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Elisabet Chiguil

Mr. Schaller

British Literature

April 24, 2017

Child Bride Epidemy: Nigeria

Child marriage is a global problem that does not affect one specific ethnicity, religion,

region, or culture. It occurs when at least one of the spouses are children below the age of 18 in a

marriage. According to Girls Not Brides, If there is no reduction in child marriage, the global

number of women married as children will reach 1.2 billion by 2050. (The Idea Bureau)

Children who are subjected to marriage are often isolated since they are taken away from their

family and friends without any way to communicate with them. Boys are usually forced to work

so they can maintain their spouse, girls are obligated to maintain a house hold, and in most cases

have children at a young age. It is most commonly found in South Asia and Africa, and girls are

victims of this problem far more than boys are. Child bride is a term used to refer to girls taken

as wives, and also degrading them to being property instead of human beings. Nigeria stands

amongst the top countries with the highest rate of child marriage at 43%. 17 % of Nigerian girls

are married by the time they are fifteen, and 47% of the girls are married before they reach the

age of eighteen (The Idea Bureau) due to many factors. A common factor between these girls is

that they usually are uneducated or live in poverty. While it affects boys as well, girls are usually

the most affected, it brings their childhoods to an early end. Child marriage may also bring along

psychological, emotional, and physical harm to the spouses, due to the fact that children cannot

begin to understand the concept of marriage or consent to getting married. The use of child brides
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violates human right laws in every way, despite it being legal in the eyes of certain countries.

Since young girls are the target in this industry, they might be married to older men which often

results in them being sexually exploited or physically abused since they do not understand what

being a wife is. The Nigerian government should take an initiative to attend to the poverty, lack

of education, and religious/social traditions in order to end the use of child brides in their country

Poverty is one of the main causes for the use of child brides, since it is a source of income

for poor families. More than 50% of the 140 million people is affected by poverty in Nigeria.

This means that a lot of families do not have the money to access basic needs such as clothing,

education, or even food. Families who live in extreme poverty are faced with very few options on

how to keep themselves alive. Often times, giving away their daughters as child brides can get

the family money. According to a study carried out by BBC News, Hard-pressed families

receive a "bride price" in return for their daughter's hand in marriage. A girl married off is also

one less mouth to feed. meaning that families will not only receive money but also get rid of an

economic burden (BBC News Africa ). A city named Agadez is known for selling girls to rich

men from Nigeria, and usually girls worth are based on their beauty. Sadly, many families have

no other choice other than to give up their daughters for the sake of the whole family, especially

when Nigerian men can offer them a lot of money in exchange for marriage.. Mainly, Nigerias

poor economy is due to the fact that people living in rural areas have no access to banking and

micro-credit services crucial to help local farmers (Berrebi, Dario).

Nigeria is located in a region that has good climate that grows plenty of vegetation and

crops that can be harvested throughout the year. But due to the fact that the government does not

export such products, and that farmers do not have access to such big trades without help, then

those resources are going to waste (Ucha, Chimobi 2). Also, farmers do not possess the tools to
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keep their crops growing despite the weather, and they do not have the money to buy helpful

farming tools. It has been historically proven that whenever there is an outburst of economic

progress, it has been linked to improvements in the agricultural industry. If the government

intervened by becoming more involved in helping the farming industry, it would help the

economy rely on a bountiful resource, instead of relying on the sale of their own children (Ucha,

Chimobi 3).

Nigerias economic situation has not changed much since the 1970s due to inflation, and

seems to be unreasonable since the country has a good source of oil to take advantage of. Oil has

increased the economys welfare but the governments lack of action to exploit it, leaves the

population vulnerable to poverty (S Braimah, Tim). Not only does it provide the country an

income, but also jobs and food, which is crucial since unemployment runs high in Nigeria as

well. The GDP per capita of Nigeria is noticeably lower than that of other Sub-Safaran African

countries, which explains why it is among the top countries to rely on the use of child brides as

an economic crutch. It is one of the major factors that causes poverty in Nigeria, and if the

government attended to the unemployment of its people too, it would greatly benefit the

population and overall income of the country (Ucha, Chimobi)

