Uke, Nigeria - The offer of Special Technical Assistance (STA) on Marriage Registry Services in local government councils by UPF-Nigeria has been accepted for implementation in the Karshi Area Development Council of Nasarawa State. The approval empowers UPF-Nigeria to work with the local government council in designing and implementing educational programs for all couples in the area council as well as mobilize already married couples and engaged couples to register their marriages with the marriage registry office at the local government headquarters in Uke, Nasarawa state. The educational programs will provide married couples and intending couples with basic attitude, knowledge and skills for creating successful marital and family relationships as well as opportunities to participate in the UPF annual marriage and family peace blessing programs.
The approval was based on the letter of offer of Special Technical Assistance to the Director of Personnel Management, Karshi Area Development Council on the strengthening the Marriage Registry services in the council for the purposes of documenting all marriages and strengthening families as well as increasing the council's internally generated revenue. The offer involves assistance in the area of an advisory role on ensuring that the Marriage Registry unit of the Council becomes very active in the provision of services as expressed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Nigerian constitution indicates in Chapter 2, section 15 (3) that “for the purpose of promoting national integration, it shall be the duty of the State to: (c) encourage inter-marriage among persons from different places of origin, or of different religious, ethnic or linguistic association or ties”. The constitution also indicates in the Fourth schedule that “the main functions of a local government council include (i) registration of all births, deaths and marriages.” Based on the above provision, UPF-Nigeria have designed special technical assistance that is being offered to local government councils emphasizing the following:
- the need to strengthen marriages and build healthy families for peace, security and development in the local area councils;
- The office of the Marriage registry in local area councils should conduct services of registration of most marriages in the area as contained in the constitution and become a useful office in increasing the internally generated revenue for the sustenance of the development activities of the council.
UPF-Nigeria consequently offered to assist the Karshi Area Development Council in the:
- Training of relevant Council staff of the Marriage Registry on how to manage and sustain the unit as well as increase internally generated revenue
- Mobilization of already married persons and engaged couples to register their marriages
- Education of relevant stakeholders on marriage and family building programs
- Posting of UPF Marriage and Family Officers to engage in public awareness and services of registration of marriages at the Council
- Recommendation of registered couples and engaged couples for consideration and participation in the UPF family and marriage peace blessing programs
The activities, which the UPF shall promote and implement in collaboration with the Council will include the following among others:
- Deployment of marriage and family building officers to gather relevant data and baseline work on registration of marriages
- Creation of public awareness on the offer of Marriage Registration Services at the Council
- Capacity building of Marriage Registry Officers and any relevant stakeholders
- Community to community awareness on the need for registration of marriages
- Design and implementation of procedures for the registration of marriages
- Training and advocacy programs for community, religious and other core leaders
- Working on strengthening marriages and families as tools for peacebuilding
- Creating a strong network of couples for peaceful families and sustainable community development
- Partnering with the Council to extend similar services to areas that may wish to benefit
- Intensifying efforts for increased internally generated revenue to the Council through marriage registration, counseling and marriage preparatory programs
- Creating access to couples in Karshi to participate in the international marriage and family peace blessing programs
In a meeting with the Director of Personnel Management of the Karshi Area Development Council, Alhaji Isiaku Ibrahim in Uke today, he welcomed and approved the idea and said "this offer has come at the most appropriate time when we are facing increasing cases of family breakdown and decreasing internally generated revenue." Karshi is in Nasarawa state, at the outskirt of Abuja, the Federal capital territory, where most of the civil servants and workers in Abuja reside.
UPF-Nigeria will be working together with the staff of the Marriage Registry at the Council to mobilize and educate already married couples on marriage and family education as well as ensure that all couples in the area have their marriages registered officially as stipulated by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. UPF-Nigeria is hopeful that this partnership for marriage will provide significant opportunities to strengthen marriage and family as well as invite couples to participate in the UPF Marriage Blessing programs.
The UPF-Nigeria Office of Marriage and Family Affairs is expected to commence promotional activities to create awareness on the emerging relationship and services to be offered. Volunteers are to be trained and deployed to all communities in Karshi Area Council for this initiative.