Teenage Pregnancy In Nigeria

Before taking a dive into issue of teen pregnancy in Nigeria, it is important for the readers of the blogpost to know that many teen mothers are victims. Many were assaulted by older men around them and most are victims of child marriages. Treating teenage mothers around us with kindness is very crucial as they are often victims of their environments or cultural/societal conventions.

Teenage mothers are faced with many challenges in a heavily religious country like Nigeria where premarital sex is frowned upon and where women are treated poorly no matter the situation they find themselves in. And although it is sometimes understandable why it is frowned upon, depending on the circumstances, many Nigerians do not make things easy for teenage mothers. They already endure so much, so it’s not necessary to draw attention to their predicament and make fun of or condemn them for it.

According to UNICEF, one in four girls is married before she’s turned18 because of cultural and societal norms, and also because of the pandemic that is pedophilia and child trafficking that is mostly disguised as ‘worshipful custom’ in some parts of the country. Also, more than an alarming rate of 600,00 girls become mothers before turning 18. Furthermore, adolescent girls in Nigeria’s northwest are nearly five times more likely to have given birth to children than girls in the southwest of the nation, per Africa Check’s 2018 survey. These are the issues that should be addressed instead of isolating teenage mothers.

Numerous studies on adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria that I have read have enumerated a number of contributing factors, such as poverty, illiteracy, and a lack of awareness regarding sex education. And as much as that is very true, one thing that these articles fail to mention, which is obviously the leading cause of this prevalent problem, is the pedophilia and daylight child trafficking that the patriarchal system has helped normalized. It is obvious that even though there are cases where some teenagers became mothers due to sexual intercourse with a male agemate, many teenage mothers were put in that predicament due to pedophile and predator males around them and ‘poverty’ and ‘illiteracy’ are not excuses for pedophiles. A pauper or uneducated man should know not to find a teenager or young adolescent attractive let alone engage in sexual activities (rape) with them. And that is why the stigmatization of teenage mothers is misplaced energy that should be directed at the predators and child molesters in society.

Teenage pregnancy is stigmatized, which has caused young girls to take extreme measures to end their pregnancies—many of which result in major health problems. These are the ways that I believe that society should treat teenage mothers. But first, a brief dive into the causes of teenage pregnancy;

• THE PATRIARCHY: A system that was created to oppress women and strip them off their human rights and impose laws that puts them at a disadvantage, it is no surprise that it is the leading cause of child pregnancy. Everything that the patriarchy stands for causes hindrances to women’s rights and freedom. Teenage pregnancy is a major problem in Nigeria because of the patriarchy, which gives rise to the antiquated and corrupt belief that women are not human beings with thoughts and ideas of their own and the ability to make decisions about their life.

• STIGMATIZATION OF SEX EDUCATION: Two topics that ought to be covered in every school curriculum are sex education and sign language. Young girls are engaging in sexual activities without knowing what to do or not do before, during, or after sex because of a lack of knowledge about sex education. In addition, it has caused females to have dreadful and occasionally traumatic first experiences since they were not trained to speak out when they feel uncomfortable or when they want to stop having sex. It has also led teenagers to sought to pornographic contents as ‘teachers’ before a first experience and as facts will have it, consuming pornographic contents is not the best way to learn abut sex considering its aggressive and sexist nature.

As much as poverty and illiteracy can cause teenage pregnancy, it is dishonest to reduce parents selling off their underage daughter to a rich man to make end means as them having ‘poverty mentality’ because it leaves space for people to create excuses for them that they had no other choice than to sell their daughter. Or when we argue that because it is the norm of a religion, a young girl with so much to live for and achieve, can ‘marry’ an imam that is almost 10 times her age. At the end of the day, these young girls are not old enough to defy their parents and society, they can barely make decisions on what future career path is most suitable for them.

There are plenty ways to help teenage mothers in Nigeria and I think that the most important one is creating a judgement free zone where they are treated with kindness. Castigating teenage mothers have done more harm than good and for what? They are the victims. They should have family, friends and a community behind them through their tough times.

Another way to help teenage mothers to protest against the normalization of child marriages in Nigeria. Pedophilia should be illegal and the right authorities should be put in place by the government to help regulate this pandemic.

Teenage pregnancy is one of the many epidemics that should be properly addressed by Nigerians and the Nigerian government because it has not only led to deaths of many teenage and young adolescent girls in this nation, it has caused lifelong disabilities to them. Educating young Nigerians on the importance of using protection during sex and punishing all adults involved in organizing weddings involving a child is very important in eradicating the annual increase of teenage mothers in Nigeria. And to all the teenage mothers out there, if you need a community where you feel safe and validated, remember that feminists care, and Herbode cares.