Abstract
Early marriage forces girls into adulthood before they are emotionally and physically matured, leading to a range of harmful effects on their health, education, economic and social development. For many countries, eighteen is the legal age of marriage. Nigeria has undergone fierce constitutional battles to establish a minimum age for marriage. This paper examines the controversies surrounding the legality of child marriages conducted in Nigeria. The paper observed the high prevalence of child marriage among the Hausa-Fulani communities in northwest Nigeria in spite of international and domestic legal instruments outlawing child marriage. The paper observed that, child marriage in those communities is predicated on Islamic marital jurisprudence. The paper found loopholes in the law as the major rift lines in the conflict of laws of marriage in Nigeria. The paper suggests a harmonisation of laws and improved education for girls to strengthen the prioritisation of policy against child marriage.
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