Addressing Child Marriage in Northern Nigeria …  · Web viewIn spite of Nigeria's public commitment to universal free education, less than 50% of children in northern Nigeria attend

Northern Nigeria: Background to ConflictDakar/Brussels, 20 December 2010 / International Crisis Group © 2010 |

The far north, if taken to comprise the twelve states that reintroduced Sharia (Islamic law) for criminal cases at the beginning of the century, is home to 53 million people. The large majority are Muslim, but there is a substantial Christian minority, both indigenous to the area and the product of migration from the south of the country….But following the disastrous rule of northern General Sani Abacha (1993-1998), the return to democracy in 1999 was viewed as a chance for the north to seek political and moral renewal. This lead to the reintroduction of Sharia in twelve states between 1999 and 2002, although only two have applied it seriously. Sharia caused controversy over its compatibility with international human rights standards and the constitution and regarding the position of Christians in those states. It also exacerbated recurrent conflicts between Muslims and Christians. But it was supported by many Muslims, and some Christians, who had lost faith in secular law enforcement authorities, and it also stimulated much open and democratic debate over the rule of law. Tensions over the issue have declined in recent years.

Violent conflict, whether riots or fighting between insurrectional groups and the police, tends to occur at specific flashpoints. Examples are the cities of Kaduna and Zaria, whose populations are religiously and ethnically very mixed, and the very poor states of the far north east, where anti-establishment groups have emerged. Many factors fuelling these conflicts are common across Nigeria: in particular, the political manipulation of religion and ethnicity and disputes between supposed local groups and “settlers” over distribution of public resources. The failure of the state to assure public order, to contribute to dispute settlement and to implement post-conflict peacebuilding measures is also a factor. Economic decline and absence of employment opportunities, especially as inequality grows, likewise drives conflict. As elsewhere in Nigeria, the north suffers from a potent mix of economic malaise and contentious, community-based distribution of public resources.

For a vast region beset with social and economic problems, the absence of widespread conflict is as notable as the pockets of violence. Some state authorities have done good work on community relations, but the record is uneven. At the federal level, clumsy and heavy-handed security responses are likely to exacerbate conflicts in the future. More fundamentally, preventing and resolving conflict in the far north will require far better management of public resources, an end to their distribution according to ethnic identity and job-creating economic revival.

Despite the Government of Nigeria’s (GON’s) commitment to providing universal basic education, the delivery of education services is inadequate, and even more so in northern Nigeria.  NEI strengthens state and local government systems that lay the foundation for delivering quality education services for out-of-school youth and orphans and vulnerable children.

In addition, the gender disparities in education between the northern and southern geopolitical zones are stark.  Nationally, about 43% of primary school-aged girls do not have access to basic education, and approximately two million more girls than boys are out of school.  In northern Nigeria, the percentage of girls

who have ever attended school stands at 34% and 39%, respectively; for secondary school the figures are 10% and 15%. 

Approximately six million students, including a significant number of girls, are enrolled in Qur’anic schools, predominantly in the northern region of the country.  These schools are defined as those offering only religious instruction and recitation of the Qur’an, do not offer any formal education curriculum, and are under the direction of mosque leaders and local Imams.  In some Qur’anic schools, male children (referred to as Almajiri) often leave very poor families to attend these schools and are often encouraged to beg on the streets for money to pay for their care and instruction. 

Addressing Child Marriage in Northern Nigeria

In northern Nigeria, 45 percent of girls are married by age 15, and 73 percent are married by age 18. Research revealed that the vast majority of child marriages were arranged by families. The spouses of these child brides were considerably older—husbands were an average of 12 years older than their wives; this age difference increased to 18 years for those in polygynous marriages.

Men made the vast majority of decisions in the household, regarding not only major life issues such as large purchases, but also more mundane matters such as daily purchases and meals. Sexual debut was often unwanted and traumatic for these young brides.

By Caroline Duffield/ BBC News, Kaduna

More than half of the 8.2m children out of school in Nigeria are in the north. The streets teem with impoverished youngsters, sprinting amongst heavy traffic, selling water and food.

In spite of Nigeria's public commitment to universal free education, less than 50% of children in northern Nigeria attend primary school, and only one in three is female, according to the Campaign for Global Education.

Local traditions of early marriage, and widespread suspicions over Western morals in schools, mean that girls are extremely unlikely to go to school.

"I was carried away by love. I was eight and I left school, because I wanted to get married," exclaims Hauwal Tijjani, frowning. Her parents followed the local traditions in the villages: She was married by the time she was 13. But by 16 her baby had died, and her husband divorced her - a pattern familiar in the region.

Hauwal spoke to the BBC amid the hum of sewing machines at the Tattalli Free School, a charity in Kaduna's back streets.

More than 30 students at the school are teenagers who are now divorced.

"It is poverty," says Rukayyat Adamu, the school's organiser. "In the villages, the parents can afford nothing," she says."There is no money for schooling. There is nothing to do but to just marry the girls out."

