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EFFECT OF DIVORCE AMONG HAUSA COMMUNITY

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of divorce among Hausa community in Gaya local government area of Kano state. The objective of the study was to determine the religious, social, economic and political causes and effects of divorce in the study area. The study used survey design and a sample of three hundred and fifty three [383] respondents, made up of 173 married and 193 divorced people served as the sample of the study.  The instrument for data collection was questionnaire titled perceived causes and effects of divorce inventory [P C E D I]. Percentages and mean were used in answering the research questions. Independent t- test was used in testing hypotheses. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study revealed no significant difference in the perceptions of the married and divorced couples on the religious, social, economic and political causes of divorce and it so also showed the effects of divorce. Therefore, the study recommended for pre-marital counselling for both married and divorced couples as well as for young men and women in the society to get prepared conveniently for marriage practices. Counsellors, learned people and people concern should effectively be utilizing mass Medias and forum they find themselves in and create awareness in the minds of people on marriages divorce and its effects.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Marriage is the oldest and the most cherished institution that every society in the world has undergone or went through their unique practices religiously, economically, socially and politically. Families as a social group whose members are related by blood, marriage or adoption are students of this institution. According to Musa [2008] “organization, coordination and distribution of societal wealth, is only easy and possible through an established system, and no system is more realistic than the family.”

Culture and tradition in Africa have shown that a person is honoured and becomes responsible if he marries. Marriage accelerates and enhances social relationships between people. Marriage is a lifelong activity, if it is made with the acceptance of both the two parties. But there are certain natural and artificial instances that occur and bring about marital instabilities in marriage activities whose end results are divorce. Divorce is mainly caused by political, economic, social and religious factors. Abdullati (2002) is of the opinion that conflict between couples is inevitable especially when they come from different societal setting. Spouses can no longer live in harmony and have lost mutual regard for each other; for obvious reasons, husbands search for slight fault from their wives to seek for a divorce. Musa {2008} highlighted that divorce is a dissolution of a marriage contract which may be effected either by the act of the husband or by demand from the wife or by mutual agreement or by operation of the law.

Lemu (2005) explains that dissolution of marriage brings about the disintegration of the family unity. Yahaya (2008) is of the opinion that divorce leads to broken homes, children in these homes suffer from lack of parental care and love, poor socialization, which in the end leads to delinquency, to criminal acts and to the spread of other social ills in the society. Couples begin to dislike the values of marriage in totality. The end result of divorce is that couples begin to roam about and take time before getting married again. To a certain extent, women go into prostitution. According to Anderson (2000), the rampant divorce the society is experiencing is breeding a lot of sexual ills or practices, immoralities and disrespect. However, poverty and ignorance are another grand factors influencing   divorce in many of the Hausa societies. People marry without having the full knowledge of marriage and the functions of marriage. Responsibilities of husbands to their wives and the responsibilities of wives and their husbands are not fully understood and observed by married couples. According to Lemu (200O) women, for one reason or the other, develop high taste of life in marriage. It is the consequences of these factors that the main body of this survey revolves around.

1.2   Statement of the Problem

Gaya local government area of Kano state is a typical Hausa Fulani setting where majority of the people live in their homes. It is an area where married and divorced couples are easily known or identified. From the data gathered in the area, divorce rate is increasing arithmetically especially during harvesting seasons. This is why divorce is becoming increasingly problematic and noticeable as a result of the gross negativity of its effects on the society. The perceived causes of divorce are classified into religious, social, economic and political factors. From the religious factor, is observed that many couples are not committed to their religious practices. They are ignorant to their obligatory responsibilities as husbands and wives. They respect culture at the expense of their religious practices. Those that are having the knowledge are not putting the knowledge in their marriage activities. Radda [2001] and Musa [2008] shade more light as they said in their findings that ignorance, parents inability to train their children and cultural predomination are the major religious factor causing divorce in most of the Hausa communities.