Nigeria has the largest number of child brides in Africa, and the second country with the highest child marriage globally after India.
UNICEF notes that child marriage is an important indicator of gender inequality. Even though the Child Right Act 2003 prohibits and criminalizes child marriage and betrothal, 17% and 44% of girls marry before their 15th and 18th birthday respectively.
The World Bank reported in 2017 that Nigeria has the largest monetary estimate of the annual economic cost of child marriage through lost earning and productivity at $7.6 billion.
The Nigerian education sector is in crisis. The country has the highest number of out of -school children globally at 10.5 million, of which 60% are girls.
Nigerian youth unemployment rate is currently over 40% with a higher number of female youths unemployed.
It is clear that we cannot continue on this trajectory if we are to secure the future of Nigeria. The future of Nigeria depends on what it does today with its dynamic youth population.
For Nigeria to be all that it can be, it must allow for opportunities that ensure that the young women of Nigeria, regardless of their background and ethnicity must be all they can be.
