The plight of the girlchild in Northern Nigeria is very pathetic.  The ideal age for marriage, for ladies though it varies, is usually between 20 to 26 and 25 to 30 for men, but it is an entirely different issue when it has to do with Northern Nigeria.

In the North, little girls who have started menstruating are considered mature for marriage and the case of menstruation varies as a girl of twelve can be given out for marriage based on the fact that she has started menstruating.

Early marriage or child marriage is a pre-dominant phenomenon especially in interior villages of northern Nigeria.

Infact, it is virtually their way of life and it is seen as normal.

Parents derive pleasure in the practice of giving out their young daughters to older men in marriage.  This practice thrives, due to a number of factors to some parents, it is a way of raising their economic and social status. They give out their girl-child to a man whose family is wealthy and who they feel can cater for the girl as well as her parents not considering what she wants thereby relegating the significance of love to the background.

Gender-bias is another factor that has facilitated the ugly monster called early marriage of the girl-child in Northern Nigeria.  Parents of these children due to their mind-set, see the girl-child as a weak sex, they place little or no value on her and as such perceive her as one not worth the stress of upbringing.

Lack of education has also been fingered as a major propeller of this tradition of a sect.

Because these girls have no educational background, their parents see them as burden worth getting rid of by marrying them off.

Pressures from older members of the family and community also contribute immensely in this direction.  Moreso, the notion that early pregnancy leads to larger families and hence providing heirs to the throne has beclouded the sense of reasoning of those concerned.

As enticing as this practice seems, it has its harmful effects on these little girls which the parents are ignorant of, but it is high time they changed their mentality for the better because early marriage has inflicted dangerous and devastating effects on young children who are compelled to tie the knot.  Some of these effects are;

Psychological and emotional stress like forced sexual relationship, denial of freedom and personal development as taking care of household chores now becomes a priority for the girl-child.  She is faced with the responsibility of raising children when in most cases her system is not yet prepared and mature enough for such function of preparing food for her husband and keeping the house neat at all times.  This of course is a tedious task for a girl of fourteen.

Severe health problems during pregnancy and child birth is the fallout of this phenomenon.  This is because, these girls were not well developed  before they conceived, which of course make delivery difficult, and this resulting to high mortality rate.  There is also the threat of sexually transmitted diseases which she is exposed to in such an environment.

These men who marry these young victims are no mates of theirs.  They are such that are already mature and developed.  Some of them take undue advantage of the immature age of their so called wives to frolic with free ladies outside their marriage.

The result is that diseases are contracted along the line and passed on to these innocent ones who eventually bear the brunt of such ailments.

Ailments such as Visco Vaginal Fistula (VVF) and other unpopular reproductive track diseases have become common among these young ones because they were forced into early sexual and reproductive activities.

Aside the health risks involved in this matter, the girl child remains perpetually enslaved and undeveloped.  Woe betides her if she had not seen or finished her secondary education before she is forced into marriage because she will never think in that direction again except a fortunate few.

These master-husbands so cage these young wives so much that their freedom of movement and interaction are infringed upon.  They fear that the wives if let out could become exposed and hence wiser to the detriment of the husbands.

The Nigerian constitution recognisers any child under the age of 18 years as minor, and so such can not decide for him/herself but depend wholly on the parents.

The parents on their part must not betray the confidence reposed on them by these young ones by way of exchanging them for purpose of cushioning the effect of harsh economy.

The rights and privileges of theses young ones must be protected.

Ephraim Elizabeth