality and
reciprocity that imagines marriage in the ideal as a mystical union.
Native Americans, Black slaves,
Asian Americans, Filopino and Japanese migrants were denied marriage rights and
not allowed to marry across the races.
This portion of history helps illuminate for the Church the numerous
ways in which marriage law was used to oppress.
6.
The Victorian
Concept of Marriage
In the 17th century, the 1662 Anglican
Book of Common Prayer asserted that the purposes of marriage were procreation,
a remedy against sin and fornication, and mutual society (help and comfort),
indicating little change in understanding since the Reformation period. But
with the Victorian era (1837-1901), new patterns of practice regarding marriage
began to appear in British and American society.
In the Victorian era, the
home-workplace split led to a reconfiguration of familial identity that made
the husband in the household the sole breadwinner and defined the many and
necessary tasks of the wife as homemaking.
The marriage of Queen Victoria to
Prince Albert in 1840 provided Anglicans across the globe with a new romantic
model for the ideal marriage ceremony. An elaborate ritual, a long white dress,
a horse-drawn carriage, and sacred vows said before a priest came to be seen as
the desirable way in which to marry.
7.
Twentieth-Century Episcopal Marriage
U.S. marriages were to take place
only within the confines of state law. An exhortation regarding the nature of
marriage was still read. Vows were still exchanged. Rings could be given, and
blessing prayers were still said by a priest. By the mid-20th century, all
Christian persons were fit candidates for Christian marriage so long as there
were no legal impediments that would prevent the marriage.
The second half of the 20th
century brought the fruits of the Liturgical Renewal Movement to all the rites
of the Church, including the “Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage” —
language that would not have been used for such a rite since the Reformation.
The new introduction to marriage in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer lists as the
first intention of marriage the couple’s mutual joy. This is followed by
reference to the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity
(language, we have seen, that has been a part of the Church’s understanding of
marriage for hundreds of years). Last in the priority is the procreation of
children.
Twentieth-century liturgical
reformers added a clear blessing of the rings given in marriage, a
pronouncement by the priest at the couple is husband and wife, and a specific prayer
that is identified as the nuptial blessing and only to be performed by a priest
or a bishop.
8.
Twenty-first
Century Christian marriage
Another radical change in the nature of our
understanding of marriage has come in the last several decades as gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender people have taken on greater visibility in our society and have worked to gain a
voice, a presence, and legal rights within both the broader culture and the
Church.
I.
Summary Of The
New Regulations Issued By The Ministry Of Interior (MOI)
The new regulations have been
issued by the MOI’s Citizenship & Business Department. The Department has,
among other things, the responsibility of upholding
the Marriage Act, CAP M6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (2004) and the
provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Regarding
this, its duties include:
1. Granting
of secured marriage certificates
2. Place
of worship licensing (so that places of worship can be legally certified to
conduct statutory marriages in Nigeria)
3. Conducting
of Statutory Marriages at Federal Marriage Registries nationwide.
J. The Portal Provides The Following Information:
That in accordance with the 1990
Marriage Act, CAP 218, Laws of the Federation, the Ministry of Interior is charged
with carrying out statutory marriages in Nigeria and that there are two types
of marriages which are recognized under the law. These are:
1.
Ordinary
Marriage: This is a marriage between a
Nigerian and a Nigerian.
2.
Special
Marriage: This is a marriage between a
Nigerian and non-Nigerian or between a non-Nigerian and a non-Nigerian in
Nigeria.
K.
Services Available Through The Internet Portal Include:
1.
Marriage Applications: In order for one’s marriage to be legally binding, or
to be recognized under the law, it has to be certified by the Ministry of
Interior.
2.
Marriage
Certificate Re-issue: This is a service that is
provided to couples who have already been married but did not have a Marriage Certificate
issued by the Ministry of Interior. Such couples should only apply for issuance
of a new certified Marriage Certificate.
3.
Change of
Marriage Venue: For couples who wish to
perform their marriages outside the Federal Marriage Registry. They would apply
and pay the required amount so that their marriage can be conducted at their
desired location outside the Registry.
4.
Certified
True Copy of Documents: To
provide a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the original Marriage Certificate to couples
who no longer have a copy of their original Marriage Certificate, either due to
loss or theft, or by request of 3rd parties, like Embassies. A fee
is charged for this service.
5.
Attestation
of Marital Status: To declare and verify one’s
status as either single, married, widowed, divorced, etc.
6.
Verification
of Documents: Third party agencies seeking
to verify the authenticity of documents submitted to them by individuals by spinsters,
bachelors, or married people. (For example, a Nigerian bachelor wishing to marry
in another country. Fees would be charged for this service.
7.
