Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has urged African governments to enforce 18 years as the minimum age for marriage, warning that child marriage continues to threaten girls’ education and the continent’s human capital development.
Ezekwesili, founder of Human Capital Africa, made the appeal in a statement on Sunday to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child. She also called for traditional and religious leaders to be actively involved in ending the practice.
She disclosed that an estimated 23.6 million Nigerian women and girls were married before the age of 18, placing the country among those with the highest burden of child marriage in West and Central Africa.
According to her, the situation is particularly concerning in Jigawa State, where 78 per cent of women aged 20 to 49 reportedly married before turning 18, while 63 per cent left school to get married.
Ezekwesili cited a report by Columbia University, incorporating analysis by the Center for Global Development, which estimated that child marriage could result in global economic losses of up to $175 billion annually due to reduced productivity and increased health risks.
She noted that progress was possible, pointing to an estimated 68 million child marriages prevented globally over the past 25 years through education, legal reforms and social protection programmes.
The former minister called on governments to strengthen legal safeguards, increase domestic funding for girls’ education and regularly publish data on school retention, learning outcomes and child marriage rates.
She further urged African governments and philanthropic organisations to bridge funding gaps resulting from declining foreign aid, stressing that protecting girls from early marriage must remain a development priority.