Binta Iliyasu PhD, (ELP 2015) // Principal Research Officer at the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research
This past March, I participated at the 62nd United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. The event titled “Girl child Marriage and Gender Inequality in Nigeria’’ was sponsored by the Jubilee Campaign, U.S.A. It was conducted in collaboration with the Stefanos Foundation (www.stefanosfoundation.org), a Non-Governmental Organization working on human rights issues in Northern Nigeria to promote girl child education and gender equality amongst other things.
Binta in collaboration with the Stefanos Foundation (www.stefanosfoundation.org) @ CSW62, New York, March, 2018. From left - Abdallah Joseph Mohammed Baikie, Angella Olofu Adeoye, Binta Iliyasu, Yakubu Saleh Bawa, Fatima Omotayo Njoku, her little daughter - Isabel, and Mark Lipdo.
The 2018 CSW 62 themed, “Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Rural Women and Girls,’’ brought together people across the globe including Governmental and Non- Governmental Organizations of which the Stefanos Foundation, based in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, participated. It was a very good platform to meet with people of like minds and passions, share issues of common interest, exchange ideas, and learn more to forge ahead in the path of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality and Human Right 2030.
It was still winter in the U.S, thus I went very prepared with warm clothing to guard against the cold weather. Our participation as a team was met with the serious challenge of inadequate funding to cover the accommodation and feeding. However, we managed to survive on the limited funds made available to the Team!
Talking about Girl Child Marriage and Gender Inequality in Nigeria at the CSW 62 side event (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZANTqeMiLOnm1JPjZJnkzmSjiVlqQhTL/view?usp=drivesdk) was of critical importance in terms of Gender equality and empowering the Rural women and the Girl-child that was highlighted, in order to achieve sustainable development. To present these issues, I used the inspiring story of my education, engagement and personal life journey and experience in Agricultural Research and Development as written and recorded at the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) of the College of Natural Resources, University of California (UC) Berkeley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRkPXEG0e5g).
Photo of an under- age mother (Source: Stefanos Foundation, Nigeria)
In Nigeria, women constitute almost half ( 49% ) of the population (Nigeria Demographics profile 2016).They play dual roles in the productive and reproductive spheres as wives, mothers, daughters, nurses, maids, producers, managers, labourers, community developers/organizers amongst others, and they are major contributors to the social and economic development of the society. However, their participation in the formal and informal structures and processes, where decisions regarding the use of societal resources generated by both men and women are made remain insignificant, even in the 21stcentury. Tradition, culture and religion have dictated the relationship between men and women for centuries and the entrenched valuesallow the domination as it relates to the structure of social organization and institution at all levels of leadership.
The Nigerian society is patriarchal thus setting women’s structurally unequal position in the families and markets by condoning gender differential terms in inheritance rights and legal adulthood, by tacitly condoning domestic and sexual violence, and sanctioning differential wages for equal or comparable work, thus justifying the marginalization of women in education, economy, labour market, politics, business, family, domestic matters, inheritance and even marriage.
The legal age for Girls to marry in Nigeria is now 18 years compared to anything below juvenile age of 13 or less. However, early marriage of girls below this age is still being widely practiced. Many societies primarily in Northern Nigeria continue to support the idea that girls should marry at or soon after puberty (that is the moment they start menstruating). Parents and heads of families make the choices for daughters and with little regard for the physical implications. They look upon marriage as a family building strategy, an economic arrangement or a way to protect girls from unwelcome sexual advances or unwanted pregnancies.
This practice has promoted human right violation in Nigeria, giving rise to intellectual, and psychological trauma; cutting off educational opportunities and chances for personal growth, and premature pregnancies, thus exposing the girl-child mother to a life time of sexual and domestic subservient and exposure to Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) as demonstrated by many under-developed girl-child married off before they are fully developed. Nigeria has 40 % global prevalence rate of early child birth - related VVF (obstetric fistula) due to high percentages of under-16 girls’ marriages (NDHS, 2013). This practice like in other developing countries impacts the Sustainable Development Goals negatively (UNFPA, 2013). Lack of education makes it easy for girls to slip into the margins of societies; ending up less healthy, less skilled, and ill-prepared to participate in the political, social and economic development of their communities. In addition, they remain at higher risk of poverty, maternal mortality, HIV/ AIDS, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violence. Thus, the Northern Nigeria’s high gender inequity in education places the majority of young girls at a severe disadvantage.