Licensing of
Place of Worship: The
Ministry also has the duty of licensing places of worship in order to enable
them to legally conduct marriages in Nigeria. A License that is valid for two
years is issued after the application has been approved, and all necessary
payments have been made. The first certificate is valid for two years and is renewable.
8.
Renewal of
Place of Worship License: After
the period of two years, a place of worship is mandated to renew their license
every year.
9.
Marriage Public
Notice: Intending couples are
required to announce their plans on the portal with passport pictures and stating
date and place of intended marriage for at least 3 weeks. Members of the public
are invited to file in any objection to the intended marriage if they have
valid reasons before the due date at the venue intended.
10. Marriage End-user Manual: Contains guidelines to
intending couples on how to fill in the online forms, upload documents and make
payments online. (39 pgs)
11. Place of Worship End-user Manual: Contains
guidelines to worship place operators on how to fill in the online forms,
upload documents and make payments online. (24 pgs)
L.
Fees payable:
1.
Special marriages - - N35,000
2.
Ordinary marriages - - N21,000
3.
Attestation of marital status - - N20,000
4.
Change of marriage venue - - N30,000
5.
Verification of documents - - N15,000
6.
Certified True Copies (CTC) - - N15,000
7.
Certificate re-issue Standard -
N/A
8.
Place of worship license - - N30,000 (2 years)
9.
Renewal of place of worship license - N30,000
(1 year)
10. Marriage Certificate at N100 each
in booklets of 25 certificates and
minimum order of 2 booklets - - N5,000
M. Requirements For Place Of Worship Licensing:
1.
Identity Card Of
Place of Worship Representative
2.
Certificate Of Occupancy
3.
Certificate Of
Incorporation
4.
First Five Pages And The
Last Page of Place of Worship Constitution
5.
Ordination Certificate
of Minister
6.
Photographs of the
Interior and Exterior Views of the Place of Worship (Two
Copies Each)
7.
Minister’s
Identification
8.
Passport Photographs of
Minister
9.
Power of Attorney
N.
Date Of Take-Off:
The date of takeoff of all these
arrangements was not specified by the Ministry. But Nigerian newspapers started
commenting of the new provisions in July 2019.
O.
Legal Provisions:
The
actions of the Ministry of interior are supported by the following Nigerian
laws:
1.
1999
Constitution (As Amended), Schedule II, Part I FEDERAL EXCLUSIVE LIST),
(a)
Item
61. The formation, annulment and dissolution of marriages other than marriages
under Islamic law and Customary law including matrimonial causes relating
thereto.
(b)
Item
68. Any matter incidental or supplementary to any matter mentioned elsewhere in
this list.
2.
The
Marriage Act 2004 clearly gives the Ministry of Interior the powers to regulate
places of worship for marriage purposes and statutory marriage.
3.
The
Marriage Act 2004 specifies a five-year imprisonment for anyone who knowingly
conducts a marriage outside a licensed worship place and two years imprisonment
for one who conducts a marriage without being authorized by the ministry of
interior.
4.
Note
that there is mention of ‘Marriages’ in Part II: Concurrent Legislative List in
the 1999 Constitution.
5.
The
Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution specifies the functions of Local
Governments. 1(i) mentions “registration of all births, deaths and marriages.”
6.
But
Sokoto State has a Marriage Expenses (Regulations) Law 1981 and Bornu State has
the Local Government (Modification of Borno native Law and Custom Relating to
Marriage Order) 1971. It would seem that the Constitution does not prohibit
this. Why should Christians and Churches not choose to practice traditional
marriage?
7.
There
is no principle of customary law which requires the recording of customary law
marriages. But Item 7 (1) of the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution
provides that the functions of Local governments shall include, “Registration
of all births, deaths and marriages.” Does this provision include the
certification of deaths, births and issuance of customary marriage certificates
or not?
8.
A
statutory marriage is defined as the voluntary union of one man and one woman
to the exclusion of all others. Therefore, ‘statutory marriages’, which are
also called ‘marriages under the Act’’ are monogamous marriages. So-called
‘Church marriages’ have therefore been classified as statutory marriages for
the mere fact that they are monogamous. Christians and churches have become
innocent victims of the law by default. Traditional and Islamic marriages do
not qualify as statutory marriages for the mere fact that they have the
potential of becoming polygamous. Why should churches and Christians not
consider means of freeing themselves from the shackles of the law?
9.
By
virtue of the fact that ‘marriages’ are on the Exclusive Legislative list of
the Federal government, State Governments cannot legislate on them but they can
legislate on traditional and Islamic marriages as Sokoto and Borno States have
done.
10.
Legal
Questions:
1.
Are
there contradictions in the 1999 Constitution regarding the issuance of
marriage licenses?
2.