When people in Nigeria are unemployed, they struggle every single day to find a way to

access food and healthcare since there is no other way to make money. That is where the factor of

child brides come into the equation, since due to poverty riddling the country, they have been

labeled as property and not human beings with rights. Dario Berrebi poses a question in his

article Poverty in Nigeria: Rich Country, Poor People: Despite the oil money that started flowing

inwhere did that money go? (Berrebi Dario 3) He then proceeds to explain how poverty is

linked to economic shocks. Nigeria is made up of mostly rural areas, and such shocks affect those
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areas since they are more vulnerable to the drastic changes in the economy. Poverty, for

example, is expected to decline by more than 40% in cities, but is to increase by over 7% in rural

areas. (Berrebi, Dario5) Also, corruption and lack of action from the government obstruct the

trickle-down effect where the income of the wealthy trickle down to the poor people, which could

theoretically help with the situation. Corruption has become a common thing amongst the

government, which greatly affects its population. Since the country is found in a critic economic

state, politics is the easy way to become rich, so there is no actual drive in the government to

fight for the wellbeing of the country. Nigeria does have the financial possibility to get rid of

corruption and help the economy thrive, and could be successful if the government played its

part.

If the government would appeal to the correct use of its overflowing natural resources

(agriculture and oil production) then it would help their own people by giving out loans, or

donating to the farmers and business owners (Aja-Onu, Ujunwa 1). People would start being able

to make an income, enough to support their families, which would flow into the overall economic

welfare of the whole country. Its the governments responsibility to take care of its people,

especially in a country like Nigeria where poverty is one of the main causes of many awful

circumstances, amongst them, the economical reliance on the usage of child brides.

The oil industry requires skilled workers, and many of the people living in rural areas

receive no education and cannot apply for those jobs. The agricultural industry it is less strict on

what skills workers require, but not everyone has access to learn about farming. In Nigeria,

people who lack education are usually the people who live in poverty (Aja-Onu, Ujunwa 4).

Nigeria sends most students overseas to study more than any other African country, and the

numbers continue to increase. Nigerias oil crisis affects the country economically, and also
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affects those overseas students since 40 % of them use scholarships relying on oil profits. But due

to the fiscal and economic crisis state that they are in, many of these scholarships have been

removed (WES Staff 2). Overpopulation affects the education system since according to the

United Nations, Nigeria is the country with the highest number of children who do not attend

school. The Nigerian government has built more school over the years, but has failed to uphold

the quality of the education that children need. The school facilities are not in good conditions

and teachers are not properly trained, which the government should closely regulated. If more

education would be available, then the unemployment rate would go up and the rate of child

brides would decrease, since there would be another way for individuals to support their families

(WES Staff 6).

Another factor that highlights the relationship between lack of education and child brides,

is the fact that as a country Nigeria holds women as being lower in society. If it is hard for men to

access education, it is even harder for women to do so. A study conducted on women as

entrepreneurs in Nigeria, revealed that one of the drives for women to seek education was to be

able to make their own money so they could control their own lives (Berrebi, Dario). If girls do

not learn their rights, and are not taught skills, then it will become extremely difficult for them to

secure their future on their own. Also, families are not educated and they have to scramble to find

an income, which their daughters could provide easily. If families were educated about laws that

protect their children and laws that would guarantee them education, then the population as a

whole would progress and stop relying on selling children to survive. Parents would be able to

find jobs more easily, while their children would study, and most importantly girls would learn

about their rights. Girls in Nigeria cannot fight against their family when they want to sell them,

or fight against the government, simply because they are not educated on their own rights. Rights
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such as the Childs Right Act where the marriage of minors (under the age of 18) is illegal. The

families would be aware of the psychological, emotional, and physical harm that they put their

daughters through (UNICEF Data and Analytics Section.Ending Child Marriage Progress and

Prospects).

According to Education for All Global Monitoring report 10.5 million children represent

only 14% out of the 70 million children who do not attend school, and over 60% are represented

by girls in the country. It is a continual cycle, lack of education forces girls into marriage, and

sometimes girls drop out of school only to get married. This is due to the fact that education costs

too much for most families and is not seen as a valuable resource since it is of such poor quality

(Aja-Onu, Ujunwa). The government has not only an obligation to offer education, but also to

promote it to the population. It has enough money to build solid schools with good teachers, but

due to its incompetence, most schools fail to spread education to kids. Foundations such as

