Child Marriage in Northern Nigeria: Girls Not Brides

 

In the Northern part of Nigeria, Child marriage is often arranged as a response to a crisis. It is a traditional practice considered by families and communities to be the best way to protect their children. This is usually as a result of unwanted pregnancies outside marriage, fear of rape and sexual violence, and fear of family shame and dishonor. According to a report by UNICEF, Nigeria has the eleventh highest incidence of child marriage in the world, and the third-highest number of women married or in a union before the age of 18 in the world. Child marriage is a common practice in the North-Western and Eastern parts of Nigeria, with 68% and 57% of women between ages 20-49 were married before their 18th birthday (Girls Not Brides, 2020). Child marriage is common among the Hausa ethnic group in Nigeria. It is also widely known in rural and poor households and driven by religion, poverty, weak legislative frameworks, and gender discrimination.

The Nigerian law has also set conflicting laws that have complicated legal issues in determining marriageable age for a girl-child. The Child Rights Act 2003 passed into law describes a child as an individual who has not reached the age of eighteen years. But, according to Article 2 of the Children and Young Persons Act, passed in Eastern, Western and Northern regions, describes a child as an individual under the age of fourteen years, while ‘young person’ signifies as a person who has reached the age of fourteen years and is under the age of seventeen years. Also, the Immigration Act specifies that any person under 16 years is a minor, although the Matrimonial Causes Act sets the age of maturity at 21. However, in Northern states, for penal responsibility, Article 50 of the Penal Code: “No act is an offense which is done by a child below seven years of age; or by a child above seven years of age but below twelve years of age who has not reached the maturity stage to understand the nature and consequence of such act”(Nwonu and Oyakhiromen, 2014).

The question of whether child marriage is legal or not is addressed in the Child’s Rights Act of 2003, where it is stated that the age of consent for a child is 18 years old. Although, this has not stopped parents from arranging marriages for their children. A lot of underage girls in Northern Nigeria whose reproductive system is not prepared for sexual activities and childbirth are coerced by their parents into marrying older men. For this reason, their future is truncated since their life goals and future ambitions are no longer achievable. They are unable to attend school and are expected to start giving birth and taking care of children. Considering the huge age gap between the girls and their husbands, they are mostly exposed to domestic violence and psychological abuse. Most underage girls forced to give birth are exposed to diseases and health conditions and sometimes death during childbirth.

The Northern culture does not permit women to take decisions without the input of their husbands. This is one of the reasons most young girls may not be able to seek medical care when they are sick because they need the permission of the husband who bears the cost since they are not financially independent. Studies indicate that most young girls in Northern Nigeria undergo the following often; STDs, VVF, hard labor, and cesarean tear (Allen and Adekola, 2017). STDs is the mostly treated in both male and female and this is because of the increased rate of polygamy in the region where the child brides have other co-wives (Allen and Adekola, 2017). Another problem is that most women do not have access to sexual and reproductive health services because their husband forbids it. Also, the use of contraceptive methods such as pills, injectable, implants, or condoms in northern Nigeria is rarely used. This is because of the religious belief that Allah is the giver of children and they can give birth to as many as God would give them.

Several measures have been proposed by the government and other NGOs to address child marriage and its health implications, but it is still ongoing due to cultural and religious practices in Northeastern Nigeria. Child marriage in Northern Nigeria is mainly culturally, and religiously driven therefore the support of traditional rulers and religious leaders is required to stop such practice. To effectively eradicate child marriage, government and NGOs need to collaborate with the key players in this region and encourage the parents to allow their children to continue their education and delay marriage till the girls attain marriageable age.

 References

Allen, A. A., & Adekola, P. O. (2017). Health implication of child marriage in north-east Nigeria. Analele Universităţii din Oradea, Seria Geografie, 27(1), 54-61.

Girls Not Brides What's the Child Marriage Rate? How Big of An Issue Is Child Marriage? https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-marriage/nigeria/ (accessed December 2020).

Nwonu, C. O., & Oyakhiromen, I. (2014). Nigeria and Child Marriage: Legal Issues, Complications, Implications, Prospects, and Solutions. JL Policy & Globalization, 29, 120.