The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido has come out to say that the habit of marrying several wives and producing excess children is the reason for poverty and backwardness in the north.
He revealed this in Gusau where he moderated a paper titled “The role of universities in nation-building” presented by Dr. Usman Bugaji at the maiden convocation of the Federal University, Gusau.
According to him, the situation of things in the North will not change if this culture doesn't stop.
He added that if the people of the North should fail to heed his advice, drug abuse, Boko Haram, banditry and unemployment in that part of Nigeria will continue to rise.
His words, “There are people who can't afford to feed one wife however, are ready to marry three wives and have more children than they can't feed, talk less of paying for their school fees?
“The poverty level of the north is 80 per cent; while in the south, the percentage is 20 per cent, simply because of the culture of marrying several wives and producing several children who, at the end, are left on the streets to beg for what to eat.”
“The issues we've today such as drug abuse, Boko Haram, banditry and unemployment would be nothing compared to what we will be dealing with in the next 20 or 30.”