Menace of girl child marriage in Nigeria

It is on record that the menace of girl child marriage is becoming worrisome and a great concern in Nigeria, in many parts of Africa and the world at large. The issue of girl child marriage is more pronounced in Nigeria and in Northern part of the country specifically. The growing rate of this saga is often witness more in the rural area, where awareness about this menace is very low at very best.

Despite some of the laws that are put in place to avert or to help curb this menace, the perpetrators do normally go scot-free simply because such laws are not effective and thus, those who are guilty of this crime cannot be put within the ambit of law. Statistic by the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) revealed that Africa has the highest incident rate of child marriage among which Nigeria woman between the age bracket of 20 and 24 with 76% are reported marrying before the age of 18, and 28% are reported marrying before the age of 15.

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Apparently, in 2013 Nigeria attempted to change section 29, subsection 4 of her law to prohibit child marriage; however, it was opposed by some Islamic states in Nigeria. Mrs. Bose Ironsi founder of women’s Health and Rights Project shared her experience on this “child marriage is one of the biggest problems in Nigeria. She added that there is massive number of young girls being married off as bride, it’s not what the child wants, she says bluntly”.

Based on some of the comments I read so far, parents who engage their children in child marriage often feel that the marriage would keep the family from poverty and by giving the child hand in marriage, it would protect them from sexual promiscuity and a safe haven from sexual transmitted infections but what they fail to understand is that these girls are likely to be more vulnerable to such disease like HIV or Human Papillomavirus (HPV), than the unmarried counterparts.

To this end, all hand must be on deck to ensure that the menace of girl child marriage in Nigeria is given due cognizance as the consequences that come with it are enamors. Some of the laws that are put in place to prevent the menace of girl child marriage need to be revisit and strengthen too. Government on their part must make sure that the perpetrators are brought to book which will serve as deterrent to others. With all these put in place, the menace of girl child marriage in Nigeria will be rooted into history completely.

Rosemary Jamgbadi

Kano.