Does Nigeria have marriageable age?

The sad case of Ese Oruru brings to the fore many issue such as the issue of ‘marriageable age’ in Nigeria.
Not much has been said about this latter issue in a while and I believe this is yet another good opportunity to address it for the benefit of the Nigerian child. As it stands, in some parts of the country, the minimum age to get married is as low as 12 years old.

Ask anybody what the phrase ‘marriageable age’ is under Nigerian law, and you will be surprised by how many different indices will be initiated in an attempt to determine the legal age for marriage in Nigeria. This only leaves one confused the more.

In other countries, the answer can be given to you in one word. For example, as a general rule, marriageable age for females in Kenya is 16; Liberia, 18; Japan, 20, North Korea; 17, Germany; 18 and UK; 18.

Unlike in other countries, where this question is easily answered, the Nigerian lawyer is left with no choice than to say, “It depends”.

The 1999 Constitution (as amended) has not offered any help in defining this term, although it mentioned the phrase in Section 29 wherein it provides for situations in which Nigerian citizens may renounce their citizenship. Section 29 (4) (a) stipulates that citizens must be of full age to do so. The section adds that “full age means the age of eighteen years and above”.

Two things must be noted about this provision of the law: One is that it does not end there. You must read this sub-section together with Section 29 (4)(b) which specifies that “any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age”. The second point to note is that this provision of the constitution is limited to the question of renunciation of citizenship. Thus, it does not apply to questions about “marriageable age”. In conclusion, nothing is said in the Nigerian Constitution about the phrase.

The Child Rights Act, which was passed in 2003, was celebrated as the law that would finally put the question to rest. This law sets the age of marriage at 18 years old. In line with the above, any person below 18 is not ‘marriageable’ by law as he/she is incapable of contracting a valid marriage. Any such marriage is a nullity, and a penalty of 500,000 Naira (Five Hundred Thousand Naira), a fine or five years imprisonment or both, await any parent, guardian or any person who facilitates such marriages.

However, this law is not one of those laws that can bind all states in Nigeria just like that. What I mean is that although the Federal Government has tried to stamp out child marriage with the enactment of the Child Rights Act of 2003, each state in Nigeria has to enact the act under its own state laws before it is enforceable. Thus, state legislature has the legislative competence to make law for the protection of children. This explains why states make laws, as regards this issue, in consonance with its religion, culture and tradition as opposed to adopting the Act. It is hereby suggested that the protection of children ought to be on the exclusive legislative list and not any place else, for obvious reasons. There should be a uniform age set for marriage in all of Nigeria’s laws. Either that or there must be an enactment of a new Act, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act or something related to this, which, if enacted, should automatically apply to all states in Nigeria in order to protect the girl child.

Unfortunately, the current state of the law is to the effect that a social evil such as child marriage can and will continue to be practised in a state that is yet to pass the Child Rights Act as domestic law.

But I must add that even though many of the southern Nigerian states have adopted this Act, culture and religion of some of the Nigerian peoples make it difficult to enforce same.

In conclusion, we must be reminded that culture and religion is not an excuse in criminal law. If Nigeria is serious about enforcing its laws, like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission fights financial crimes nowadays, then this problem of child marriage can be solved or at least reduced drastically.

Larry-Williams, a lawyer, writes from Lagos