Child Marriage Is a Security Crisis, Not Culture — Kalthum Foundation
By Matthew Eloyi
The Kalthum Foundation for Peace has called on governments across Northern Nigeria and the Sahel to treat ending child marriage as a national security priority, warning that poverty, conflict and displacement are pushing thousands of girls out of school and into early marriages.
The foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Ummu Kalthum Muhammad Rabiu, made the call on Sunday to mark the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, urging governments, security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, and international development partners to take urgent action to protect girls and secure their future.
In a statement issued in Maiduguri, Borno State, Rabiu said child marriage was not an unavoidable cultural practice but a consequence of underdevelopment and insecurity that threatens education, human development and peace across the region.
She said the Boko Haram insurgency, activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), banditry, kidnapping and climate-related pressures had worsened the vulnerability of girls in Northern Nigeria and other parts of the Sahel.
According to her, when schools close because of insecurity, girls are often the first to lose access to education, while families struggling with displacement, hunger and economic hardship frequently resort to marrying off their daughters.
“When families are displaced and have no food, who is married off at 13 for N50,000 or a bag of rice? The girl,” she said, describing early marriage as a harmful survival strategy adopted by vulnerable households.
Rabiu cited figures attributed to UNICEF indicating that 44 per cent of girls in Northern Nigeria are married before the age of 18. She also referenced estimates of child marriage prevalence in Niger and Burkina Faso to illustrate the scale of the challenge across the Sahel.
She warned that the consequences extend beyond the immediate loss of childhood, noting that early marriage frequently deprives girls of education and limits their future economic opportunities.
The foundation chief executive argued that the implications also affect national security, as communities trapped in poverty and low human development face greater challenges in building resilience against violent extremism.
“Girl child marriage is not just a girls’ issue. It is a security issue. It is an HDI issue. It is a peace issue,” she said.
She added that protecting girls from early marriage and keeping them in school should form part of broader strategies to address the conditions that enable insecurity and violent extremism to thrive.
Rabiu also called for greater inclusion of women in security discussions and peacebuilding initiatives, lamenting that decisions affecting women and girls in the Sahel were often taken without their meaningful participation.
She said women in conflict-affected communities were not merely victims requiring assistance but also frontline responders who contribute to negotiations, reconciliation and efforts to prevent recruitment into armed groups.
“For too long, security meetings in Abuja, Niamey, Ouagadougou and N’Djamena discuss the Sahel without one woman from the Sahel at the table,” she said.
To address the problem, the foundation outlined three priority measures for governments and development partners.
First, it called for the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration and stronger protection of educational institutions against attacks and insecurity. Rabiu said keeping girls in school was essential to preventing early marriage, trafficking and radicalisation.
Second, she urged traditional and religious leaders, including Tsangaya and Islamiyya teachers, to work with communities to end child marriage rather than allowing harmful practices to persist under the guise of religion or culture.
She maintained that marriage should involve maturity, consent and the capacity to assume family responsibilities, arguing that poverty should not be used to justify marrying off children.
Third, the foundation called on donors, United Nations agencies and state governments to provide direct funding to local women-led organisations, which it said possessed valuable knowledge of the needs and realities of conflict-affected communities.
Rabiu cited the role of women in negotiating the return of abducted girls in Monguno and persuading young men to abandon ISWAP in Bama as examples of the contribution local women can make to peace and security.
As part of its activities for the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child, the foundation said it would engage 200 adolescent girls who had escaped child marriage and returned to school in three communities in Maiduguri.
According to Rabiu, the programme would provide the girls with an opportunity to share their experiences and concerns, placing their voices at the centre of discussions on their rights, safety and future.
She urged girls across Northern Nigeria and the Sahel not to surrender their aspirations to poverty, insecurity or social pressure.
“Your education is your right. Your voice is your power. Your marriage must be your choice, not your family’s survival strategy,” she said.
The foundation reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for the rights and welfare of girls, saying its campaign would continue until every girl in Northern Nigeria and across West Africa could access education, live safely and make informed choices about her future.
Rabiu said ending child marriage required a collective commitment from governments, communities, religious institutions, development partners and women-led organisations, stressing that protecting girls was fundamental to achieving lasting peace and sustainable development in the region.