HURIWA, 40 others seek legislation against child marriage

A call has gone to the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly to ensure the adoption of the 2003 Child Rights Act passed by the National Assembly and to further introduce other stronger legislations to compel parents to enroll their girl children to primary and secondary schools under the Federal Government’s Universal Basic and Compulsory Education as a way of curbing early child marriage.
The National Assembly was also tasked to immediately expunge the nebulous and controversial anti-child provision in the ongoing amendments of the 1999 Constitution on citizenship, which appear to support early child marriage as passed by the Senate.
Over 40 human rights bodies have said the recognition of child early marriage, if carried through by the National Assembly through constitutional amendments, will criminally deny the Nigerian girl children of their universally recognized fundamental human rights to education and quality human capital development.
At a town hall dialogue session convened at the weekend in Abuja by the democracy friendly Non-Governmental Organization, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, attended by 40 other registered civil society groups, during which time the Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, briefed the leadership of the Nigerian human rights community on the Almajiri (out-of-school children) education programme of the Federal Government, the Federal Government was also tasked to ensure that all the over 10 million out-of-school children in all corners of Nigeria are adequately and equitably educated and covered under the current programme, tagged Almajiri Education Programme to ensure equity.
The groups reminded the Nigerian Government to be mindful of the secular nature of Nigeria and deliver quality education equitably to all Nigerian Children.
Speaking at the event, the National Coordinator of (HURIWA), Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, who applauded the Federal Government for introducing what he described as pro-poor educational revolution to positively reshape the future of the 10 million out-of-school Nigerian Children through the Almajiri education programme, however, said the essence of the educational empowerment project for the poor street children may be defeated if the state Houses of Assembly fail to make a law compelling parents and guardians to enroll their children for primary and post-primary education and also discourage early child marriage.
The human rights coalition condemned Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima for championing the inclusion of a provision in the ongoing amendment of the 1999 constitution, which appears to support early child marriage.
The groups described early child marriage as grave violations of the fundamental human rights of every child under the international human rights conventions like the Universal Declarations of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which are sacrosanct and inviolable.
HURIWA stated thus: “On behalf of the over 100 participants here drawn from over 40 registered Non-Governmental Organizations, we want to add our collective voices to the clarion call on the National Assembly to expunge before the passage of the amended version of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic, the nebulous and offensive provision in the citizenship chapter which appears to support early child marriage. We also wish to appeal to all the 36 states and especially the many that have so far failed to domesticate the Child Rights Act of 2003 passed into law by the National Assembly since the year 2003 to quickly adopt this beautiful piece of legislation to protect the Nigerian children and to also ensure that their states Houses of Assembly make law that will compel the parents to enroll their children to primary and secondary schools so as to discourage and outlaw early child marriage as a way of safeguarding the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian children.
“We recognize the great effort by the current federal government put into the introduction of the Almajiri education programme but it will come to a nullity if legislations and legal frameworks at the state level are not put in place to compel compliance by parents most of whom would rather that their girl children are given out to marriage to older male adults than see them through primary and post-primary educational institutions.”