Oando Foundation who work specifically in Nigeria with the purpose to improve the quality of

education to girls, are needed. They have decided to run 47 government primary schools and have

upgraded them completely. If the government worked with such organizations, the effect could be

even more powerful. According to Ujunwa Aja-Onu who works with Oando Foundation,

...establishment of ICT/Creative centers, upgrade of ECCD Centers and provision of

scholarships to over 800 gifted children from relatively low income background. To date, over

44,000 children have benefitted With help from the government, those foundations and

projects would help even more people, and would spread to the most rural areas of Nigeria. There

was a case of a girl from northern Nigeria whom the Oando Foundation helped. Her dream was to

become a doctor and had the capacity to become one, and even attended school until she turned

13 years old. At the age of 13 she was supposed to be given up by her family for marriage like
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most Nigerian girls. Luckily this girls school was taken up by the foundation and they noticed

her since she filled the requirements to win a scholarship. She returned to school and continued

her education, and all thanks to the help of the government giving up the school to the foundation

so it could be properly equipped. Cases such as this one could become more common in Nigeria,

with more involvement from the government. They have the financial and political ability to

educate their population to help the progress in their country.

The government has not shared the government budget with education as it is legally

required to, even when the number of students attending increased. Between the years of 2003

and 2013 education spending went from from 8.21% of the budget to 6.42, and finally to 8.7%

(WES Staff ) and even more recent reports (up to 2015) have shown that spending levels have

decreased to being below 10%. Government action has to be taken in order to come out of the

economic crisis which leads to the use of child brides.

Furthermore, social and religious beliefs and traditions also play a big role in the sale of

child brides. Not only are they used to gain money, but many laws, and many beliefs advocate for

the use of child brides. Hausa-Fulani are communities found in the northwest of Nigeria where

child brides are part of their cultural tradition. The girls families choose the spouse for their

daughter very carefully, and try to marry them off as young as possible. Nigeria has high crime

rates, which is another reason parents want to marry their daughters, because it protects her from

being sexually assaulted and unwanted pregnancies (Fayokun, Kayode).

The Nigerian Constitution does not specifically set a minimum age of marriage, therefore

it is not easy to fight against the problem of child marriage. Then in 2003 The Child Rights Act

set an age limit for marriage to be 18 but it was created by the federal government, allowing the
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states to decide for themselves how to apply the law. Also the fact that even politicians take part

in the use of child brides not only makes it harder for the law to be implemented. Back in 2010

Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima from Zamfara West (in northern Nigeria) married a 13 year old

Egyptian child. He had found a loophole which revoked the prevention of girls under 18 to be

married and got away with it (Lekia, Needum ). A more recent case of this issue happened in May

of 2016 but it was different. President Muhammadu Buhari decided to speak against child

marriage in Nigeria, more specifically against child brides. He spoke about how the country

should end all types of child abuse, including the practice of child brides. Buhari said no child or

indeed any other Nigerian should be put through the brutality offorced marriage in

whatever His stance on this issue caused controversy but also sparked hope on the movement

to revoke such practices.

There have been laws set all over Africa over time that address the welfare of children

specifically. Laws such as: African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (signed in in

1999 addressing child marriage) and the Child Rights Bill (finally passed in 2003 which set the

legal marrying age to 18 years) (Fayokun, Kayode).

Furthermore, the Hausa-Fulani tribe is Muslim, and follows the practices of Islam and

they occupy most of northern Nigeria with their reign. The tradition of child brides is influenced

by Islamic culture resulting in 48% of Hausa-Fulani girls being married by the time they are 15,

and 78% getting married by the time they turn 18 years old (S Braimah, Tim). Most of the

marriage traditions are carried out to religious norms, and if a man marries a child bride he must

promise to not touch the girl until she reaches puberty. This promise is traced back to the Prophet

Mohammed when he married Aisha, and also traced back to the Islamic marital code. The code

states that a girl should be married before reaching puberty since marrying earlier can increase
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the odds of her conceiving, according to them. Islamic law also dictates that girls have to take up

domestic roles including, taking care of the house hold, raising children, and catering to their

husbands.

