Child brides of Nigeria
Jennifer May
March 30, 2009


, “The first time I had sex with my husband I felt serious pains and was bleeding. I had to tell my auntie and she gave me some medicine. Then I told her that I will never allow him to do that to me again. My auntie told me that if I stop after the first time, the wound will never heal. At that time my husband was a stubborn man and anytime he came to have sex with me, I just started crying. He would tell me that Allah is blessing and rewarding me so I should not be crying.”

This is a statement from a 14 year old girl who was married off at the age of thirteen to a man old enough to be her grandfather. She told her story to the Population Council in Nigeria, who are conducting an in-depth study of child marriage from 2005 until 2009. Within northern Nigerian tribes, child brides are the norm with 45 per cent of girls married off by the age of fifteen; some of them are as young as eleven and by the time they reach the tender age of eighteen, 73 per cent of them are already married.

Denied the chance of a normal childhood, an education or even the opportunity to allow their bodies develop properly before they become sexually active, the consequences of these forced marriages are devastating for the children married off against their will at an age when they should still be playing with dolls; more women die in childbirth in Nigeria than any other country in Africa and[b] there is also the highest rate of fistula, with more than 800,000 women in the country suffering the condition[/b]. (Fistula happens when the pressure of childbirth causes a tear between the bladder and the vagina or rectum and can leave women incontinent for life).

Many of the northern states are Muslim, and they believe that child marriage is not only acceptable, but that to try and outlaw it is an affront to Islam, as it is permitted within the Koran; hard-line Muslim clerics see any attempt to stop child marriage as a direct insult to their religion and have vowed to fight any intervention by the Nigerian government: this is exactly what happened when in 2003 the government - determined to act decisively on the issue of child marriage - passed the Child Rights Act in an attempt to wipe out childhood marriages – half of the countries 36 states passed the Act, but only one Islamic state (0f twelve) adopted it into law. The government’s hands were tied as, under Nigerian law, each state has the right to amend legislation to comply with its own traditions and religious beliefs.

It is not only religious beliefs that force young girls into marriage before they are physically or emotionally mature enough to deal with them - many village elders and heads – who are all men- strongly support the marriage of young girls and claim that it is crucial to preserve the purity of their women and ensure that they do not disgrace themselves and their families by falling pregnant before they are married. Pregnancy outside wedlock remains one of the greatest taboos in rural society and because of this people would choose to ignore the law and go to jail, rather than face the shame of an illegitimate grandchild.

In the states where the law was actually passed, it has yet to be properly enacted and no prosecutions have ever been bought although the illegal marriages of children have carried on unabated. Residents of Jiawa, the one town that passed the legislation told IRIN News that they had never heard of the law being enforced:

‘Even if the government decides to enforce the law, people will defy it because to us it is better to marry off your daughter and go to jail than have a grandchild outside marriage’, Hamisu Umar, a resident of a village in the region said.

Such misogyny is common across Nigeria, especially in more rural areas, where women are still not considered human with their own desires, needs and aspirations and where they are considered chattels, only their to serve the requirements of men. Not only are girls married off when they are still almost babies, but these young women are also denied the chance of education or the opportunity for work and independence – a life of their own. Poverty is also a factor as Northern Nigeria is the poorest part of the country, with the lowest income per capita in the country; marrying a daughter off early means one less mouth to feed, however this does not address the long term problems of a generation of children without education or any hope of a future outside of their marriage.

‘It is a disaster to have 12 million girls of school-going age denied education,’ said Mohammad Aliyu Mashi, head of General Improvement in Person’s Initiative, a Nigerian NGO who carried out research into the socio-economic impact of child marriage in the north of the country. ‘Instead they are married off to satiate some inconsiderate person’s lust’.

The girls who do escape by running away from their husbands face another set of difficulties as many of them end up in prostitution as there are no other options available to them.

‘I was married when I was fifteen years old – I was forced into it,’ Hadiza told Times Online’s Ramita Havai, who travelled to northern Nigeria to the red light district of Kano to interview runaway brides. Whenever her husband would try to consummate the marriage the terrified Hadiza would flee to her family’s home, but they would bring her back to him. Eventually he raped her in an assault that was so vicious she ended up in hospital. Hamiza’s story is a common one in the brothels of Nigeria. Many of these young women are illiterate and about 70 per cent of them are HIV positive.
Local NGO’s have realised that trying to outlaw child marriages is not the way to go and that the way to approach the problem is through encouraging education for girls. Save The Children are working at getting 12,400 children back into the classroom and are a key partner in a six-year DFID-funded programme to strengthen the government’s ability to provide inclusive and quality primary education in five states: Kano, Daduna, Jiawa, Kwara and Lagos. Through this they hope to strengthen the relationship between schools and local communities by establishing school-based management committees and ensuring that children themselves are included in the process. ‘By emphasising and showing rural parents the benefits of girls’ education we are indirectly telling them not to marry their daughters early,’ Save the Children’s Suleiman said. ‘We have to be tactful in our approach otherwise parents will stay away from us.’

