The last few years have tested the longstanding history of traditional marriage. Homosexuals are winning the right to marry in some parts of the world, and a new amendment to Nigeria’s Constitution states that grown men can marry underage girls, even infants.
Correction: Even though Nigerian Senator Ahmed Yerima did marry a 13-year-old girl, that is not the senator pictured above.
According to published reports, states that any underage girl who is married will be considered of full age.
A writer for Blackbluedog blog advocates marriage for every Nigerian girl. He writes: “Affluent parents who know where the next meal is coming from … don’t give their babies out in marriage.”
The write states 6,888,570 Nigerian girls below the age of 18 are being married off every year.
Critics of the controversial amendment point out the hypocrisy that married underage girls are not of legal age to participate in elections.
From BlackBlueDog blog via Tattletailzz:
Section 29 (1) of the 1999 Constitution states: “Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.”
Sub-section (4a) states: “Full age means the age of 18 years and above”, while (4b) says: “Any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age.”
The new amendment says that a married underage girl is now deemed to be a full adult in the country. This has led to widespread protest world-wide from those who are concerned about the way the law promotes child abuse. Petitions are circulating and even those who’ve moved away from Nigeria are using social media as a way to express their outrage.
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