From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Last week, top government officials of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara and Sokoto states gathered in Kaduna to share experiences and plot practical ways to overcome early child marriages.
Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Hadiza Balarabe, told the gathering: “early child marriage has become a key challenge” to the North West region: “It has impacted negatively on the education and health of the girls, including their sexual and reproductive health. Many girls are giving out in marriage before they reach the age of 18.
“Some even get married before 15. Many of these girls are not enrolled in school. Some of the ones that get enrolled are often taken out of school to be married off before their graduation.
“These children who are married off often enter into marriage from the disadvantaged position because they are too young, with little or no experience. To address this challenge, there is the need to terminate the root cause, which as has been proven, will involve leveraging and harmonising the instrument of law, community efforts, traditional institution and all of us.”
Observers charged governors to redouble commitment by initiating institutional framework against all forms of child abuse, including child marriage. It was also observed that child marriage across the region has facilitated a surge in Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other health complications like obstetric fistula, cervical cancer, preterm birth, low-weight births, stillbirth, exposure to STIs/STDs and HIV/AIDs among young girls.
But it was envisaged that bringing all stakeholders on board including traditional rulers in the planning processes for the domestication of the Child Rights Act to avoid rejection by the communities would go a long way in addressing the situation.
A traditional leader, Burnu Zazzau and District Head of Kaduna, Doka, Bala Muhammed Tijjani, told Daily Sun: “As a traditional institution, one major role we are expected to play in curbing the menace of child marriage is continuous sensitisation of the members of our communities on the disadvantage of child marriage.
“We are also expected to see that whenever and where ever such marriage is about to take place, we step in to prevent it. This will be the main area we will dwell on.”
Binta Kasim, representing Ministries of Education and Women Affairs, Katsina State, said: “We have been talking about this child marriage for only God knows how long. The problem is implementing what we have talked about, what we saw and what we think should be done. If things are being implemented, we would have solved a lot of the problem.
“For example, we have a high rate of banditry in Katsina State. So, a lot of young girls are orphans. They don’t have anybody to look out for them. They go into prostitution or into early marriage thinking that their would-be husbands will solve their problems and take them off their present condition.”
Director, Planning, Research and Strategy, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Kano State, Yakubu Muhammad, admitted: “In 2018, there were reports from various international organisations of a disturbing number of out-of-school children in about 15 local government areas in the state.
“A committee was constituted to look into most of the out-of-school children. It was discovered that they were mostly girls. This called for a lot of concern. Government understood the threat it posed to human capital development in the short and long terms.
“We equally discovered that while in school, these girls are mostly married off before completing the basics. From that experience, government began to scout for how to tackle this issue of early marriage.
“We have realised that we have to go beyond early marriage issue by addressing the root causes of the problem, which basically are the social norms and multidimensional poverty.”
Programme Manager, Global Initiative for Women and Children (GIWAC), Aminu Babangida, said child marriage has been a matter of serious concern to the people of the region: “The reason we decided to bring together key players from the seven North West states to see what we have done, what we are doing and what we can do better to address this challenge.”
Hafsat Baba, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Kano State, remarked that ending child marriage would boost efforts towards achieving sustainable development goals by improving access to education, encouraging economic growth, enhancing nutrition and food security, and improving maternal and child health:
“How does a child bear a child and know how to take care of herself and her child? Child marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens their lives and health. Unless we act now, the number of child brides come 2030 will be irreversible.”
At the end of the deliberations, its communiqué, signed by Baba stressed that child marriages are a form of child abuse, which must be addressed urgently: “The role of religious and traditional leaders in regulating child marriages in their community is inexcusable.
“There is the need to enact relevant laws that will enforce proper parenting in these communities.” The communiqué recognised the potential contributions of the girl child to the economic growth and development of the region.
It affirmed the need for continuous counselling of parents and caregivers on the effects of child marriage and the importance of education for the girl child.