Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has urged African governments to enforce 18 years as the minimum legal age of marriage to protect girls from child marriage and safeguard their educational opportunities.
Ezekwesili, founder of Human Capital Africa, also called on traditional and religious leaders to support efforts to end the practice, warning that early marriage threatens girls’ education and Nigeria’s human capital development.
In a statement on Sunday to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, she called for stronger legal protections, increased domestic funding and improved accountability measures to tackle child marriage.
“A girl who learns is a girl who is not a bride,” she said, stressing the need to invest in girls’ rights and education.
Ezekwesili said she was supporting the campaign in her capacities as a member of the advisory council behind Columbia University’s report, Accelerating Efforts to End Child Marriage; a civil society representative on the African Union’s Steering Committee for the Decade of Accelerated Action for the Transformation of Education and Skills Development in Africa (2025–2034); and leader of Human Capital Africa.
23.6 Million Nigerian Women and Girls Affected
Ezekwesili cited figures showing that 23.6 million Nigerian women and girls were married before the age of 18, the highest number in West and Central Africa.
She highlighted the situation in Jigawa State, where 78 per cent of women aged 20 to 49 were reportedly first married before turning 18. She added that 63 per cent of women in the state left school to marry.
According to her, the economic consequences of child marriage extend beyond individual families, affecting productivity, health outcomes and national development.
Citing analysis by the Center for Global Development included in the Columbia report, she said child marriage could result in economic losses of up to $175 billion annually, or nearly $2.5 trillion by 2040, due to lost productivity and increased health risks.
She also warned that cuts to foreign aid, weakening global commitment to women’s rights and rising conflict could slow or reverse progress in tackling child marriage.
“Child marriage is not a side issue in development. It drains a nation’s human capital directly,” she said.
However, Ezekwesili noted that progress was possible, citing estimates that 68 million child marriages had been averted over the past 25 years through girls’ education, legal reforms and social protection.
Ezekwesili Outlines Measures to End Child Marriage
The former minister urged governments to strengthen legal protections and address educational barriers that leave girls vulnerable to early marriage.
She called for the enforcement of 18 as the minimum age of marriage in both law and practice across every state and community, with traditional and religious leaders involved in the process.
“Fund this domestically. As foreign aid shrinks, African budgets and African philanthropy must take over,” she said.
Ezekwesili also urged governments to track and publish data on girls’ learning outcomes, transitions to secondary school and child marriage rates as part of national accountability systems.
She said the African Union’s Decade of Education provides a continental framework for advancing girls’ education over the next ten years.
As a member of the initiative’s Steering Committee, she pledged to push for girls’ learning and retention to remain central to measuring its success.
“A Decade that does not end child marriage will not have transformed African education,” she added.
