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Swim, fishies. Swim through the veil of steel.
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KANO, Nigeria—A team of Islamic elders and bureaucrats is casting aside Nigeria's violent approach in fighting terrorism and trying something new: mass weddings.
For five years, Nigeria's army and an Islamic sect called Boko Haram have pounded each other, creating a cycle of terrorism and male unemployment in Nigeria's north, and leaving what some here describe as a surfeit of single women. To help restore order, the Kano State Hizbah Board—a local bureau that implements Islamic law—is funding a spree of group weddings.
"That will assist very well toward eradicating these social vices," said Nabahan Usman, deputy commander of special services at the Kano State Hizbah Board. "When you have a good wife, why should you think of going for terrorism?"
It is a tried if not a true path to peace. India's government offered wedding packages to Maoist rebels, and Yemen extended the same to captured al Qaeda suspects there. Both insurgencies have endured.
Some are skeptical Nigeria will fare any better. "It's a bit of a form of magical thinking," said Steven Pierce, a University of Manchester professor of Nigerian history.
Still, after standing by as nearly 4,000 people have died in the conflict between Nigeria's secular government and Boko Haram, Islamic bureaucrats like Mr. Usman are trying more-creative solutions, such as weddings, drawn from a blend of socialism and political Islam that has long guided policy in Nigeria's north, where Kano is seated.
In the past 18 months, 1,350 Kano couples have been married in mass weddings. An additional 1,111 are slated for a wedding sometime this year. The waiting list is about 5,000 people long, as many here struggle to afford the leap into married life.
Read more.
For five years, Nigeria's army and an Islamic sect called Boko Haram have pounded each other, creating a cycle of terrorism and male unemployment in Nigeria's north, and leaving what some here describe as a surfeit of single women. To help restore order, the Kano State Hizbah Board—a local bureau that implements Islamic law—is funding a spree of group weddings.
"That will assist very well toward eradicating these social vices," said Nabahan Usman, deputy commander of special services at the Kano State Hizbah Board. "When you have a good wife, why should you think of going for terrorism?"
It is a tried if not a true path to peace. India's government offered wedding packages to Maoist rebels, and Yemen extended the same to captured al Qaeda suspects there. Both insurgencies have endured.
Some are skeptical Nigeria will fare any better. "It's a bit of a form of magical thinking," said Steven Pierce, a University of Manchester professor of Nigerian history.
Still, after standing by as nearly 4,000 people have died in the conflict between Nigeria's secular government and Boko Haram, Islamic bureaucrats like Mr. Usman are trying more-creative solutions, such as weddings, drawn from a blend of socialism and political Islam that has long guided policy in Nigeria's north, where Kano is seated.
In the past 18 months, 1,350 Kano couples have been married in mass weddings. An additional 1,111 are slated for a wedding sometime this year. The waiting list is about 5,000 people long, as many here struggle to afford the leap into married life.
Read more.
