Nigeria has 23 million child brides – SCI

As children remain highly vulnerable to societal heels in Nigeria, a report by Save the Children International, SCI, Nigeria, tagged ‘Budgeting to end Child Marriage in Nigeria’ indicated an alarming number of 23 million child brides in Nigeria.

The report which was launched by the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, indicated that Northern Nigeria records the highest number of child brides, which is 48 percent of women are married before age 15, while 78 percent are married before age 18, and added that adequate funding is required at all levels of government to effectively and sustainably curb the menace that endangers the future of the girl-child.

According to the report, child marriage is both a cause and consequence of adolescent pregnancy and is linked to maternal mortality, poor education, ongoing exposure to gender-based violence, illiteracy, and intergenerational poverty, and this threatens girls’ rights and gender equality.

The report reads in part: “With a population of more than 218 million people, Nigeria is home to 23 million child brides, with two in every five women married as children.

“In Northern Nigeria, where rates are highest, 48 per cent of women are married before age 15 while 78 percent are married before age 18.5 child marriage is both a cause and a consequence of adolescent pregnancy and is linked to maternal mortality, poor education, ongoing exposure to GBV, illiteracy, and intergenerational poverty.”

The report called on the government to holistically address child marriage and the need to upscale funding to protect the girl-child, ensuring they remain unmarried and are in school, and also build more classrooms and schools to accommodate more girls, hence the need to increase the budget to end child marriage.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, blew hot over the inhuman treatment meted out to the girl-child as far as child marriage is concerned.

Kennedy-Ohanenye disclosed in her keynote address that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, has approved the establishment of a mobile court to trial child abusers based on the Child Rights Act, CRA, in all the States across the country, which she said children will be well protected as there will be a lot of prosecution of offenders including parents who allow or support such abuses violating rights of children who are citizens of the country.

She also called on States to work with the Federal Government to curb the menace of child marriage.