The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says Nigeria has the second
largest number of child brides in the world, with 23 million girls and
women married out as children in the country, thereby ending their
educational strive.
Mr Bhanu Pathak, Chief of Field Office (CFO)
UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office, stated this in Bauchi on Saturday
at a Youth Talk ceremony organised in commemoration of the 30th
Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
“Too many Nigerian children and young people are being left behind, especially when it comes to education.
“Nigeria has the world’s highest number of out-of-school children; more than 10.5 million Nigerian children are not in school.
“Nigeria
also has the second largest number of child brides in the world with 23
million girls and women married as children, and as such, ending their
education,” said Pathak.
He reiterated UNICEF’s resolve to foster
a stronger partnership with the Nigerian government at the federal and
state levels for the realisation of children’s rights.
In his
remarks, Mr Sagir Musa, the President, Youth Advocates For Education,
Bauchi, said, the challenges of young people included high rate of
unemployment, lack of basic life skills, drug abuse, political thuggery
and illiteracy among others.
He commended the state government
for collaborating with UNICEF, Bauchi Field Office, to organise such
forum which gave young people the opportunity to have their voices heard
and take decisions on matters that affected their lives.
According
to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the ceremony was organized by
UNICEF and Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The
Youth Talk, which is tagged ‘The Nigeria We Want: Voices from Bauchi’,
was sponsored by United Kingdom Department For International Development
(DFID), with participants from six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe,
Jigawa, Plateau and Taraba States.