One of the most popular proposals at the recently-concluded southwest zonal public hearings on the amendment of the 1999 constitution is the deletion of a section considered an implicit nod to child marriage in Nigeria.
Even though Section 29(4)(a) of the constitution stipulates that a Nigerian of 'full age' is someone that is 18 years and above, Section 29(4)(b) also recognizes any woman who is married to be of full age.
The scope of the controversial sub-section is limited to the renunciation of Nigerian citizenship, but it has long been criticized as an implicit legitimization of child marriage.
A motion to delete it during a similar review of the constitution in 2013 initially passed but was later overturned after then-Senator Ahmed Yerima said it discriminated against Muslim women who are considered of full age once they are married.
The Constitution does not explicitly establish a minimum age of marriage, and the Child Rights Act of 2003, which sets the legal age of marriage at 18, has not been fully adopted by all states in the country where tens of thousands of girls, especially in the northern region, are being married off before the age of 18.
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