Hajia Aisha Buhari, the wife of Nigeria's President-elect, is seeking the
legislation against child marriage in Nigeria.
Mrs Buhari disclosed this while speaking at the Global Women Conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, shortly after her presentation on the dangers women and girl child face every day
she pressed for a legislation that would protect women and the girl child
as discussions at the conference bordered around women empowerment and
social inclusion.
According to her, the key to solving most of
the problems women face is global legislation. She further put a call to
government and international organisations to upsurge the participation of
women in the decision making process.
Other Nigerian delegates at the event were
Hannatu Ngilari, Hajo Sani and Mariyya Zayyan.
It should be noted that northern Nigeria has one
of the highest rates of early marriage in the world. The Child Rights Act, passed
in 2003, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls which is yet to
implemented in all 36 states of Nigeria.
According to UNFPA, in Nigeria, ’20 percent
of girls were married by age 15, and 40 percent were married by age 18.22 Child
marriage is extremely prevalent in some regions; in the Northwest region, 48
percent of girls were married by age 15, and 78 percent were married by age
18.23.
Source: Channels TV
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