Regina Otokpa 
The National Coalition of Civil Society to End Child Marriage in Nigeria yesterday raised concerns that social norms are the biggest driver of child marriage in the country.
National Co-chair of the coalition, Kolawole Olatosimi, who made the disclosure during a media engagement in collaboration with Girls Not Brides in Abuja, noted that although poverty, ignorance and quest to belong to a certain class were reasons behind some parents marrying off their daughters off at a young age, social norms has continued to drive the numbers in Nigeria.
He said: “Social norm is a big issue because it does not look at education or how rich you are. Social norm has eaten deep and is contributing to child marriage in Nigeria because we have believed them to be normal.
We need to start addressing it.” Olatosimi who proposed imbibing deliberate positive social practices to change the ugly narrative, added that the media was key to changing the mind-set, mentality and behaviours responsible for child marriage in Nigeria.
“We need to start coming up with positive social practices. There are lots of anomalies in our society; we need positive policies to deliberately end child marriage in Nigeria.
“We don’t need more laws and policies on child marriage if the media can talk more on implementation of existing laws in Nigeria.”