What is Sharia law?Sharia Law and Nigeria / April 5, 2007 / OnlineNewsHour / PBS

Sharia offers guidelines for everyday life, including prayers and donations to the poor. As addressed in the Quran, Sharia prescribes modest dress for both men and women and has been interpreted to require single-sex schools and transportation.

Several factors determine the underpinnings of Islamic law. The Quran (the Islamic holy text), the Sunna (the prophet Mohammed's teachings) and Muslim scholars' legal rulings all contribute to the collective body of Sharia laws.

At its broadest meaning, Sharia includes two major components -- rules governing acts of worship, or al-ibadat, and laws covering human interaction, or al-mu'amalat.

It is this second branch that has caused the most political turmoil. The laws contain violations known as "Hadd" offenses, which include sexual intercourse outside of marriage, alcohol consumption, highway robbery, theft and murder.

Sexual offenses can carry a sentence of stoning to death or flogging. Theft can be punished by the loss of a hand.

Islamic law in NigeriaAlthough Christians are not subject to Sharia law, its use has created an atmosphere of unease and intimidation between religious groups, often leading to violence.

Nigeria's population "encompasses more Muslims than the population of any Arab country, including Egypt," African studies scholar Ali Mazrui told a conference sponsored by the Nigeria Muslim Forum in 2001. "But can the Sharia be implemented at the state level without compromising secularism at the federal level?"

Boko Haram and Northern PovertySince 2009, the group has killed well over 900 people, Human Rights Watch says. Yet on the streets of Kano, the government is more readily denounced than the militants. Anger at the pervasive squalor, not at the recent violence, dominates. Crowds quickly gather around to voice their heated discontent, not with Boko Haram, but with what they describe as a shared enemy: the Nigerian state, seen by the poor here as a purveyor of inequality.

Of course, Boko Haram is feared and loathed by countless residents as well. Its brutal show of firepower here in Kano, a commercial center of about four million that for centuries has been a major entrepôt at the Sahara’s edge, has left many residents in shock. The attackers came on foot, by motorcycle and by car, throwing fertilizer bombs and pulling rifles from rice sacks, mowing down anybody who appeared to be in uniform. There were even decapitated bodies among the mounds of corpses the day after, said a witness, Nasir Adhama, who owns a textile factory with his family near one of the attack sites.

This month figures were released in Abuja indicating that poverty has increased since 2004, despite the nation’s oil wealth; in the north, Boko Haram’s stronghold, about 75 percent of the population is considered poor. Overall, 60 percent live on less than $1 a day. Every citizen appears aware of the glaring contrast between his or her own life and those of the elite.

Update: May of 2013 Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the region. The military (Joint Task Force) has been there 4 years, but is criticized for indiscriminate detention and killing of citizens. Sometimes more than 60 bodies in a day are brought by the military to the state hospital, even when there have been no bombings or clashes. Numbers vary in each area. Suspects are arrested in neighborhood sweeps by the military and taken to a barracks nearby, accused on flimsy or no evidence. Vigilantes have started defending themselves in some cities and one governor has

recruited the vigilantes for “training” and paying them $100 a month. They identify Boko Haram members in door to door visits with the military. According to officials, employees and witnesses, they are beaten, starved, shot and suffocated to death. Since 2009 there have been nearly 4,000 deaths from both sides.

States in Nigeria

Between 1962 and 1992, the Federal system comprised 3 Regions (1960), 4 Regions (1963), 12 States (1967), 19 States (1976), 21 States (1987) and since 1991, 30 States.

The Local Governments have also increased from 299 in 1970 to 301 (1979); and then to 781 (1981) before they reverted again to 301 (1984) and increased first to 449 (1987), 500 (1991) and to 589. As can be seen.....the Constituent units in the Nigerian federation had been tinkered with eleven times either at the State or Local Government level. With the increasing number of units, and, with what there is to be shared not varying much, greater pressure is put on available resources; hence the "national cake" is fragmented among many units.

Management of Oil Revenue …The current formula is: Federal Government 52.68%; states 26.72%; and local governments 20. 60%.

Currently, the management of oil revenue derivation is in the hands of governors of the oil producing states with little or no input from local communities in the management of such funds.

* State allocations are based on 5 criteria: equality (equal shares per state), population, social development, land mass, and revenue generation.

**The derivation formula refers to the percentage of the revenue oil producing states retain from taxes on oil and other natural resources produced in the state. World Bank

Oil revenue sharing formulaYear

Federal State* Loca

lSpecial Projects

Derivation Formula**

1958 40% 60% 0% 0% 50%

1968 80% 20% 0% 0% 10%

1977 75% 22% 3% 0% 10%

1982 55% 32.5

% 10% 2.5% 10%

1989 50% 24% 15% 11% 10%

1995 48.5% 24% 20% 7.5% 13%

2001 48.5% 24% 20% 7.5% 13%