Sokoto, Bayelsa, others record highest adolescent marriage - NGO

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), No to Violence Initiative (NOTVI), on Monday said Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Yobe and Sokoto states have the highest percentage of adolescent marriage in Nigeria.

The NOTVI National Advocacy Officer, Armstrong Ukwuoma, said the states also had the highest number of females who gave birth at ages below 18 years.

Ukwuoma said that the information was obtained from a recent report released by the African Health, Human and Social Development Information Service.

According to him, the report shows that North-West Nigeria had the highest adolescent marriage with Ebonyi having the highest percentage of girls not attending secondary school.

He said the problem was, formerly, more common in the North-West, South-South and South-East Nigeria, adding that it hindered the progress of girl-child education in the country.

``Some communities deny the girl-child access to formal education, a practice that violates the principle of the best interest of the child as provided under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,’’ Ukwuoma said.

Adolescent marriage

He said NOTVI viewed women and girl-child education as a very vital and strategic means of empowering them and liberating them from abuse, violence and oppression.

He added that education positioned women to be healthier and build healthier families, stressing that it also placed them at vantage positions to enjoy their fundamental rights.

``Women constitute more than half of Nigeria’s population, undermining their rights to education has a multidimensional consequence.

``We urge all stakeholders to ensure the education of female citizens on the basis of equality with the male population of our nation,” the advocacy officer said.

Ukwuoma said the NGO would invest immensely in a project tagged ‘Send her to School, End Her Abuse’, which aimed at engaging all relevant stakeholders to promote girl-child education.

He explained that the project would focus on advocacy and interventions for safe, dignifying and gender-sensitive educational environment for the girl child.