Nigeria is one of the countries in the world with the highest rates of infant mortality and child marriage, according to the World Bank.
In his presentation at the introduction of the Policy Note on helping teenage girls to restart the stalled demographic transition and exploit the demographic dividend in Nigeria, World Bank economist Samik Adhikari made this statement.
The World Bank hosted the event on Friday, both digitally and physically in Abuja.
According to the World Bank economist, high poverty rates have resulted in early marriage, high fertility rates, and limited access to education for teenage girls.
“High poverty rates are one of the most powerful drivers of early marriage and high fertility rates among adolescent girls,” according to the study.
The need for adolescent females’ education is often hampered by poverty.”
He went on to say that Nigeria had one of the highest rates of under-five and infant mortality in the world, encouraging women to have more children.
“Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest U5MR and IMR, prompting mothers to have more children in the hopes that more of them will survive infancy.”
For adolescent moms, the risk of neonatal, post-neonatal, baby, child, and U5MR is significantly higher.
“Additionally, more than one-third of Nigeria’s children under the age of five are stunted, putting their chances of reaching their full potential in the future at jeopardy,” he added.
Adhikari also recognized a major issue as the absence of simple access to health facilities, particularly for many adolescent mothers.
“Adolescent moms are less likely to give birth in the presence of trained clinicians, and distance to health facilities and a shortage of providers are frequently cited as barriers to accessing health care,” he said.
Adhikari further mentioned that the country suffers from a high percentage of child marriages, with one of the highest rates in the world.
“Child marriage continues to afflict Nigerian society, despite the existence of national laws and the ratification of key international and African treaties, with little improvement in some states.”
“As a result, Nigeria has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with approximately 44% of Nigerian women aged 20 to 49 years old married before they turn 18.”
The inadequacy of Nigerian legislation and regulation to prevent child marriage is partially due to inconsistencies in the constitution, according to Adhikari.
The World Bank emphasized the importance of providing holistic assistance and measures to adolescent females in Nigeria in order to minimize fertility and facilitate demographic transition.
