Ezekwesili Urges FG, States To Enforce 18-Year Minimum Marriage Age  

Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has called on the federal government and state governments to enforce 18 years as the minimum legal age for marriage across Nigeria to curb child marriage and protect girls’ education.

Ezekwesili made the call in a statement to mark the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, noting that early marriage continues to deprive girls of educational opportunities and weaken the country’s human capital development.

She urged African governments to expand access to education for girls and strengthen measures to protect them from being married off before adulthood.

According to the former minister, Nigeria has 23.6 million women and girls who were married before turning 18, the highest figure in West and Central Africa. She described the situation in parts of northern Nigeria as particularly concerning.

In Jigawa State, she said, 78 per cent of women aged 20 to 49 were first married before their 18th birthday, while 63 per cent of women left school to get married.

Ezekwesili stressed the need for governments to collaborate with traditional and religious leaders to ensure that the minimum marriage age is upheld both in legislation and across communities.

She also called for the removal of financial barriers that prevent girls, particularly those in rural communities, from advancing to secondary school. These include school fees, the cost of uniforms and transportation expenses.

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

Citing estimates that 89 per cent of children in Africa experience learning poverty, Ezekwesili explained that the affected children cannot read and understand a simple text by the age of 10.

She warned that girls who fail to acquire basic literacy skills are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out of school.

To address the challenge, she urged governments to make foundational learning a child-protection priority and adopt proven teaching methods to ensure every girl can read and understand texts by age 10.

The former minister also called for increased domestic investment in girls’ education as foreign aid declines. She said governments should monitor progress by tracking girls’ learning outcomes, transition rates to secondary school and child marriage statistics.

On the economic impact of early marriage, Ezekwesili cited studies estimating that the practice could cost the global economy up to $175 billion annually and nearly $2.5 trillion by 2040 through lost productivity and increased health risks.

Despite the challenges, she said progress was achievable, pointing to estimates that 68 million child marriages had been prevented over the past 25 years.

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

Ezekwesili urged African governments to prioritise girls’ education and school retention as part 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.