Education: Key to Empowering Girls and Women of Nigeria

Education is the best investment in development. Not only is it a basic human right, but there is an undisputed positive correlation between the enrollment of girls in primary school and the gross national product and increase of life expectancy. Yet, 121 million children worldwide are out of school, 10.5 million being in Nigeria. This makes Nigeria the country with the largest number of out-of-school children in the world, with 80 percent being girls!

Barriers to girls’ education

There are various cultural and socioeconomic issues that prevent girls from going to school. One prominent cultural view is that it is better for the woman to stay home and learn to tend to her family instead of attending school. The Nigerian tradition attaches higher value to a man than a woman, whose place is believed to be the kitchen. Nigerian culture also holds the belief of male superiority and female subordination. These patriarchal practices give preference to educating boys rather than girls.  

Many families also often cannot afford to send their children to school. With almost 70 percent of the population living below the poverty, parents can only send one child to school. Although in theory school is free, in practice parents pay fees i.e. textbooks, crafts etc. And because daughters have assumed responsibilities in the home, they are less likely to be the one to attend school.

Another barrier to girls’ education is early marriage. Early/child marriage is a common practice in Nigeria, with 47 percent of women becoming mothers before they reach the age of 20. Young married girls and mothers are less likely to attend school. Only 2 per cent of 15-19 year old married girls attend school, compared to 69 per cent of unmarried girls.  Lack of education further limits girls only to their reproductive roles-submissive wives and mothers.

Schools also play an important role in girls’ education-or lack of it. Most schools have inadequate classroom space, furniture and equipment, and are often too remotely located. Water, health and sanitation facilities are usually inadequate. More disturbing, however, is gender inequity in classrooms. Some teachers are bias in their attitudes towards girls, further imposing a learning disadvantage and affecting their academic achievement.

Sexual harassment is commonly practiced in schools and universities, thus failing to provide a safe environment for adolescent girls. As one girl says:

“When I was in school, male teachers used to want to sleep with female students…. The teachers will trouble you up to the extent that if you do not accept them, you will fail their subjects and at the end of the day you will want to leave the school.”

The situation for girls’ education in Nigeria is clearly in need of urgent reform. After all, educated girls are known to develop essential life skills, including: self-confidence, the ability to participate effectively in society, and protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and sexual exploitation. Educated girls also contribute to national wealth and improve general health of future generations.

Recommendations

Girls and women have the potential to transform Nigeria. Investing in girls will not only improve productivity and growth, but will also lead to a more healthy and skilled future generation.

In general, it is recommended to keep girls in schools by:

Creating incentives for all girls to attend school and complete their education

Encouraging Nigerian states to allocate more of their budges to schools and teacher trainings

Creating incentives for teachers to provide quality education and equal treatment among students

Establishing policies and mechanisms to protect girls from sexual harassment i.e. awareness programs, help lines, counselling, medical assistance for those who have been sexually abused, and punishment and full application of the law on any proven and established case of sexual harassment within any educational institution

What can you do?

Support organizations that support girls and women’s education, such as DeltaWomen

Donate to organizations that have a proven track record of helping integrate girls in the education system

Raise awareness on the subject through DeltaWomen’s facebook, twitter, and blog site.  

Online campaign: A great site for organizing online campaigns is http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?vl

Child Brides: Stolen Lives of Nigeria’s Girls

Nigeria has some of the highest rates of child marriages in the world. In some areas, particularly the Northwest region, nearly half of the girls in the country are married by the age of 15, often to much older men.

The government has tried to ban marriage under the age of 18 by passing the Child Rights Act in 2003. Federal law, however, can be implemented differently at the state level. To date, only a few of the country’s 36 states have developed provisions to execute the law. Furthermore, Nigeria has three different legal systems operating simultaneously-civil, customary, and Islamic-and state and federal governments only have control over marriages that take place within the civil system. This type of governance makes it difficult to curtail child marriages across the country1. 

The consequences of child marriages are devastating for girls:
“When I was 10 my parents arranged for me to marry in the forest. They pretended it was just a party. But it was a wedding and they sent me away. My mother never told me I was going to be married. They came and took me by force. I cried but it didn't make any difference,” Child Bride, 10 years old2.

Married girls receive basically no education. Only 2 percent of 15-19 year old married girls attend school, compared to 69 percent of unmarried girls1. Lack of education limits girls only to the reproductive roles-submissive wives and mothers. A lack of education also means that young girls lack knowledge about sexual relations, thus denying girls the ability to make informed decisions about sexual relations, planning and family, and most importantly, her health2.

Having children at such a young age is also a serious health hazard. Mothers whose bodies are physically incapable of going through childbirth suffer horrible injuries that leave them physically and emotionally scarred for life. One of the most severe consequences of child pregnancy is fistulas. The Ministry of Health estimates between 200,000-400,000 girls and women are living with fistulas1. Fistula is a condition that leaves girls leaking urine and/or feces and often results in abandonment by partners, family and friends. These girls therefore become stigmatized by their communities and often resort to working in the sex industry as result of being shunned by society.   

Fistula is not the only medical condition that young brides are susceptible to. Young girls are much more likely than unmarried girls to contract HIV from their usually older, polygamous husbands. Married girls have less knowledge about HIV and are less likely to negotiate condom use. They are also unaware that HIV can be passed on from mother to child1.

Despite all these devastating consequences, child marriage still continues to prevail and there is considerable opposition to the law banning child marriage, particularly in Northern Nigeria. This is partly due to families living in poverty who cannot afford to care for their daughters; having notions of morality and honour with a high value placed on a girl’s virginity, and religion. One cleric states that it is difficult to accept banning of child marriages because it is permissible according to religion3.

The way forward is a difficult and challenging path, but a necessary one. A lot can be done to promote later, chosen and legal marriage. Some suggestions include raising awareness of the extent of early marriage and human rights abuse it constitutes; engaging communities through public campaigns, pledges or incentive schemes; and raising awareness for parents, community leaders, and policymakers about the importance and necessity of enrolling girls in schools and completing education.

1“Child Marriage Briefing Nigeria”: Population Council, August 2004. http://www.populationcouncil.org/pdfs/briefingsheets/NIGERIA.pdf
2 “Child Marriage:” Forward: Safeguarding Rights and Dignity. 2012
3 Navai, Ramita. Unreported World: Nigeria Child Brides.2008.

By May el Habachi