Children cannot legally consent to being married, especially to an adult. They are not

given the choice to disagree, since their families basically force to them into marriage. Children

are not able to understand the situation they are going through, and they cannot begin to

understand what they are supposed to consent to. Udoka Okafor states that, they are not fully

capable of always understanding the costs of their choices. They cannot understand the concept

of marriage, or what in implicates. They do not know how to be wives, which usually leads to the

husbands physically abusing them (Okafor, Udoka 7). There have been cases where girls have

been beaten for making mistakes simply because they dont behave well. Also, when girls are

forced to give conceive children, the aftermath can be disastrous. It is traditional for Hausa tribe

people to give birth at home. There is a girl named Halima, who was about to turn thirteen when

she gave birth. The birth lasted for three days and she had to beg to be taken to a hospital, but the

baby had died by the time they finally took her. Halima said, "I thought [being in labour] would

never end." (Mark, Monica)

Traditions like that, are dangerous and legal in many regions of Nigeria. They put in

danger the lives of the girls, and the lives of the babies. Government interference is needed in

order to end the traditions, since families carry them out. If the government decided to intervene

by setting more forceful laws that prohibited such practices, since it puts the life of others in

danger.
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Child marriage has become part of religions, cultures, and areas globally. Nigeria is one of

the top countries to suffer from the use of child brides, meaning girls who are sold or forced into

marriage. Children are forced to get married and grow up too soon. Girls specifically are targeted

even more than boys, and the term used for them is child brides. According to the Universal

Declaration of Human rights, marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent

of the intending spouses and this phenomenon is a clear violation of the article (United

Nations Population Fund). Children cannot consent to be in a situation that they do not

understand. They go through physical, mental, and emotional trauma when they are forced to

leave their family and friends to raise a family. Child brides are used as a way for families to save

themselves from extreme poverty, and are also deeply wound into the roots of religion and

cultures that coexist in Nigeria. The number of girls that are being forced into marriage will

continue to rise if no interference occurs. Most of the girls who are victims of this, come from

uneducated, religious, or impoverished families. The Nigerian government should take an

initiative to attend to the poverty, lack of education, and religious/social traditions in order to end

the use of child brides in their country.

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Works Cited:

United Nations Population Fund. Marrying Too Young End Child Marriage. Published by the
United Nations Population Fund UNFPA. https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-
pdf/MarryingTooYoung.pdf

UNICEF Data and Analytics Section.Ending Child Marriage Progress and Prospects.
UNICEF, https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Child-Marriage-Brochure-
HR_164.pdf.

The Idea Bureau. Girls Not Brides. September 2011. http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/child-

marriage/nigeria/.

Ucha, Chimobi. Poverty in Nigeria: Some Dimensions and Contributing Factors. Global
Majority E-Journal, Volume , No 1, 2010, 11.
http://observer.american.edu/cas/economics/ejournal/upload/Global_Majority_e_Journal_1-
1_Ucha.pdf

Okafor, Udoka The Practice of Child Marriage in Nigeria, The Huffington Post,
04/12/2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/udoka-okafor/the-practice-of-child-
mar_b_5133881.html.

Aja-Onu, Ujunwa. Global Business Coalition for Education. Oando Foundation, http://gbc-
education.org/child-marriage-and-education-in-nigeria/.

WES Staff. WES World Education News and Reviews. World Education
Services,http://wenr.wes.org/2017/03/education-in-nigeria.

Fayokun, Kayode. Legality of Child Marriage in Nigeria and Inhibitions Against Realisation
of Education Rights. David Publishing, Vol 5, No 7, 11.
http://www.davidpublisher.com/Public/uploads/Contribute/55bb43bda2e6a.pdf
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S Braimah, Tim. Child marriage in Northern Nigeria: Section 61 of Part I of the 1999
Constitution and the protection of children against child marriage. African Human Rights
Law Journal. Vol 2. http://www.saflii.org/za/journals/AHRLJ/2014/24.html

Mark, Monica, Nigerias Child Brides: I thought being in labor would never end, The
Guardian. 2 September 2013 10.26 BST. https://www.theguardian.com/global-
development/2013/sep/02/nigeria-child-brides-religion

Berrebi, Dario. Poverty in Nigeria: Rich Country, Poor People. Poverties, 2012,
https://www.poverties.org/blog/poverty-in-nigeria.

BBC News Africa. UNICEF, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27619295. 29 May

2014.

Lekia, Needum , Child Brides in Nigeria, Borgen Magazine, The Borgen Project,
November 20, 2016, http://www.borgenmagazine.com/child-brides-in-nigeria/