Help to save a girl child from early marriage – Naij.com guest author

Editor’s note: In a contribution to Naij.com, which he himself calls “a campaign”, Arinze Esomnofu, Naij.com constant guest columnist, dwells on the painful topic of child marriage in Nigeria. Despite the fact that they are legally prohibited, child marriages are prevalent in the country, especially within Muslim community. According to GirlsNotBrides, Nigeria ranks 14th among the 20 countries with the highest rate of child marriages; 16 of them are African.

Telling a story of a girl who was forced into early marriage, and thus had to abandon her hope of ever becoming a pilot, Arinze Esomnofu focuses on the negative influence early marriage exerts on the underaged girls, their physical and emotional health, and, in general, their future.

Yesterday – a schoolgirl, today – a wife

“Uncle Arinze, I won’t be participating in the debate competition again,” Zainab said to me, her face mirroring her sadness. “Zainab, what happened? Are you sick?” I queried. She shook her head. “Then what is the problem” I asked again with a stern look this time, and to my utter amazement, she gave an answer I least expected: “I am getting married next month, and my dad said I would stop going to school from next week.”

It first sounded like a joke to me, then gradually it dawned on me that Zainab was actually serious: she was getting married to a man she barely knew at a tender age of 13. That was how we lost one of the most promising students in our school to the early child marriage.

Is child marriage legal?

According to the Child’s Rights Act 2003, Sections 21 and 22, the age of consent in Nigeria is 18 years. It is obvious that Zainab did not consent to the marriage; her age was nowhere near the legal age of consent. She was forced into the marriage.

Who will be in tears when announcing her own marriage that is supposed to be a thing of joy? It still beats my imagination to think how an individual is forced to spend the rest of their life with someone they barely know.

Over the time, I have seen the potentials being killed halfway; I have seen the bright stars refusing to shine conceivably due to the reasons beyond their control. However, nothing I witnessed happened so fast like a bright teenage girl was forced into marriage.

Official statistics

In Nigeria 43% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday, 17% are married before they turn 15. The prevalence of child marriage varies widely from one region to another, with the figures as high as 76% in the North West and as low as 10% in the South East.

While data shows a 9% decline in the prevalence of child marriage since 2003, action is needed to prevent thousands of girls from being married in the coming years. 

Possible reasons

It’s obvious that natural justice condemns child marriage almost the same way it condemns child soldiers. So the question is what justify the parents that force their little girls between ages of 13 and 17 into marriage? The two major reasons for this are poverty and religion (Islam), according to my own research and the researches of various scholars, whose works are scattered all over the Internet.

For many poor families marrying their daughters off at an early age essentially is a strategy for economic survival; it means one less person to feed, clothe and educate. In most local settlements in North West Nigeria the importance of financial transactions at the time of marriage also tends to push families to marry their daughters early. For example, parents fix a high bride price for a daughter who is married near puberty.

Apparently, the government has a big role to play in ensuring that the citizens live above the poverty line. But is poverty a justified excuse to send one’s daughter into a lifetime contract against her wish? I guess the answer is crying in your mind.

What the Qur’an reads

Also, having taken great time to study the topic, it is my opinion that Islam does not permit forced marriage or child marriage.

Discussing the issue of marriage, the Qur’an equates the marriageable age with the ability to make mature and sound judgments: “Test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage; if you then find sound judgment in them, release their property to them… When you release their property to them, take witnesses in their presence.” (Quran, 4:6)

Common sense will then dictate that a person cannot reach the marriageable age until adulthood, since children could hardly be expected to look after their possessions responsibly.

“O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! It is not lawful for you to force women into marrying or holding on to them in marriage against their will.” (Quran, 4:19)

Here are some of the ills associated with child marriage.

Cut down on education

In most cases before or immediately after the marriage a young teenage girl is totally shut out of education. Most girls like Zainab are the students that excel in every academic exercise in the class. They are the students all teachers predict a bright career for. However, before you say Jack the girl will have told you, most times in tears, that she is getting married, and hence abandons school.

Increase in maternal mortality

The vast majority of the adolescent girls’ births are the first births occurring within marriage. The foremost risk the first births carry is the prolonged or obstructed labor, which can result in obstetric fistulas in the settings where access to care is limited.

The first births also carry elevated risks of pre-eclampsia, malaria and infant mortality. The girls who give birth during adolescence require special attention because they are less mature and are simultaneously coping with their own and their baby’s physiological, emotional and economic needs. Globally, adolescent mothers tend to be poorer, less educated and less adequately nourished than older mothers; they also face greater social disadvantage.

Increase in domestic violence

The big age gap between the girls and their husbands reinforces the risk of these girls to be subjected to domestic violence having physical, psychological and fatal outcomes on them.

Broken dreams

The ills of child marriage are unending. It can never be justified for any reason. Unfortunately, this is a trend that sadly is still much in vogue, especially in the northern part of Nigeria.

Zainab, my bright student, has been cut short from her dreams of being a pilot, and I guess there is little or nothing we can do about it. How many more girls like Zainab are going to watch their dreams die right in their own eyes because of this menace known as child marriage?

Nigerians, help! Save the girl children, especially in North Nigeria. We can help in this, for this is much more than an opinion article to me; this is a campaign. It is a campaign to secure a bright future for thousands of girls in the northern part of Nigeria. Do not just stop at reading this article alone, share it with friends, colleagues and loved ones. Do not stop there, discuss it when you have free time. If you can change the mindset of just one parent from giving out their daughter before the globally recognised age of consent, then you can authoritatively say to yourself: “I have helped a girl to realise her potential.”

Arinze Esomnofu for Naij,com

Arinze Esomnofu is a political analyst, public commentator on trending political events, and a motivational speaker. Follow him on Twitter.

This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.

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