Lagos State Government has expressed readiness to introduce compulsory marital effectiveness preparatory counselling for intending couples to ensure they are aware of domestic and sexual violence status of the state.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mrs. Kikelomo Sanyaolu, disclosed this, during a one-day engagement programme for all State Marriage Registrars in Ikeja, Lagos.
The programme was organised by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Sanyaolu, who was represented by Director, Local Government, Mr. Kazeem Amodu, expressed the ministry’s willingness to address domestic violence in Lagos State.
He noted that marriage is a special institution that needs to be guided and urged marriage registrars to always prevent domestic violence in marriages.
In her remarks, Executive Secretary of DSVA, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi said the agency is desirous of embarking on sustainable and proactive programmes in response to domestic violence.
She noted that 80 per cent of couples that report matrimonial abuses had pre-existing knowledge of their partner’s erratic behaviours before marriage, but proceeded with the union.
Vivour-Adeniyi also noted that the agency intends to introduce a curriculum on domestic violence into the existing counselling programme of marriage registries.
The curriculum, she said, would take intending couples on topics such as marriage, love languages, gender and sex roles in marriage, why people stay in abusive relationship, among others.
Also, President, Institute of marriage administrator and counsellors of Nigeria, Emmanuel Temilade, called on government at all levels to enact laws that will guide the marriage process to tackle domestic violence in the country.
According to him, if there is a law and stiff penalty, people would not be able to do whatever they like in marriage, adding that, it would reduce the level of domestic and sexual violence in the country.
Temilade said the roles of marriage registrars are constitutional, administrative and behavioural because they carry out special responsibility of grooming those who want to get married.
He said registrars must ensure that they contract marriage that would bring peace, maintain sanity in the society and to let them know what marriage is all about.
According to him, to maintain the sanity of marriage, couples must be able to understand each other and comport themselves in marriage.
He noted that if a punishment is created, there would be a high level of sanity in the society.
Speaking on the roles of a marriage registrar, Temilade said they must carry out special duty by making couples understand how to maintain sanity in marriage, to ensure that they contract the marriage would bring peace to the society.
Executive Director, Centre for Women’s Health and Information, Mrs. Tinuke Odukoya and Founder of Family Life Engineer, Praise Fowowe, took the participants on emerging issues, which includes gender and sex roles, understanding Domestic violence, statutory roles of Marriage registries, family system engineering as well as an introduction into the curriculum of the Lagos State Marital effectiveness preparatory counselling.
A participant and National president of Local Government Registrars of marriage in Nigeria, Mr. Deji Sokeye, reassured the state’s commitment in embracing the initiative.
About 120 marriage registrars and their deputies across the state attended the programme.
