#raisetheage of consent in Nigeria

(Courtesy of CNN)

Three teens seek to end child marriage in Nigeria by petitioning to change its constitution.

In Nigeria, 43% of girls are married by their 18th birthday. Many of these girls will be forced out of school and into motherhood before they are physically or emotionally ready to raise a family.

As three Nigerian teenagers, we see how child marriage prevents our peers from reaching their full potential. In December 2018, we created the organization, It’s Never Your Fault, to empower girls and women in our community and to challenge the injustices they face, including child marriage. 

After learning that many Nigerians did not understand the gravity of child marriage or how often it happens, we focused our efforts on educating the public on this issue and teaching them about its negative effects, including school dropout, anti-social behavior, depression, low self-esteem and emotional, physical and mental abuse. We want Nigerians to realize that when girls get married before they’re ready, it not only affects the victims but it also hurts our country. Child marriage can end a girl’s education, increase illiteracy rates and reduce a country’s economic growth. We created Instagram and Twitter accounts where we educate followers on the negative impacts of child marriage and update them on our campaign.

“We want Nigerians to realize that when girls get married before they’re ready, it not only affects the victims but it also hurts our country.”

At the same time, we wanted to understand the issue from a legal perspective and looked to see what the Nigerian constitution says about child marriage. We found that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says, “A person under the age of 18 is incapable of contracting a valid marriage. If such a marriage does take place, it should be declared null and void and of no effect.” Section 29(4b) counters that by stating, “This is by its provision that any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.” This second part means that no matter how old a girl or woman is, once she is married, the law considers her to be of full age and the union is legal.

We created the #raisetheage petition to clarify Nigeria’s legal stance on child marriage. Through the petition, we are calling on the government to raise the age of consent in all 36 Nigerian states to 18 (and ensure that this is enforced!), and to amend section 29(4b) of the constitution to read, “Any young woman cannot be married until she reaches 18 years of age.” Currently, some states have passed laws, like the Child Rights Act, that prevent marriage before age 18, but often officials do not enforce these laws because of the contradictory stance the constitution takes on the issue of child marriage.

When we first started the petition, we only had three signatures (ours). But once word spread through social media, we found that many Nigerians support our efforts. We reached 25,000 signatures in less than two weeks! We currently have 236,950 signatures and that number is growing every day. We plan to use the petition as evidence that Nigerians support changing our country’s legal stance on child marriage when we take our advocacy to the floor of the National Assembly later this year.

To end child marriage, we must tackle the issue on two fronts: amend our constitution and change the traditions and mindsets in our country that support child marriage. We need as many people as possible to back us in this fight. You can sign our petition and follow us on Instagram and Twitter to learn more about child marriage in Nigeria. 

We want all girls in Nigeria to have the opportunity to reach their full potential, but they can’t do that if society continues to force them to become wives and mothers before they’re ready.