How
many types of marriages are recognized in Nigeria?
3.
What
is the position of the 1999 Constitution regarding Islamic marriages?
4.
Which
laws govern Islamic marriages?
5.
Which
laws govern Traditional marriages?
6.
Are
Islamic marriages also affected by the Ministry of Interior’s new regulations
or not?
7.
Can
Local Governments make by-laws regarding marriages since the 1999 Constitution
includes this item in their functions?
8.
Can
Christians and Churches not choose to practice traditional marriage instead of
statutory marriage? Can the law force them to practice statutory marriage just
because Christian doctrine teaches monogamy?
9.
Since
States can constitutionally legislate on traditional and religious marriages,
why should Christians not write laws governing ‘Christian Marriage’ but
reclassify it ‘Traditional Marriage’ and make States to pass it into law?
10.
Can
Christians not write a bunch of standard biblical doctrines and principles that
prescribe a Christian life style (including biblical marriage requirements) and
demand States to pass them into ‘Ecclesiastical Law? Will this not be an easier
way to free Christians from all the new regulations released by the Ministry of
Interior? Why should Christians willingly subject themselves to the dictates of
a discriminating and insensitive Federal government?
P.
Compliance Thus
Far:
The
PUNCH newspaper of July 24, 2019 reported that the Ministry of Interior
organized a one-day stakeholders’ conference on the conduct of marriages in accordance
with the Marriage Act Cap M6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, as
amended. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Georgina Ehuriah,
disclosed in Abuja during the conference that in accordance with the
Marriage Act Cap M6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, as amended, only
about 4,689 places of worship of worship in Nigeria had been licensed and out
of this number, only 314 have renewed their licenses to conduct statutory
marriages this year. She said that all marriages being conducted in unlicensed
places of worship cannot serve legal purposes and are contrary to Section 6(1) of
the Marriage Act.
Q.
Objections So Far:
We could find only two
recorded objections to the new Ministry of Interior regulations in the public
domain. Christians need to vehemently oppose the new regulations because they
are discriminatory and infringe on their fundamental human rights and the legal
rights of Churches registered with the CAC as ‘not-for-profit’ Trustees with
powers to conduct marriages without recourse to any other government
agency.
1. The ‘Body of Marriage Registrars’ of Local
Governments in Nigerian issued a communiqué at the end of their National Conference
held at the Radio House in Abuja in August 2019 which was read to the press by their
National President, Deji Sokeye. The PUNCH newspaper of September 3, 2019,
quoted the communiqué as lambasting the ministry of Interior for encroaching
into the exclusive constitutional jurisdiction of LGs and demanding that the
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, direct his Permanent Secretary and staff
to close down the “illegal Marriage Registries they have opened in several
States being run by a private firm named Anchor Dataware Solutions Ltd. The
communiqué also disclosed that the Ministry contracted this private firm, with
whom they have a revenue sharing agreement, illegally. The fees firm is
collecting on behalf of the Federal Government may actually be going first to
the private firm’s account instead of going directly into a Federal Government
consolidated revenue account as prescribed by the Treasury Single Account
mandate. The Body of LG Registrars advised foreign Embassies in Nigeria to
disregard the letter written to them by the Ministry of Interior instructing
them to not recognize documents issued by other government agencies.
2. On 31 July 2019 the PUNCH newspaper again
reported an interview that the Legal Adviser of CAN, Barr. Samuel Kwamkur,
granted them on the new Ministry of Interior regulations.
R.
Some
Implications Of The New Licensing Regulations
1.
The
new regulations single out statutory monogamous marriages and there by
implication, only Christians for punitive and obnoxious marriage processes
amounts to religious discrimination.
2.
The
N30,000 per annum license fee is far too high, punitive and an attempt to tax
churches heavily whereas they are mere registered Trustees that are not profit
generating organizations. Its funds are freewill donations for the building
religions infrastructure and propagation of the Christian gospel.
3.
Many
church branches in rural areas cannot afford the N30,000 annual license fees.
4.
Majority
of intending couples cannot afford the exorbitant N21,000 marriage fees. Such
astronomically high fees for marriage, which is a basic human right, will
discourage Christian youth from getting married, thus depleting the population
of Christians in the country and encourage their youth to engage in
promiscuity.
5.
Why
should ALL other Nigerians not pay the same fees when getting married? Just
because some prefer to get married under Customary or Islamic laws should not
free them from paying the same fees. There should be uniformity for all
Nigerians irrespective of religion. Amend the Constitution in order to achieve
this if necessary.
6.
The
use of a private consulting firm by the ministry of interior as reported by
Local Government Registrars to collect government revenue and share some of it
while it goes through their account violates the Single Treasury Account (STA) principle.
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