Daniel Otera
Hundreds of thousands of adolescent girls across Nigeria’s rural communities remain locked in cycles of poverty, poor health, and forced motherhood despite the country’s youth-dominated population.
This reality came to the fore during the 2025 World Population Day commemoration in Abuja, where the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Ms Elsie G. Attafuah, described the situation as “a development emergency.”
“Girls are often denied the opportunity to decide if, when, and how many children to have, because they are married too early, kept out of school, or lack access to contraception,” she said.
The crisis is most visible in rural areas of North Central states, including Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Kwara, where weak health infrastructure, entrenched cultural norms, and delayed policy implementation continue to expose adolescent girls to early marriage and its consequences.
According to the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF, 46% of girls in rural Nigeria are married before the age of 18, compared to just 20% in urban areas. This rural-urban gap underscores deeper structural inequalities in Nigeria’s middle belt.
Although figures have declined since the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), which recorded a national child marriage rate of 58.2%, the practice persists in rural North Central states where poverty, gender expectations, and cultural pressures on girls remain high.
“The denial of reproductive autonomy is not just a health concern it is a development emergency,” Ms Attafuah said. “It robs girls of education and exposes them to life-threatening pregnancies and economic dependency.”
Despite Nigeria’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage, UNFPA’s 2024 Annual Review reports that fewer than 3 in 10 rural health centres in the North Central region offer youth-friendly reproductive health services or access to modern contraceptives.
Girls who become pregnant while still teenagers are frequently forced to abandon school. This contributes to Nigeria’s staggering 10.2 million out-of-school children the highest number in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Federal Ministry of Education (2025).
“Many young people are unable to achieve their desired family size not because they don’t want to, but because they lack access to information, resources, and support,” Ms Attafuah added.
While awareness is increasing, stigma, judgement, and cultural taboos remain strong barriers. A 2024 scoping review published in BMC Public Health found that only 11% of Nigerian girls aged 15 to 19 use any form of contraception—even though many expressed the desire to delay or prevent pregnancy.
In many communities, girls fear ridicule and discrimination from health workers or neighbours. A 16-year-old girl from Ilorin, quoted in a 2020 study in the Reproductive Health Journal, said:
“It is not good for a 16-year-old to use modern contraceptives because it could have side effects when she’s grown up.”
A state official, quoted in the same study, confirmed that fear drives girls away from public clinics:
“They will hide to get access because they know that our culture is against it.”
The 2024 NDHS reports that the national contraceptive prevalence rate among married women is 20%, with an unmet need for contraception now at 21%. Among teenagers, the usage rate is even lower, highlighting a wide gap between awareness and access.
A 16-year-old from Lafia told researchers:
“If you go to the clinic for family planning, people will say you are a prostitute. But they don’t know I am already married and have a child.”
Despite the Child Rights Act of 2003, which sets the legal marriage age at 18, enforcement is inconsistent. As of 2025, Kogi, Niger, and parts of Benue State have yet to fully domesticate the Act, allowing child marriage to continue under customary or religious law.
“When states fail to harmonise with federal child protection laws, it leaves adolescent girls vulnerable to early marriage, school dropout, and restricted access to health services,” a legal expert told The Journal.
Data from BudgIT’s 2024 State Transparency Index reveals that these same states allocate less than 2% of their health budgets to adolescent reproductive health services. States with the highest rates of child marriage also rank lowest in reproductive health funding.
Nigeria’s population is projected to reach 226 million by the end of 2025, according to the National Population Commission and Worldometer. With a growth rate of 2.1% annually, Nigeria is expected to become the third most populous country by 2050.
Experts warn that unless health, education, and gender equity are prioritised, the nation’s demographic boom could deepen inequality and undermine economic growth.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his World Population Day message, emphasised:
“Let us stand with young people and build a future where every person can shape their destiny in a world that is fair, peaceful, and full of hope.”
The United Nations, through UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF, and UN Women, is now working with the Nigerian government to address the crisis. Ms Attafuah outlined four key intervention areas:
Expand youth-friendly reproductive health services in rural communities.
Delay age of marriage through legislation and education.
Increase budgetary allocation for adolescent health programmes.
Build social support systems that reduce stigma and empower girls.
“We must ensure every girl has the right to dream, decide, and determine her future,” Ms Attafuah stated.
Yet, the urgency remains. For many girls in North Central Nigeria, time is running out. As data now drives national dialogue, the burden is on state and federal authorities to act not just talk.