SPECIAL REPORT: Akwa Ibom Schools Losing Girls to Teen Pregnancy at an Alarming Rate

When Early Pregnancy and Child Marriage Derail Education and Empowerment

When 15-year-old Essien (not real name) lost her mum in 2021, little did she know her life would take a different turn.

Being the 7th child of the family, Essien was just in JSS3 when the tragic death of her mom occurred. After the funeral, her father found it difficult to take care of them, both financially and otherwise.

She soon met a man who promised to take care of her and the relationship resulted in pregnancy.

Essien became pregnant at such a young age, leading to a halt in her education. Although the man did not deny the pregnancy, Essien told FIJ, he asked her to abort the baby. When she refused, he reluctantly agreed to shoulder the responsibilities. That was when she moved in with him.

Living with Challenges

“I met him when I was in JSS3. He is a fisherman who spends most of his time at the nearby riverine community where he works. He only comes home once in a while,” she said.

Now aged 17, Essien recounted her experience while pregnant, saying she felt pain all through and was always too tired to do anything.

Though living with her father when this reporter visited in October, Essien said she had been living with her baby’s daddy but occasionally moved in with her father and siblings whenever she could not cope in the man’s house alone with little or no financial assistance.

“He gives me between N4,000 and N5,000 once in a while and has only given me money three times this year. It is never enough to sustain us,” she said.

Essien said her worst regret was not being able to complete secondary education.

High Prevalence of Early Pregnancy/Marriage

Essien is just one of the 80 percent of young girls who gave up their education due to early pregnancy/child marriage, according to a UNICEF report. The report also revealed that 39 percent of girls married before their 15th birthday gave up their education.

Every year, an estimated 21 million girls aged 15 to 19 years, become pregnant in low-income regions, and approximately 12 million of them give birth.

Child marriage referring to the union of a young person less than 18 years is still widely practiced in many parts of the world and predominantly affects girls. It is a human rights violation that prevents girls from obtaining an education, enjoying optimal health, bonding with others their own age, maturing and ultimately choosing their own life partners.

Although child marriage is relatively higher in northern Nigeria with rates as high as 90 percent in states like Jigawa, the southern part of Nigeria is not without such cases. Akwa Ibom is among the four southern states with the highest prevalence of child marriage, with 22 percent recorded cases. Other states with similar percentages are Ogun, Oyo and Delta, with 29 percent, 23 percent and 23 percent respectively.

More Girls are Dropping Out

Apart from the numerous health implications of early pregnancy such as Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF), a medical condition that occurs when the girlchild’s body is too young and underdeveloped to give birth, early pregnancy/marriage deprives girls of their childhood, parental care and, most importantly, their education.

This prevalence of early pregnancy/child marriage has been found to translate to high rates of school dropouts among girls as revealed by a 2018 report by the Universal Basic Education Commission which ranked Akwa Ibom as the state with the highest number of out-of-school girls in the country with over 298,161 cases.

Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing can lead girls to drop out of school because of expulsion or personal circumstances, including having to take care of their children or being stigmatized by family, peers, and communities, a World Bank report states.

FIJ gathered that the tendency of a girl child to return to school after childbirth is very low as most of them either get busy with taking care of their kids or simply lose interest afterwards. Girls who move in with their partners go on to have more children and focus on raising a family while those who do not get married spend their remaining days working hard to earn a living with which to take care of themselves and the child.

An Obvious Secret in Akwa Ibom State

With a mission to find the human faces behind the high rate of early pregnancy/marriage in Akwa Ibom State, this reporter took a trip to the State.

About two hours’ drive from Uyo, the State capital, is Adadia, a rural community in the Uruan Local Government Area.

The first stop was a secondary school in the community to ascertain the rate of dropout among female students because of early pregnancy/child marriage. One of the teachers in the school, Mrs Nsikan Umoren, revealed that the rate of early pregnancy in the community is very high.

“Some of the female students suddenly stop coming to school, and when you call their names, their mates keep saying ‘absent’. If you ask them about the student’s whereabouts, they’ll keep mute and some simply give a burst of mischievous laughter. No one will disclose the reason for the student’s absence,” Mrs Umoren told FIJ.

She added that sometimes when she enquires about a particular student for so long, one of her classmates may come privately to tell her that the said student is pregnant. “They hide it from the teachers, and it’s shrouded in secrecy,” she said.

FIJ asked at least 20 students across three schools in Adadia, Ewet, and Mbak-Etoi communities, all in Akwa Ibom State, and found that about 15 students knew at least one classmate who had stopped coming to school because of early pregnancy.

“I know some students who got pregnant while in school. Most of them stopped coming to school and left the village out of shame. It is very rampant here,” said Cynthia, a 16-year-old student in Adadia community.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education.
• SDG 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education.
• SDG 5.3: Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early, and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
• SDG 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status.
• SDG 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 4.1: Percentage of children completing primary education and secondary education.
• Indicator for SDG 4.2: Percentage of children enrolled in early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education programs.
• Indicator for SDG 5.3: Percentage of women aged 20-24 who were married or in a union before age 18.
• Indicator for SDG 10.2: Proportion of individuals who have experienced violence or harassment in the previous 12 months.
• Indicator for SDG 16.2: Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age group, and form of exploitation.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: fij.ng

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