I’ve been silent on the ChildNotBride campaign for a long while now but with the way my inbox is being bombarded with BCs and links to the Stella Damasus video, I feel I must comment.

First of all let me categorically state that I DO NOT IN ANY WAY SUPPORT CHILD MARRIAGE! But there are a few facts on this issue we have to know;
First of all, The senate DID NOT PASS A BILL LEGALIZING CHILD MARRIAGE! Surprised? Well you should have done your research. The senate is presently going through constitutional amendment sittings and one of the sections of the Constitution under review is Section 29 of the Constitution which states:

29. (1) Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.
(a) "full age" means the age of eighteen years and above;
(b) any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.

Some members of the house moved a
motion to delete Sub section 4(B) above stating that including it seemed to promote marriage of women not of full age i.e 18 and below. The infamous 35 senators opposed this stating that there are women under 18 who are married and should not be deprived of this right to renunciation. They voted to retain that section of the Constitution. Note that no new bill was passed, all that was done was to retain a section of a Constituion that has been binding on our Nation for
Decades.

In any event this section does not have a direct bearing on legal age to marry. The relevant law is Sec. 18 of the Marriage Act which states that where a person is under 21 years, he/she may marry but only with the consent of his/her parents or guardians. Whether or not the Sec 29 (4) (B) of the Constitution which the senate voted to retain is retained or not, by virtue of Sec 18 of the Marriage Act minors (persons under 21) may still marry with the consent of their parents. And as we all know, the Muslim underage girls who marry are usually voluntarily given out by their parents. I support the retaining of that section, our Marriage Act allows for the marriage of minors, all Sec 29(4)(B) of the constitution does is to give them a right , why take it away from them?

Also of note is that the various customary laws applicable throughout our country do not have any modern restrictions on legal age to marry. Most of our customary laws permit the marriage of girls who have ‘come of age’ and this is usually between the ages of 16 or so.

Marriage of girls who are minors is repugnant to the principles of natural justice. We must fight to stop it but we must FIGHT RIGHT! Child Marriage was not legalized by the senate last week, it has been entrenched in our laws both the constitution and the Marriage Act for decades now. WE SHOULD BE ADVOCATING AND DEMANDING FOR A BILL WHICH PUTS DOWN A BENCHMARK AGE FOR MARRIAGE AND GIRLS BELOW IT CANNOT MARRY WITH OR WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THEIR PARENTS. I admire and respect Stella Damasus, I love her passion to fight for young girls but we should do our home work so we don’t rant on and on ignorantly.

ChildNotBride, PikinNorBeWife, EyenIdigheNwan. Lets Fight Right!

Abeg make den park wan side joooor! A child would always remain a child no matter how old she is. The same 13 year old everyone is trying to protect against marrying a 50 year old would in 10 years time clock 23 years and be warming a 60 year old man's bed all becos of the stupid economic situation and policies in the country which everyone should be united against.

Remember if the economy is good, no parent would be forced to give out a 13 year old (or less) out for marriage in return for financial benefits.

We all have misplaced priorities in this country haba!