Child marriage: Pay her school fees, not her bride price
FOR as long as I can remember, delusion, self-interest and greed have motivated not only the Nigerian government but the Nigerian people who often respond to the calculating, preying actions of their leaders not with outrage, but with the cunning of those who will profit by supporting what we all know to be wrong. However, today I am proud of the outpouring of reactions following the passage of the Senate’s Bill making the age of consent in Nigeria 13 (in most European countries it is 16 and even in Spain, where it is still 13, activists, public figures, fight tirelessly to have it raised). Child marriage has been legalised in Nigeria, everything our mothers and grand mothers have fought for, to guarantee us a right to education, a right to determine and decide for ourselves our path in life, has been swiftly destroyed. One question remains: Where are the female members of the Senate? Nigerian women need to know they deserve better. When a female House of Representatives member is inte...