Child Marriage And Nigeria’s Priority Agenda For Children

By Rasak Musbau

Child marriage is a global scourge. Today, more than 67 million women from ages 20-24 were married as girls. 1 in 9 girls are married before turning 15 years old. And, every year, 14.2 million more girls are forced into marriage.  The United Nations Child Summit Declaration of 1990 that decided on age 18 as appropriate age of marriage was reached after many studies had shown that child marriage (marriage before age 18) is harmful to children. The goal of the summit was to bring attention and promote commitment, at the highest political level, to goals and strategies for ensuring the survival, protection and development of children as key elements in the socio-economic development of all countries and human society. A total 159 governments that attended the summit including Heads of States from 72 countries that agreed on the declaration cut across continents, cultures and religions.

In Nigeria, the Child Right Act 2003 was also passed by legislators from different cultures and religions. The Lagos State House of Assembly and its executive counterpart that domesticated the Act in 2007 are populated by both Muslims and Christians.  But Senator Sani Yerima and his pro-pedophilia backed by lawmakers has given us hint on why as a nation we would continue to shift date on attaining our developmental agenda and goals.  Nigeria’s upper chamber of parliament has inadvertently reactivated a debate on issue of child marriage with its failure in reversing a stand to delete the controversial Section 29 (4) of the 1999 Constitution.  Though from an educationally disadvantage state and geo-political zone with very poor indices on matters relating to education, healthcare, nutrition and empowerment, Yerima is definitely more popular with his un-Islamic understanding and practice of Sharia rather than contributing to debate and sponsoring bill(s) that will at lease uplift the people he represents or on reversing the nagging problem of almajiri system with 10 million abandoned children.

That child marriage is disgracefully rampant among our brothers in the North and so called Salafi groups in the southwest is not news. It is also irritating that despicable cruelty of following up early marriage with divorce is a trend that is unguarded in the North. It is in fact regrettable that at a time a new ‘National Priority Agenda (NPA) for Children 2013-2020’  has just been developed in Abuja with Lagos State in the process of finalizing its own (SPA), our over-paid lawmakers still believe that our children should be getting  married before knowing how serious a matter human life is.

The need to comprehensively address the plight of all categories of Nigerian children and particularly end the ugly trend of child marriage cannot be over emphasized. Child marriage has health, educational and social implications for the girl child. The impact is indeed apparent in the areas where this practice is prevalent such as Northern Nigeria. A few months ago the federal school’s entrance examination results caused a major embarrassment when it was revealed that in some Northern states an aggregate of 2 was required to pass in comparison to an aggregate of 149 required by some of their Southern counterparts. Girls in the North are also denied Quranic education. Although girls start Quranic education at the same time with their male counterparts, by the time a man graduates to be Malam, his twin sister is almost a grandmother if her first child is a daughter. Only few get to learn the whole Quran.

The attitude regarding women’s education in Hausa society is ‘ta dai samu na Sallah’ (let her be able to get something to recite for ritual prayer). In essence, both boko (western) and Islamic education are haram for girls in the present Northern states.  So what else can be expected when ill trained children are raising their own children before they become adults themselves?  Where is equity? Where is justice enjoined in the Quran in this? Child marriage results in many consequences, including: Denial of childhood and adolescence.  The loss of childhood and adolescence, the forced sexual relations and the denial of freedom and personal development have profound psychosocial and emotional consequences on girls.

Health problem is another consequence. These include premature pregnancies which cause higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and cause hormonal and physical changes which confuse the girl child’s body growth. Teenage girls are also more vulnerable to sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and the debilitating ailment of VVF/RVF (VVF-a tear in the flesh between the vagina and the urinary passage, usually due to prolonged labour, resulting in uncontrolled urine or faeces in the case of recto-vaginal fistulae-RVF), including the abandonment that comes with such ailments.

Abuse is also common in child marriages. Research has found that women who marry before the age of 20 were more likely to report experiences of physical or sexual violence when they started living with their husbands. This could be as a result of inability to perform marital and motherhood role as desirable. It can also lead to early divorce as happened to the young lady divorced by Senator Yerima before he married the minor from Egypt. And if the husband should die early, it may lead to a lot of hardship for her.

As a consequence, MDGs 1 (relating to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger), 2 (on education), 4 (on reducing child mortality), 5 (on maternal health), 6 (on combating diseases) remain unattainable goals (at least in Northern Nigeria), if we cannot confront the consequences and implications of child marriage.

It will be insane to know all these and keep quiet over this nonsense they tie to the religion of Islam. The truth is, it is misplaced priority and crass ignorance that make people engage in or support child marriage while they believe they are doing religious obligation. First, our Sharia is based on facility, mercy, tolerance and elimination of difficulty and unease as manifested in many texts. We have after the verse in which He prescribes fasting: ‘Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties’ (Q2V185). Same in Chapter 5 vs 6, 4 vs 28 and 2 vs 178.

In the first instance, Islam insists on the free consent of both bride and groom before marriage can take place. While Quran does not state a specific age as the age of marriage, it is open to us to use what is of public good to decide.  Surah an-Nisai 4:6 that talks of marriageable age linked it to soundness of judgments and maturity of mind. The prophet’s daughter Fatima married at age reported variously as either 19 or 21. Why is the Prophet’s marriage to Aisha selected as the exemplary age of marriage for Muslims while his marriage to Khadija, a widow 15 years older than him or his marriage to other widows and divorcees ignored as exemplary practices? How about the new research based on Hadith and historical events in the life of the Prophet that questions the commonly held belief that the Prophet s.a.w. was betrothed to Aisha at the age of six and consummated the marriage at the age of nine? Our brethren should also note that actions of the Prophet may not be obligatory in themselves, but indicate only allowance and permissibility, except when they go with other pieces of evidence that indicate recommendation or compulsion. Precedents do not have the property of legal obligation. It is only that they were adequate for their time, place and circumstances. If these factors change, so must the actions built on them. Examples abound where companions of the Prophet went against the action of the prophet whenever they saw that the interests for which he had done such actions had changed so that acting in the same way would not be in the interest of Muslims.

Out of lack of logical contribution to the issue at hand some are raising question of high percentage of Yoruba girls getting unwanted pregnancy at early age as 13, 14, and 15 without proper marriage. The response is two wrongs do not make a right.

What we want for our country is comprehensive and integrated social protection system that is operational and available in all states. We don’t need stiffness and stagnation as these portend death.  The issue in discourse is about problem and its solution and not about subordinating one religion to another. It is incorrect for anybody to be saying that we should be left with our religion. That is calling for national disaster.

•Musbau is of features unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy