Gombe spends N151m on mass wedding

Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo said his administration spent about N151 million on the mass wedding that took place in the state Tuesday.

He said the money was spent on the provision of dowry, food items, cloths, furniture, kitchen utensils and take-off capital for the 720 couples.

Dankwambo said apart from issues of socio-economic infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospitals, electricity among others, one area that has been neglected is the plight of “the voiceless and vulnerable divorcees and the young and not-so-young persons” who are desirable of marriage but have not been able to go into it due to financial challenges.

Dankwambo said the 720 couples comprised 612 Muslim divorcees, 76 Muslim spinsters and 32 non Muslims.

“Because we are not only concerned about the socioeconomic wellbeing of our people, but also their moral and spiritual state, we decided to take action,” he said.

The governor said those who took part in the exercise are currently undergoing training at various skills acquisition centres across the state.

He said at the end of the training, government would provide take-off grant of N20, 000.00 to the men and N10, 000.00 to the women.

He further stated that names of the Christians among the beneficiaries of the project will be forwarded to the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) who will organise the wedding for them.