[SPECIAL REPORT] Who Is Sleeping With Nigerian Girls?

Paul Adepoju

On July 11, 2013, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to celebrate the United Nations' World Population Day with focus on adolescent pregnancy. In his message, UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon said the education, health and well-being of adolescent girls deserve our collective attention and resources.

"When we devote attention and resources to the education, health and wellbeing of adolescent girls, they will become an even greater force for positive change in society that will have an impact for generations to come. On this World Population Day, let us pledge to support adolescent girls to realize their potential and contribute to our shared future," he said.

In Nigeria, there are dedicated ministries, agencies, institutions, research centers, laws, policies, and edicts that are in support of the girl child education yet adolescent girls remain the most endangered demography in Nigeria, especially at the grassroots where illiteracy and alliterates are ubiquitous. In these areas, adolescent pregnancies have become a common phenomenon and members of the society are always on the lookout for the next girl to become gravid.

A visit to any of the primary or secondary government-owned maternity centers that offer free healthcare services would reveal that Nigeria is probably the nation UN had in mind when it decided to make adolescent pregnancy the focus of this year's World Population Day because Nigeria's maternity centers are daily filled with numerous underage pregnant adolescent girls who are often followed to the health centers by their mothers or close relatives, but never by the man responsible for the impregnation.

Adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria is a fascinating conundrum. While the girls are everywhere with their bulging tummies, no one can identify the men responsible for such pregnancies. Even more intriguing is the fact that the supporters of such acts are at all levels of government where they also remain faceless.

It would be recalled that a bill that sought to outlaw girl child marriage was shut down in the National Assembly by the same lawmakers who said no to same sex marriage but didn't see anything wrong with adults sleeping with girls who are not yet capable of making simple decisions of life.

This shocking truth has resulted in a truce that UN and other international agencies are aware of which is the fact that forget the committees, the Nigerian government is not serious about the fate of its adolescent girls.

The nonchalance of the government to the fate of the adolescent girls portends great public health dangers of epidemic magnitude. One of such is the nation's fight against HIV/AIDS.

A recent report showed that compared with other nations, Nigerian children are the worst affected by the dreaded virus. This is not surprising because adolescent pregnancies are products of unprotected sex which is the leading cause of HIV infections.

Furthermore, a study showed that men who get adolescent girls pregnant often sleep with more girls. .If such men are infected with the virus (1 or 2, or both), more girls are infected. The current poor access to effective prevention of mother-to-child transmission treatment further puts the baby at risk of getting infected with the virus.

Furthermore, many of the girls are usually abandoned by the men that got them pregnant and may remarry thus spreading the virus to their new husband and children. 

The rate at which adolescent pregnancies can create public health crisis is not additive, it is exponential and has been documented for several health conditions. Thus Nigerian government will continue to shoot itself in the foot with its continual politicization of a potential healthcare landmine and should take the issue of adolescent girls very serious.

Ways to achieving the required level of consciousness and public awareness don't require setting up committees, it only requires commonsense - make it illegal for any man to sleep with underage girls and the nation can prevent an avalanche of health crises that are way beyond the capacity of the Nigerian healthcare system.

The abandoned bill should also be resubmitted to the two arms of the National Assembly but this time, everyone should be watching. High ranking lobbyists should ensure that it is passed this time. First Lady Patience Jonathan should make a presentation in support of the bill on both floors of the National Assembly, so-called social media activists should ensure that the topic is trending on Twitter and elsewhere, and the electorate should hinge the fate of the lawmakers seeking reelection on their vote for or against the bill.

This is the only the nation can collectively tackle adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria; it is the only way Nigerians can know who is sleeping with the adolescent girls - hypothetically and literally.