With some 1,433 divorce cases and 2,565 cases of reconciliation recorded in Niger’s capital, Niamey, in 2024, the divorce rate in the West African country has fallen by half over the last three years.
The decline has been consistent according to a research by the Islamic Association of Niger (AIN), an organisation that helps in resolving matrimonial conflicts in the predominantly Muslim country.
It reports that the number of divorces dropped from 3,088 in 2021 to 1,517 in 2024; number of successful reconciliations remained relatively stable, with 4,057 cases in 2021 compared to 4,013 in 2023.
"These figures show that our action is above all aimed at preserving families," Niger’s official news agency, ANP, quoted the Secretary General of the AIN, Youssou Mounkaila, as saying.
"Divorce requests do not only come from Niamey. Some people come from the interior of the country, or even from the sub-region or the diaspora," he added.
Mounkaila said the survey identified the major causes of divorce in the country as mistrust between spouses, deceits, husbands’ inability to provide for their families, problems related to use of mobile phones and infertility.
Home remedy first
The association receives between 50 and 60 people per day for various types of requests, he said.
‘‘What we are doing here is immense. There is no police or lawyer: only an application of religious teachings," according to the Islamic scholar.
"When a couple presents themselves, at the initiative of one of the spouses, we demand the presence of both. They are listened to carefully. If the situation is complex, they are given a period of one month to try to reconcile. In Islam, divorce is never a hasty decision,” he explained.
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He advised couples to try to resolve their issues before seeking a third party intervention. "It's only after these steps have failed that couples usually come to us," said Mounkaila.
"We give them another month; if they insist, we extend the deadline by three weeks, then by a week. If no solution is found, we ask each party to appoint a family representative. They give us a final deadline to try to settle the conflict. As a last resort, divorce is pronounced,” he explained.
"It happens that some spouses write a divorce certificate themselves at home and come to submit it to us. Even then, we take it into consideration. In the Islamic tradition, divorce, even if pronounced in a joking tone, is considered effective. It's permitted by God but remains an action He dislikes, as a hadith reminds us.Therefore, one should never joke about it."
‘We are grateful’
Nigeriens have been reacting to the report, with some saying it’s a sign of progress in the West African country.
"The report says mobile phone is one of the factors responsible for the divorce. The drop in divorce rates is good, but I think they should do all they can to ensure that [couples see] marriage as a form of worship,’’ Abdoulrazak Ibrahima, a resident of the capital Niamey, told TRT Afrika.
‘‘Now we are grateful to God that divorce rates have gone down significantly,’’ Sahabi Manu Mamman, a married man in Niamey, told TRT Afrika, urging "engaged lovers to stay away from building their relationships on lies and deceits."
Created in 1974, the Islamic Association of Niger is a national organisation whose aim is to support the State in the resolution of social, economic, and religious problems through the teachings of Islam.
With headquarters in Niamey, it trains Islamic scholars to strengthen its mission across the country.
It’s main areas of intervention concern marriage, divorce, inheritance, family and social conflicts, as well as disputes not resolved by conventional courts.
