Teenage marriage widespread in Nigeria - 2006 census

Written by Hussain J. Ibrahim

Saturday, 05 June 2010 05:40

The furor generated as a result of the marriage of Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima to a 13-year-old Egyptian girl is still raging. But as figures from the 2006 population census show, Yarima’s case is not an exception, but rather the practice of taking girls aged between 12 and 18 in marriage is common and widespread across the 36 states of the federation. The National Population Commission’s 2006 census estimates show that for the whole of Nigeria there were 470,444 females aged between 10-14 who were already married, separated, divorced or widowed. For females aged 15-19 the figures stand at 1,799,333.

Kano State has the highest number of females, aged 10-14, who are married according to the 2006 census figures with 37,364. Those aged 15-19 who are married in the state are 215,463. Katsina follows Kano with 28,082 females aged 10-14 who are married and 142,567 females aged 15-19 who are married. Kaduna placed third with 24,311 females aged 10-14 married and 110,905 females aged 15-19 married in the state. This is followed by Jigawa with 21, 913 females aged 10-14 married and 108, 817 females aged 15-19 married. Zamfara has 22,097 females aged 10-14 married and 108,418 females aged 15-19 married.

Generally, the census figures shows the northwest as having the highest number of females below the age of 18 married, separated, divorced or widowed.

If the provisions of the Child Rights Act 2003 is to be followed, such females are classified as children because the Act defines a child as “one who is below the age of 18 years”. The Act goes further to declare that “the betrothal and marriage of children are prohibited”, stating that “the provisions of the Act supersede all other legislations that have a bearing on the rights of the child. Having been enacted at the national level, the states are expected to formally adopt and adapt the Act for domestication as state laws. This is because issues of child rights protection are on the residual list of the Nigerian Constitution, giving states exclusive responsibility and jurisdiction to make laws relevant to their specific situations. State laws inimical to the rights of the child are also to be amended or annulled as may be required, to conform to the Act and the CRC”.

In a nation where the marriage and betrothal of girls below the age of 18 is so widely spread, based on cultural and religious factors, such a law proves to be controversial. The outcry raised by NGO’s concerned about the rights of children over the marriage of Senator Yarima to his Egyptian bride and the steps taken to punish him have further brought the controversies to the fore.

One telling observation of the laxity in adopting the law is before Senator Yarima’s case hit newspaper headlines, the dozens of NGO’s calling for his punishment had not indicated interest and neither sued the parents of the other thousands of girls in the north and south who were betrothed or married at the age of 18. So far, 15 states ( Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba ) have domesticated the Child Rights Act. The remaining 20 states have not.


Source
[url]http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3323%3Ateenage-marriage-widespread-in-nigeria-2006-census&catid=41%3Anews&Itemid=30[/url]