Black Henna: An Exposé of Child Marriage in Nigeria
Written by Oreofe Omisope
17-year-old Khadija walks as slowly as she can without being too obvious. Her traditional garb makes it easy. A full-length yellow kaftan that feels like it weighs a ton, more jewellery than a jewellery store display, nose rings, bangles… the list was unending. Around her, people gush about the beautiful amarya, meaning bride in the Hausa language. Through her veil, she sees her 54-year-old husband, Usman, basking in her reflected glory.
It is her wedding day.
Usually, brides are expected to be happy on the day of their wedding. But all Khadija feels is mounting dread at her imminent nuptials. She tries to fight the tears, silently asking herself; “why is this happening?” Khadija always had big dreams to be a teacher, to go to university, to get a degree. The day after graduating secondary school, she planned to tell her parents the news. But they had news of their own.
The tears she tries to fight started to fall as she remembers the day Usman and his family came to her family house. How they argued and haggled over her bride price before coming to an agreement. Just like that, she was sold like a piece of meat at the butchers. She squeezes her hands to keep herself from screaming. Her hands, she notices, are painted with henna; black henna. The intricately drawn swirling patterns Khadija loved as a child are now a symbol of her trap. She, Khadija, is about to become a child bride.
Child marriage (the entering into a marriage contract where either one or both parties are below the legal age of marriage) has continued to stubbornly persist around the globe despite many attempts by private and governmental organizations to curb its menace. While Khadija is a fictional character, hers (sadly so) is not a narrative that is uncommon, especially in this side of the world. The legal age of marriage differs in various countries. However, the most common age in Nigeria is 21 years according to civil law. While it is possible for a boy to be married off at an early age, it is extremely uncommon as opposed to the girl child and that is why the focus of this write-up will be on the girl child.
The number of child brides, married before the age of 18 in Central and West Africa is about 60 million with Nigeria being responsible for about 37 per cent of that number. Go figure, as Nigeria has the highest number of child brides in the region. While child marriage is common in all parts of Nigeria, the region where this unhealthy practice is most prevalent is the Northern Region where a large number of underage girls, much like Khadija, are married to much older men on a yearly basis.
“Why is this so?” you ask.
Truth be told, there are many reasons for this, one of which is Nigeria’s faulty constitution. The Marriage Act prescribes that persons under the age of 21 cannot and should not get married. However, going further we discover a very exploitable loophole where the same Marriage Act states that these persons, however, can get married if they have written parental consent. Boom! Just like that, a thirteen-year-old girl can be married off as long as her parents have given ‘written consent.’
“Early marriage is most prevalent in communities suffering deep chronic poverty”. Helen D Gayle’s words certainly prove true in Nigeria. According to Nigeria’s Bureau of Statistics, as of 2020, about 83 million out of the 206.1 million Nigerian indigenes live in poverty. Due to a lack of money and other resources, many impoverished parents marry off their daughters to older and financially ‘capable’ men. Sometimes, however, these men have other wives and by the time the new bride begins to have children of her own, there may not be enough resources to go around. And so the never-ending cycle continues.
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For a societal ill that is frequently overlooked, child marriage brings with it a myriad of other problems; mental, physical and otherwise. Most of the girls who get married before the age of 18 never go back to school, and that’s if they even started school in the first place. It seems inconceivable that in the age we live in some people have never seen the ‘four walls’ of a school. While many international organizations have created policies necessitating all girls to have access to basic education, very little has been done in that regard in Nigeria. For married girls, the odds are even tougher. They are denied the basic right to education which everyone has a right to. Even if they are eventually able to go to school, many of them are no longer in the right frame of mind.
Psychologically, girls married off while they’re under-aged suffer. I am 17 and it bothers me that girls my age and younger have to worry about the needs of their husbands; sexual or otherwise. At an age where their mates are at school, making plans for their future and having fun, these girls are saddled with the responsibility of marriage. It is depressing, for lack of a better word.
Owing to the fact that most child brides get married without their consent, their first sexual experience is usually forced and is in itself a form of rape. Worse still, many of these young girls are subjected to repeated physical and verbal abuse, amongst a myriad of other things. This is both mentally and psychologically demeaning. Also of concern is the fact that these girls have virtually no say in their affairs giving rise to low or even nonexistent self-esteem and a sense that their opinions are of little or no value, which is not true at all.
Perhaps the most alarming effect of child marriage is the impact it has on the health of victims. Girls under 18 may have reached puberty, but are in no way ready for the rigours of pregnancy and childbirth, two things that are often unavoidable in child marriage. During childbirth, their young, underdeveloped bodies suffer far more than more mature women, and in dire cases, this may lead to the death of either mother or child or sometimes, both. In the case where they do live, many of them develop severe illnesses such as obstetric fistula, a condition that leads to the uncontrolled passage of urine and faeces from the vagina. A lot of them also contract numerous STDs like AIDS and gonorrhoea from the much older and sexually active men they are forced to get married to.
While it may be difficult, if not impossible to completely eradicate child marriage, there are many things that can be done to drastically reduce its occurrence. First is the amendment of the Nigerian law to ensure that the minimum age for marriage is at least 21 years, with or without parental consent, even in the Northern Region, where the Sharia law permits child marriage. Also, child marriage is and should be made a criminal offence, punishable by law. In order to ensure that every girl child gets access to education, basic education should be made free for all regardless of age and gender by the government.
During the course of my research, I found that although there are NGOs fighting for child rights and the abolishment of child marriage, they are rather few. I believe more NGOs can be created. Some of the existing ones, however, like Save the Children International will be able to cover more ground with adequate funding and support. While it is comfortable to call on the government, international organizations and NGOs to do something about the problem of child marriage, we also have roles to play. It’s not enough to live in our happy, safe bubble pretending that these things don’t happen. Individually, we can create awareness about child marriage and its dangers through social media. We can support those who are actively fighting child marriage through funding too.
The life of every girl child matters. The voice of the girl child counts. Their rights should be respected. Child marriage is a menace that should not exist. Just because it isn’t you or someone you know doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye to the problem. It’s not just the responsibility of the government. It’s the responsibility of each and every one of us. They are GIRLS, not BRIDES.
Edited by Chizulu E. Uwolloh
