Child Marriage: In The North, Life For A Girl Child Begins At 9

To a lot of people in the South and West, Child Marriage has become a thing of the past. In fact, it would surprise them to find out that it actually is still a very big phenomenon among the Hausas in the North. Urban Woman Magazine had a very enlightening interview with Kaka Yakura, a student of Psychology, at the University of Lagos. Kaka hails from Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Kaka tells the story of not just the many she knew who married at such a young age, but also of her mother who got married to her father at 11.

UW: What do you know about Child Marriage?

Kaka: I had several relatives and friends who had to cut off their education to get married at the age of 9,10. They had to get married because of the tradition, and beliefs that the society up north has. When a child is 9, 10, parents just feel, "what exactly is she doing sitting at home?" So they always feel it is better to send the girls off to a husband's house. Our culture demands it. Some even get married because they had been betrothed from birth to a man even as old as their grandparents.

UW: Why didn't you get married at 9?

Kaka: When I finished primary school, my parents were already insisting, especially my mother. She kept saying that I needed to get married fast and I was just 10. There were already suitors, though most were not educated, only involved in different trades. I would have gotten married, but my teachers kept insisting that since I was one of the best in school then, I needed to keep moving ahead. Soon, some sponsors emerged and said that they would take care of my education. Finally, I was given scholarship to three different federal secondary schools. So it was those sponsors, that spoke to my parent and that was the opportunity I had that differentiated me from my peers. My mother kept insisting that I marry, but my father who was convinced, stood his ground that I must get an education.

UW: That was then, have things changed now?

Kaka: Things are far from changing. Recently, the husband of a friend of

mine who got married at the age of 9, just gave their daughter out in marriage to an older man, and the man has taken her to Maiduguri as we speak. In every part of the North, it is still being practiced. We even have people in government marrying these young girls.

UW: How did getting married early affect your friends?

Kaka: My cousin who got married at the age of 13, was made to sit at home, she was never allowed to go out, not even allowed to have an education or learn a trade. She had complications with her first pregnancy, and had a miscarriage with her second pregnancy. There is even psychological trauma, for instance, another cousin of mine who got married at 13, would still play with the children in the area, one day the husband saw her playing with her friends who were boys and he dragged her into the house and beat her because he expected her to realize that she was now a married woman. These men would also come out and say that these girls who they keep marrying do not know anything about being a wife or a mother,

UW: What are the reasons behind child marriage?

Kaka: The poverty level in the North is too high, even if they wanted to, parents cannot afford to pay for the education of their children, even education in public schools. If we are going to end this, people have to be enlightened. If my father did not know the importance of education, I would have been like one of those girls, because my father is a a graduate.

UW: How many of your cousins have VVF - Vesico Vagina Fistula?

Kaka: Two. VVF is really rampant in the North. A lot of girls have it.

UW: Has the operation been done?

Kaka: No, it hasn't been done. They can't afford the operation. So basically, now they are resorting to herbal means.

UW: There is this practice among Hausas of putting your wife away, if she is unclean, and we see it when these girls get VVF. Can you tell us why?

Kaka: It is a cultural practice also to put your wife away if she doesn't meet your needs again or if she is unclean. It is very rampant in the North. One of my cousins, the husband has abandoned her, he said he cannot cope after all as he claims, there are other girls getting married at that stage without getting VVF. So he has put her away. He claims it is her family problem and the medical bill is expensive and instead of using money to foot the bills, he can marry another girl with the money.

Reading this interview, one can feel nothing but pain for the girl child in the North. There is a lot that can be done that isn't. There is so much trauma that comes with truncating the childhood of the girl child. The International Girl Child Day and the significance it holds for the outside world, means nothing for the many young girls who are made to experience sex at 9, 10, 11, in the name of marriage. This is their reality and it shouldn't be.