Some VVF patients in a hospital, North Central Nigeria (Source: Stefanos Foundation, Nigeria)
Education is a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for enhancing income and reducing poverty. The education of the Girl-child is therefore an important foundation to improving the status of women, and is recognized as a fundamental strategy for development. Hence, sustainable development is not possible if women remain uneducated, discriminated against and disenfranchised. Improving and widening their access to education, especially basic education, accelerates social and economic advancement (Dauda, R.O., 2007). It therefore becomes necessary to fight this scourge as key to Nigeria’s economic development.
Fatsuma, Binta and Sadiya posed for a photograph as the two girls publicly showed their interest to be educated ‘like Binta’ (Yewa North LGA, Ogun State, Nigeria, 2017).
Education comes with the power to choose, because it gives the woman the ability to access and utilize information for her, her family’s and society’s benefit. Denying the Girl-child the right to education denies her fundamental human right. She is denied the power to take decisions concerning her life; who and when to marry, when and how many children to have, etc. Furthermore, denial of the Girl-child education is denial to her generation because educated mothers are more likely to send their own children to school and consequently the ripple effect on her generation. Thus, educating girls is the most effective investment for achieving the development goals (www.worldbank.org/education/girl) while denial is the bedrock of all gender inequality and the threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030.
These girls from GGSS Bari (my village in Kano State, Northern Nigeria) are saying ‘’Yes’’ to education. ‘’I want to be given an opportunity to be like Binta’’ is their unanimous response during a Role modeling event, January, 2018.
The 2030 agenda for sustainable development cannot be realized until all forms of discrimination against women are eliminated. More than 100 NGOs in support of the UN Commission on the status of women gathered in an untiring advocacy for gender equality and empowerment of rural women and girls across the globe. They focusing on gender-based issues and diverse forms of discrimination against women which needed to be eliminated in order to realize the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
My participation at the CSW62 was a great opportunity and privilege to advocate for Girl child education and Gender equality and also share my thoughts on how Africa could achieve Food and nutrition security by breaking the gender barrier to empower rural Women and Girls educationally and agriculturally. It was a big eye opener and great encouragement to see the Nations uniting together to fight against a common course which seriously impacts the wellbeing of the rural communities.
Binta @ CSW62, March, 2018
As a female Scientist from Northern Nigeria, I will remain committed to the emancipation of the Girl-child, using my story and personal journey in agricultural research and development to show-case the importance of Girl-child education and make advocacy for the rest of the girls like me who are being denied the opportunity for education. I was lucky to gain an education because my parents, having been enlightened about the importance of education by the missionaries, took the risk of sending me to school, not minding the attacks/threats. Abu’s parents succumbed to the culture, traditions and societal pressures and forced her to drop from school completely to marry after both of us secured admission to a boarding primary school. Today, Abu is filled with regrets and ‘had I known’. In addition, none of her children went to school! This seems even ‘better’ compared to the story of Murja who as a child-bride was terribly battered as her husband consummated the marriage – she was left at the end to spend her life in a VVF Centre! Worse still was Halima who lost her life after the first child birth due to retained placenta. She died as she fell from the bicycle that was taking her to the nearest hospital in Katsina State! Sadly and painfully, her remains were buried in the forest across ‘Kogi’, the river separating our village in Kano from Katsina State.
Hence, the CSW62 was a global forum and platform for advocacy and development of partnership towards the empowerment of rural women and girls in order to achieve Gender equality and SDG 2030.
It is worthy to note that Nigeria is among the 28 countries at risk of not achieving gender parity in primary education before the year 2025 (http://www.uis.unesco.org). This is most severe in the rural areas where poverty and ignorance thrive.
Ending the scourge of Girl-child marriage and gender inequality demands collective and joint action by all the stakeholders in decision making – families, communities, religious leaders, local and international governments, international organizations and NGO’s! Resources should be mobilized at all levels, within a coordinated and cooperative structure to establish new initiatives. Sustained inputs are needed to boost girls’ enrolment in schools, create girl-friendly school environment, and enable the communities to understand the value of girls’ education better (Afr J. Repr. Health., 2010).
It is time to put concerted efforts to fight this Monster called ‘Gender inequality’
My trip to the United States offered me an excellent opportunity and easy way to send postal order for the renewal of my 2018 membership dues in the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), thus circumventing the bottlenecks faced in transferring money from Nigeria.
Binta in front of the U.S Postal Service, Grand Central Station, New York, 21/3/18
When will their freedom come?