Conflicts to Watch in The New Millennium

Early marriage is prevalent in Nigeria, especially amongst Muslims in the north, due to
the belief that early marriage prevents promiscuity. However, the major cause of early
marriage has been attributed to poverty by Tim Braimah.
Many girls are married off by the time they are 15, and some girls are married as early
as age 9. Girls are extremely susceptible to disease and domestic violence and are
restricted access to education due to the early age at which they give birth and begin
caring for their children.
One popular source of legislation that was first brought forward in 1991 and became
national law in 2003 is the Child Rights Act. Among other factors to protect children from
abuses and discrimination, Section 21 and 23 of the act made it illegal to marry off a
child below the age of 18. If a husband consummates a marriage with a child, it is
considered rape.
The Child Rights Act competes with sharia law in some states as well as with customs
and cultural expectations in different regions. The Child Rights Act has not been
enacted in 13 of Nigeria's 36 states where other cultural and religious factors are largely
influencing the laws that are enacted. Even in states with laws prohibiting child
marriage, these laws have been ineffective since there remain many cases of child
marriage.
Ethnic Minorities
Minority ethnic groups have been fighting for equal rights since Nigeria's independence
in 1960. Many of the tensions between ethnic groups arise from Nigeria's federal
system, and many minorities view the governmental structure as skewed in favor of the
three major ethnic groups, the Hausa-Fulani in the North, the Yoruba in the West, and
the Igbo in the east. They believe that the federation is not inclusive of minorities, which
leads to marginalized ethnic groups.
Since Nigeria's independence, minorities have joined together to demand the formation
of new states, increasing the number of states from 12 in 1967 to the current number of
36, in the attempts to reduce the regional power of dominant ethnic groups. However,
this only led to the further marginalization of smaller ethnic minorities by more powerful
ethnic minorities within the state. Also, the limited presence of power-sharing
mechanisms means that the national leadership of Nigeria has remained in the power of
the majority ethnic groups.
Religious Minorities
According to its constitution, Nigeria is a secular country. The Constitution forbids the
establishment of a state religion and guarantees the right to freedom of religion. Nigeria
has a population roughly split in half, between Christians predominantly in the South
and Muslims in the North, and with a minority population of traditional religion
Page 230 of 438