Underage marriage: Nigerian children speak

Young Nigerians speak with TOPE OMOGBOLAGUN on the controversial bill which seeks to classify underage married girls as adults

Education should come before marriage

“I think all children should be educated before getting married. They should be of adult age. They should be ask to speak for themselves before they are committed to another person that they want to get married to. I think education is very important in the life of children. Our girls should be allowed to learn good things about life before being rushed into early marriage. A girl who marries at a young age of 13 will have wrong views about life. A girl should learn from her parents so that by the time she is mature to get married, she will have enough understanding of what she is going into. A girl who marries at age 17 is not likely to get any benefit from marriage but harm.”

Sokoya Fikunmi, 10

It puts our lives in danger

“I have heard about the issue of underage marriage being debated by our lawmakers and I am happy that children are being given the chance to speak on it.  I am totally against this kind of marriage because at 13, the girls are not even old enough to give birth without danger to their lives.

Why should they get married at such a young age most especially when they are not mature enough to make a choice?

Mayowa, 12

Let girls grow up

“I haven’t heard about the underage marriage debate but as a young girl, I want to become a lawyer in future. I don’t want to get married early because it won’t allow me to face my studies and besides that, I am too young for it. I would love to get married when I am about 25 years. I want to grow up before getting married, so that I can have a good marriage like my parents.”

Abisoye Zynab, 12

Marriage not for children

“My aim is to be a doctor but I cannot achieve that if I get married so early. I want to get married only when I grow up like my parents. It will make me study very well. Marriage is not for children so they should not legalise underage marriage.”

Hephzibah Adekunle, 6

Girls can’t cope with marriage pressure

“I think children are too young to get married. I have the dream to become a doctor but getting married would disturb me from achieving my dreams. Moreover, I don’t think that I have enough wisdom to cope with being a wife. I don’t even understand what marriage is all about so I don’t think it is a reasonable thing to tell a child like myself to get married. Even if I get married now, I can’t get pregnant and have children until I get older. Children are the gains of wedlock so why should I be deprived of the same joy? I don’t support underage marriage.”

Dorcas, 11

It will block our ambition 

“I have been hearing about the underage marriage issue, but I don’t really have the full details. But I don’t want our girls to get married early because it will cut short their dreams in life. My ambition is to become an astronaut and getting married at this young age will be a major road block to such dreams.”

Adedoyin Ayodele, 9

Our legislators have failed us

“I don’t want to be part of child marriage. I am too young for that. My dream is to become a lawyer, if I get married at this age, I would achieve none of my dreams. If I do such a thing, my children will do the same because they will think it is normal. It simply means that our legislators are misleading us. They have failed us as children for ever thinking of such a thing. I would like to get married after I am done with my education and by then, I will no longer be a child.”