'Men also belong to the kitchen' - Former Niger Gov, Babangida Aliyu

Former Niger State governor, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, says that according to the Quranic injunction, men also belong to the kitchen. He spoke in response to President Buhari’s recent comments on the role of women in the society that they belong to 'the kitchen, living room and the “other room'.

The former governor, while speaking during the weekend at the annual NDEDI lecture series organised by the Newgate College of Technology, in Minna, defended his position by citing sections of the Islamic Holy book. He stated that though the place of the woman is in the kitchen “men also belong to the kitchen.”

“It is actually the man that should be in the kitchen as provided in the Holy Quran,” Islam does not permit women to go out indiscriminately; they are to be in the house taking care of the children,” he said.

Speaking futher, the former governor said that women should only be in the “inner room” when it is the men who provide all the needs of the woman, including making purchases from the market for the use of the family. He added that the era of men taking many wives was gone, noting that those that had married more than one wife and claimed that the scriptures allowed them to do so were ignorant of the tenets;

 “What the Book says is that if you can be faithful and fair to two wives, you are allowed to take more than one wife. I don’t see how a man can be faithful and fair to more than one wife. “We cannot afford to continue with this type of life unless we want to continue like our grandfathers, as marriage is not compulsory. Plan your lives so that you don’t get frustrated along the line,” he said.