Changing ingrained social mores is always difficult, but any step, no matter how tentative, is a step in the right direction: and for the young women of Nigeria, forced into marriage at an age when they should be studying, playing and developing as individuals, change through education offers a modicum of hope that their civil and social rights may finally be recognized,

The guardians of those children are bastards!

I dont know what to say.

the most annoying part is that they use "religion" to cover this hideous practice

And the idiot politrickcians won't do anything about this until it because an international drama. All though the chief baffoon sloth incharge basically did the same thing with his 21 year old daughter. Although the girl was of the age to consent marrying a man old enough to be her father.

A fourteen year old girl has no business seeing a grown man's erect kini.  

Take mainstream education to those animals in the North

This is a cruel world for little girls.
Its more annoying when the rape of these innocent souls is justified by religion.
May God punish these dirty old men and grant them the hottest portion in hell.

Here we are, acting like zombies and dummies. Has it not occurred to you that the western media will NEVER see anything good to publish about Africans? And instead of us to tell them to deal with the numerous anomalies plaguing their societies - paedophiles roaming about the streets, young boys going on shooting and stabbing spree, young women drinking themselves to stupor and collapsing on the streets, celebrities who're anti-undies but pro-drugs, couples who marry today and divorce tomorrow, beastly fathers and mothers who imprison their own children in cellars and perform sex acts on them etc - we keep allowing them to brainwash us. Have they rid their society of all the atrocities being perpetrated right under their noses on DAILY basis? So why won't they leave africans alone to deal with their own problems?

I am not saying what is being done to the young girls is excusable. The practice is worth decrying and denouncing. But you should ask yourself why the western media never sees anything good to say about Africa. Have you ever seen the picture of a healthy african child on their TV programmes? No way. It's ALWAYS the picture of a malnourished, maltreated child. Does it mean all that happens here is nothing but savagery and barbarism?

We must look into our problems but we must be wary if the announcement is coming from the western world. All they look out for is evil. Therefore, all they see is EVIL!

gen2genius:

Here we are, acting like zombies and dummies. Has it not occurred to you that the western media will NEVER see anything good to publish about Africans? And instead of us to tell them to deal with the numerous anomalies in their societies - paedophiles roaming about the streets, young boys going on shooting and stabbing spree, young women drinking themselves to stupor and collapsing on the streets, celebrities who're anti-undies but pro-drugs, couples who marry today and divorce tomorrow, beastly fathers and mothers who imprison their own children in cellars and perform sex acts on them etc - we keep allowing them to brainwash us. Have they rid their society of all the atrocities being perpetrated on DAILY basis? So why won't they leave africans alone to deal with their own problems?

I am not saying what is being done to the young girls is excusable. The practice is worth decrying and denouncing. But you should ask yourself why the western media never sees anything good to say about Africa. Have you ever seen the picture of a healthy african child on their TV programmes? No way. It's ALWAYS the picture of a malnourished, maltreated child. Does it mean all that happens here is nothing but savagery and barbarism?

We must look into our problems but we must be wary if the announcement is coming from the western world. All they look out for is evil. Therefore, all they see is EVIL!

This is ridiculous. Another propaganda driven illiterate trying to justify the islamic malady on the basis of western media propaganda.

evil is evil and this act is despicable.

gen2genius:

Here we are, acting like zombies and dummies. Has it not occurred to you that the western media will NEVER see anything good to publish about Africans? And instead of us to tell them to deal with the numerous anomalies in their societies - paedophiles roaming about the streets, young boys going on shooting and stabbing spree, young women drinking themselves to stupor and collapsing on the streets, celebrities who're anti-undies but pro-drugs, couples who marry today and divorce tomorrow, beastly fathers and mothers who imprison their own children in cellars and perform sex acts on them etc - we keep allowing them to brainwash us. Have they rid their society of all the atrocities being perpetrated on DAILY basis? So why won't they leave africans alone to deal with their own problems?

I am not saying what is being done to the young girls is excusable. The practice is worth decrying and denouncing. But you should ask yourself why the western media never sees anything good to say about Africa. Have you ever seen the picture of a healthy african child on their TV programmes? No way. It's ALWAYS the picture of a malnourished, maltreated child. Does it mean all that happens here is nothing but savagery and barbarism?

