A beneficiary of the Kano State Government’s mass wedding programme, Dantani Aruba, has expressed happiness after marrying another wife through the initiative.
Speaking during Saturday’s mass wedding ceremony, Aruba said the programme helped him grow his family without the financial pressure usually linked to marriage.
In a video recorded by NewsCentralTV on Monday and now trending online, he said, “I just married another wife, and I am happy that I have married another one. My wives are now three.”
Aruba was among the beneficiaries who got married under the Kano State Government’s programme, which was introduced to support people who may struggle to afford marriage costs.
IntelNews reports that Governor Yusuf Abba’s administration sponsored the marriage of 1,500 couples at a cost of N1.5bn.
Coordinated by the Kano State Hisbah Board, the programme targets low-income people, including widows, widowers, divorcees, spinsters and bachelors.
The government said the funds would cover dowry, empowerment support and household items. Each couple is also entitled to furniture, food items and other materials to help them set up their homes.
Known as Auren Gata, the programme was introduced in Kano in 2012 by then-Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, when 100 couples, mainly widows and divorcees, were married at the palace.
The initiative has continued under successive administrations, with more beneficiaries joining over the years as demand grew.
The 2026 edition also included people in polygamous marriages, in line with Islamic practice.
