Irresponsible polygamy: Comfort zone in North Nigeria
The attitude of some Hausa husbands, especially those in the remote rural and semi-urban areas, of abandoning their responsibility to old women to take their young, pregnant wives, bleeding and convulsing to hospital located in the city, in the middle of the night, many kilometres away from their village is disheartening. Such men may only […]
The attitude of some Hausa husbands, especially those in the remote rural and semi-urban areas, of abandoning their responsibility to old women to take their young, pregnant wives, bleeding and convulsing to hospital located in the city, in the middle of the night, many kilometres away from their village is disheartening. Such men may only provide transport fare and some money only enough to buy ‘shinkafa-da-mai da yaji’ (rice, oil and pepper) or tea and bread.
The tragedy is when you attempt to counsel such helpless girl (carrying a live baby that could die any moment if it’s not delivered by emergency caesarean section) to sign a consent form. That’s when you get emotional, sometimes feel devastated and confused. The young woman will tell you she cannot sign the consent; as she doesn’t have the authority over her life to sign an agreement to save her life in ANY circumstances. It’s only her husband and/or father that could give such consent. If you insist on saving the two lives (mother and unborn foetus in distress) and ask them to give you the phone number of her husband, father or brother to communicate your advice or decision as a professional, they may likely tell you none of them has got a handset. I guess you are confused at this juncture too.
This woman will be left at the mercy of her husband who is resting at home, miles away, possibly with other co-wives and will only show up in the morning or afternoon. This is irresponsibility and crime against women, their dignity and health.
Your puzzle may be compounded if I tell you that it has been a consistent policy to provide free services for pregnant women and children under five years in the state. No fees for consultation, no fees for lab investigations, none for surgery or hospital admission and feeding. Social contract between this woman and government has been largely fulfilled by all parties but for her husband.
This is a real life recurring experience of Hausa women that I see daily as a doctor in Northern Nigeria. Emir Muhammadu Sanusi’s views on polygamy and parenting in Northern Nigeria is absolutely right, pragmatic, and may only be a threat to our akimbo posture and comfort zone on women’s rights, health, dignity and related social injustice(s) cemented in our psyche. What we are practising and/or watching indifferently is not Islam but perpetual collective societal and cultural design to disempower women.
Dr Zaharaddin Abdullahi
Kafin Hausa, Jigawa State [email protected]