Another underage marriage, enough outrage already?

Just this morning, the President of Jose Foundation, UK Dr. Martins Abhulimen, raised an alarm, he sent me an article about a disturbing event, happening right here in Nigeria.

The unthinkable had happened. On 26th December 2023, a day reserved for opening boxes of gifts received post yuletide in Christendom, and appropriately customed boxing day. What may be considered unacceptable, unfathomable, and the height of indiscretion happened.

A 54-year-old man was reported to have consummated a marriage with a 4-year-old. This happened in the faraway coastline community Akeddei of Sagbama LGA in Bayelsa. The blessings of her guardians were said to have been secured.

While child rights activists are already responding, enough can not be said about the matter. It has been claimed that the minor in question had threatened, suicide if not allowed to marry her choice, a puzzling situation. Presented as an excuse by her guardians, a travesty.

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The steps and processes required before the consummation of a traditional marriage in riverine communities by common knowledge are not a mere walk in the park. The fact that all the purported steps were taken and the ceremony conducted, raises red flags. It convicts the community leaders, family members, and other community stakeholders, who hitherto promote their roles as gatekeepers especially when it concerns oil and gas matters, to have fallen short of their responsibilities.

Indeed, the purported ceremony should not have happened in the first instance. It could have been nipped in the bud in the very instance the kite was flown and banished to perpetual oblivion. It should have been cast aside with a firm reprimand, enough to atrophy similar thoughts in “closet pedophiles”. Indeed, the idea should have been resisted with all effort, in other to surgically excise the very ideology permanently from the community.

The community could ostracize the perpetrators, in other to offer our underaged a safer today and a better tomorrow, unscarred by predatory interruptions. Thus avoiding the crude accelerated transformation to Adulting, without the necessary physical, physiologic, psychological, and sociological preparation.

This level of predatory activity, conducted under the sleepy watch of a community, is a bad omen, a sign of an unquantifiable failure of institutions and the institutionalization of safety checks to protect our minors.

This signposts what we should expect, if we fail to act now, firmly and specifically. This is a frontal assault on the female gender and the underaged, and must not continue unmitigated. It’s a call to arms on gender-based violence (GBV) activists. Who must test their mettle ASAP. It’s a social emergency that will only respond to stiff and direct measures.

The Child Rights 2003 Act Part I – was clear when it opined that ‘the best interest of a child must be of paramount consideration in all actions’ within the State. It was clear the law wanted a comprehensive protection of the Nigerian child. Under Part II, 11a, protection from sexual abuse was to be a guarantee, sine qua non. On to Parts III, 21, 22, and 23 were the most explicit on this matter. 21 prohibited marriages for minors i.e. those under 18yrs, 22 frowned against betrothals of under age and facilitators of such actions, and 23 put a fine of N500,000 or and 5-year jail term for those who contravened the relevant sections.

I am sure if we probe further, we will find more contraventions of the Nigerian law in general and the Child Rights Act 2003 specifically (which has been domesticated by the Bayelsa state government). These are matters for future debates.

On the matter of the insistent of the young girl on being allowed to marry the 54-year-old, ‘Are we joking”? Seriously, if this same girl were to insist on jumping into a well because she felt strongly about it, would the parents or guardians allow it? This calls into question the psycho-socialization of the actors in this drama. Indeed, they may all benefit from instituting psychological assessment and providing support as appropriate. Thus we may have been seen to have responded comprehensively.

Stakeholders must indeed arrest this attempt to re-calibrate our collective psyche and push back this assault on the marriage institution. The law must take its course and the stakeholders in the immediate Bayelsa community, starting with the State Governor, should do the needful.

Our society is under attack, and this is not a time to take cover, rather we must meet this senseless and brutish affront to our sensibilities with a stiff and comprehensive pushback.

Agbor Ebuta is Vice President, of Medical Initiative for Africa and Consultant to Jose Foundation UK. A Consultant Family Physician and healthcare innovator.