In close to two decades, the northern part of Nigeria has continued to experience a spate of unrest. From the dreaded Boko Haram to banditry, civil unrest and many more. Constantly, creatives have tried to call the attention of the public to this imbroglio. Even the political class are not shielded from finding solutions to this problem yet one dominant problem being ignored is the issue of child marriage.
Literary works have been written by writers, lectures have been delivered by public speakers about this issue. Even photographers are not left out. All in a bid to call the attention of the world to the issues at hand.
During an exhibition held in November 2021 at Abuja, Nigeria, the Nigeria born photographer, Nsifiok snapped pictures which he titled “In the midst.” The picture depicts challenges faced by girls in northern Nigeria, with underage marriages. How a girl is still trying to keep her light on when surrounded by the darkness of her life.
According to The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), about 44 percent of girls under 18 are married off with little percentage of them getting secondary or tertiary education. For this photographer to have taken it a duty to document and snap an image that detailed this type of social issues shows how consciously aware he is of his environment.
A lady in a long, red flowing hijab, stands amidst shades of darkness, she raises a well lit lamp. This lamp is the only viable ray of light in this darkness. Too many messages are embedded in this image. The light shows the ray of hope in the darkness that these ladies get thrown into. Getting married too early while accomplishing some life goals comes with its repercussions.
This simple, classy and deep rooted image is a wake up call to the public, government, society and the relevant stakeholders to look into the sad situation. Why it is sad, the situation is not hopeless, the ray of light shows there can be respite, only if the relevant stakeholders do the needful.
While this is Nsifiok’s first exhibition, I hope in years and months to come, he will do more, call the attention of the world to the plight of people, and perhaps, become a social change advocate. This simple and classy image is impressive and shows the potential he possesses.
and then