We must look into our problems but we must be wary if the announcement is coming from the western world. All they look out for is evil. Therefore, all they see is EVIL!

They are attackling the ills in their soceities and they bring their criminals to book
what are you doing about yours?
If not for the western media most of us would have never heard of the cruelty to the so called "witch children " In Akwa Ibom.
I understand where you're coming from but when the information is true,we need to ask ourselves some hard questions.

Noetic, Whoever said the act was "undespicable"?

They are attackling the ills in their soceities and they bring their criminals to book
what are you doing about yours?
If not for the western media most of us would have never heard of the cruelty to the so called "witch children " In Akwa Ibom.
I understand where you're coming from but when the information is true,we need to ask ourselves some hard questions.

We bring criminals too book here too, don't we? The fact that evil continues in some segments of the society doesn't mean the society supports evil. Even though they punish criminals in their societies as you mentioned, the atrocities continue everyday, in dimensions that may be different but no less alarming than ours!

And as I said earlier, we need to look into the issues raised in the article. But be sure of one thing: even if evil is reduced to the barest minimum in Africa, the western media will never stop searching for the traces. I was appalled one day when I signed in to MSN and saw a bold headline on MSN TODAY. Guess what it said? "10 MOST DANGEROUS CITIES IN THE WORLD" and it listed Lagos as No. 1. To emphasise the point, a picture of the typical rowdy environment of Old Oshodi (before Fashola cleared up the place) was attached to the story. And, if I remember clearly, that was after the massive "clean-up" had begun. Now, let's even assume Oshodi was still the way it was, does that make the WHOLE OF LAGOS, a dangerous place to visit? Were there no better places in Lagos the reporter could have visited to get an objective view of the city? He simply chose the one that would perfectly reinforce the skewed perception of the people that sent him and it worked!

gen2genius:



Noetic, Whoever said the act was "undespicable"?

sorry I misunderstood ur point.

Won't stop any time soon, count on it.

gen2genius:

We bring criminals too book here too, don't we? The fact that evil continues in some segments of the society doesn't mean the society supports evil. Even though they punish criminals in their societies as you mentioned, the atrocities continue everyday, in dimensions that may be different but no less alarming than ours!

And as I said earlier, we need to look into the issues raised in the article. But be sure of one thing: even if evil is reduced to the barest minimum in Africa, the western media will never stop searching for the traces. I was appalled one day when I signed in to MSN and saw a bold headline on MSN TODAY. Guess what it said? "10 MOST DANGEROUS CITIES IN THE WORLD" and it listed Lagos as No. 1. To emphasise the point, a picture of the typical rowdy environment of Old Oshodi (before Fashola cleared up the place) was attached to the story. And, if I remember clearly, that was after the massive "clean-up" had begun. Now, let's even assume Oshodi was still the way it was, does that make the WHOLE OF LAGOS, a dangerous place to visit? Were there no better places in Lagos the reporter could have visited to get an objective view of the city? He simply chose the one that would perfectly reinforce the skewed perception of the people that sent him and it worked!

No we don't
at least not in the case of child marriage
Your brothers up north can marry 6 year old girls and it's not a crime

But that doesn't have to do with a particular country or culture. It's more of a "religious epidemic"  The founder of the religion married an eight-year-old (while he was 53). What do you expect of his gullible followers? So, I don't think it's a "Nigerian" thing - though I agree we must deal with the perps here in Nigeria

gen2genius:

But that doesn't have to do with a particular country or culture. It's more of a "religious epidemic"  The founder of the religion married an eight-year-old (while he was 53). What do you expect of his gullible followers? So, I don't think it's a "Nigerian" thing - though I agree we must deal with the perps here in Nigeria

So true. The government in Saudi Arabia are trying to ban marriages for girls under the age of 18 because an eight year old girl took her 48 year old husband-to-be to court because she does not want to marry him

Notice how you dont see certain Alhajis and co in threads like this.

Not surprised.

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oloriburuku bastards

This is just inhumane.

Its nt only hapenin in d nrth. D est n wst als hv a fair shre of sch mariags. Islam encorge erly lmariage bt nt despoil

A grl shld hav hr scond mnstral flw in hr hubys huse bt he mst nt hv intmcy wif hr untl sh mture. sh cn liv wi hs parent

OP, this does nt mean that early dispoil is legal in nigeria. Nigerians are good pple nd great nation.

The alhajis nd co are here nw, crucifiers speak up.