Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education, has called on the Federal Government and state governments to enforce 18 as the minimum age of marriage across Nigeria, warning that child marriage continues to undermine girls' education and the country's human capital development.
Ezekwesili made the call in a statement on Sunday to mark the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, in which she urged African governments to strengthen girls' access to education and protect them from early marriage.
She said Nigeria had 23.6 million women and girls who were married before the age of 18, the highest number in West and Central Africa.
According to her, the situation is particularly alarming in parts of Northern Nigeria, citing Jigawa State, where 78 per cent of women aged 20 to 49 were first married before 18, while 63 per cent of women left school to marry.
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Ezekwesili, who is the founder of Human Capital Africa, said governments must work with traditional and religious leaders to ensure that the minimum marriage age is enforced in law and in practice in every state and community.
She also called for the removal of school fees, uniform costs and transportation expenses that prevent girls, particularly those in rural communities, from progressing to secondary school.
"A girl cannot stay in secondary school if she never learned to read," she said, linking foundational literacy and numeracy to efforts to prevent child marriage.
Ezekwesili cited estimates showing that 89 per cent of children in sub-Saharan Africa experience learning poverty, meaning they cannot read and understand a simple text by the age of 10.
She explained that girls who struggle to acquire basic literacy skills are more likely to fall behind academically and drop out of school, exposing them to a greater risk of early marriage.
She urged governments to make foundational learning a child-protection priority, ensuring that every girl can read with comprehension by age 10 through proven teaching methods.
The former minister further called on African governments to increase domestic funding for girls' education as foreign aid declines, while tracking girls' learning outcomes, transition to secondary school and child marriage rates.
On the economic consequences, Ezekwesili cited a report by Columbia University that included analysis by the Center for Global Development, estimating that child marriage could cost the global economy up to $175bn annually and nearly $2.5tn by 2040 through lost productivity and increased health risks.
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She noted, however, that progress was possible, pointing to estimates that 68 million child marriages had been averted over the past 25 years through girls' education, legal reforms and social protection.
According to her, each additional year of secondary education reduces a girl's likelihood of marrying before 18 by five percentage points or more.
Ezekwesili urged African governments to place girls' education and retention at the centre of the African Union's Decade of Accelerated Action for the Transformation of Education and Skills Development in Africa, covering 2025 to 2034.
She said the continent could significantly reduce child marriage if every African girl completed secondary education.
"Any girl-child should be a student, not a bride. She should learn, then lead," she said.