Nigeria: Ezekwesili Urges Govt, States to Enforce 18-Year Minimum Marriage Age

What the report says

Former Nigerian education minister Obiageli Ezekwesili has urged the federal and state governments to enforce 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage nationwide, saying the move would help curb child marriage and protect girls’ education. The remarks were made in a statement marking the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, according to Leadership, which was distributed by AllAfrica.

Ezekwesili argued that early marriage continues to remove girls from school and harms long-term development. She said Nigeria should strengthen laws and work more closely with traditional and religious leaders so the minimum marriage age is respected not only on paper but also in communities. She also called for broader access to education for girls, especially in rural areas.

The report cites figures she used to illustrate the scale of the problem, including an estimate of 23.6 million women and girls in Nigeria married before age 18. She also pointed to Jigawa State as an example of high prevalence, saying many women there were married before adulthood and left school because of marriage. Beyond legal enforcement, she pressed governments to reduce school-related costs and improve foundational literacy, arguing that children who cannot read early are more likely to fall behind and drop out.

More broadly, the story places her comments within Africa’s wider struggle with child marriage and girls’ school retention. As background, child marriage is widely linked by development agencies to lower educational attainment, health risks and reduced economic participation, making policy enforcement and school access central to prevention efforts.