A new report by the Save the Children International (SCI) has revealed that Nigeria has 23 million child brides, with two in every five women married as children.
The report added that in Northern Nigeria, where rates are highest, 48 percent of women are married before age 15; while 78 percent are married before age 18.
The report pointed out that child marriage was both a cause and a consequence of adolescent pregnancy and also linked to maternal mortality, poor education, ongoing exposure to gender-nased violence, illiteracy and intergenerational poverty.
The report was launched on Friday in Abuja by the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye.
The report said: “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 percent 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.
“This threat to girls’ rights and gender equality requires multisectoral solutions that engage health, education, justice and child protection sectors as well as girls and their communities. It is a challenge that demands an immediate and substantial government response, backed by sufficient and consistent budget allocations.”
The report revealed that budgeting to end child marriage in Nigeria is fragmented, adding that there are no line-item budgets for ending child marriage, making it difficult to track funding, ensure sufficient allocations and hold governments accountable for driving progress.
It noted that programmes and activities to end child marriage are primarily driven by United Nations (UN) agencies, International NGOs, CSOs, and NGOs.
It pointed out that although federal funding for ECM-related sectors increased by 43 per cent between 2018 and 2022, year-to-year inconsistencies mean that allocations were insufficient to meet the scale of the challenge child marriage presents to gender equality in Nigeria.
Speaking, SCI Interim Country Director, Faton Krasniqi, said budgeting on any child rights agenda was an important step towards delivering on what the government has pledged to do to protect, respect and fulfill child rights.
Krasniqi who was represented by the Director of Advocacy, Campaigns, Communication and Media, Amanuel Mamo, lamented that early, child and forced marriage robs the potential of a girl – the potential to be empowered, to have a say, to realise and release their full potentials and become somebody.
He said: “Child marriage erodes and dries the future of the girls, their dreams and hope in life. One of the girls who unfortunately end up in early, child and forced marriage could possibly be someone who invents and have a solution for some of the major challenges that the world is facing today.”
Launching the report, the Minister of Woment Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, said the Nigerian Governors’ Forum has approved a mobile court to address the issues regarding children
She said there was a need more actions and less talks.
According to her, The Nigerian Governors’ Forum has approved a mobile court to address the issues regarding children.