The couples would also be required to undergo health checks to ascertain their status.
The Kano State Hisbah Board has said it will henceforth request intending Muslim couples undergo marriage counselling courses and get certified before consummating their unions.
Harun Ibn-Sina, Hisbah’s commander-general on Thursday said the proposal was necessary owing to the increasing rate of divorce among couples in the state.
He noted that the couples would also be required to undergo health checks to ascertain their status.
"The board is trying its best to reduce divorce to the barest minimum, sensitise couples on how to love and understand each other,” the commander said at a one-day seminar for married couples in Kano.
“Most of those divorced are young mothers with four to five children, left alone to take care of themselves,” he noted further, advising that there was a need for couples to love and tolerate one another.
Ibn-Sina said the board took the initiative as cases of marital conflicts the board was receiving were becoming too rampant.
“Divorce has led many young children to mingle with bad friends which has led them to engage in social vices.
“Couples need to love and tolerate each other for the sake of their wards,” he said.
The commander urged parents and Islamic scholars to continue to preach peace among couples.
On her part, the Assistant Deputy Commander General, Women and Marriage Unit, Hafsat Waziri, said that mothers need to be prayerful and patient in their marriages.
“Marriage is not a bed of roses, both husband and wife need to support one another.
“The rate at which women are being divorced now is very alarming and there is a need for both couples to do whatever it takes to stick together,” she said.
In the same vein, Wazirin Kano, Alhaji Sa’adu Shehu, thanked the board for the awareness programme, pointing out that a lot of marriages will be saved.