FG, States Urged to Enforce 18-Year Marriage Minimum in Every Community

Obiageli Ezekwesili, former minister of education, has asked both the federal government and state governments to enforce 18 years as the minimum age of marriage across the country.

In a statement released on Sunday to mark the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, Ezekwesili said child marriage has continued to undermine girls’ education and the country’s human capital development

She said African governments should strengthen girls’ access to education and protect them from early marriage.

The former minister said Nigeria had 23.6 million women and girls who were married before the age of 18, the highest number in West and Central Africa. She said the situation is alarming in parts of the north.

She noted that in Jigawa state, 78 percent of women aged 20 to 49 were first married before 18, while 63 percent of women left school to marry.

Ezekwesili noted that governments must work with traditional and religious leaders to ensure that the minimum marriage age is enforced in law and in practice across communities.

She said that school expenses like school fees, uniform costs and transportation expenses, preventing girls, in rural communities, from progressing to secondary school should be removed.

“A girl cannot stay in secondary school if she never learned to read,” the former minister said.

Ezekwesili cited estimates showing that 89 per cent of children in Africa experience learning poverty, meaning they cannot read and understand a simple text by the age of 10.

She explained that girls who struggle to acquire basic literacy skills are more likely to fall behind academically and drop out of school.

The former minister asked governments to make foundational learning a child-protection priority, ensuring that every girl can read with comprehension by age 10 through proven teaching methods.

She called on African governments to increase domestic funding for girls’ education as foreign aid declines, while tracking girls’ learning outcomes, transition to secondary school and child marriage rates.

On the economic consequences, Ezekwesili said study showex that child marriage could cost the global economy up to $175bn annually and nearly $2.5tn by 2040 through lost productivity and increased health risks.

She said progress was possible, noting estimates that 68 million child marriages had been averted over the past 25 years.

She said each additional year of secondary education reduces a girl’s likelihood of marrying before 18 by five percentage points or more.

Ezekwesili said African governments should place girls’ education and retention at the centre of the African Union’s decade of accelerated action for the transformation of education and skills development in Africa.

“Any girl-child should be a student, not a bride. She should learn, then lead,” she added.