Why Hausa girls get married early

Posted by Chidinma on Wednesday April 1, 2015 at 12:21:45:

Hausa people mostly give out their girls for marriage at a very young age; once a girl is up to 13 years old, she in Hausa tribe, she is said to be ripe for marriage and marital arrangements are made for her. While this is unheard of in other cultural backgrounds like the Igbo and the Yoruba.

Some of reasons why Hausa girls get married early include;

1. Cultural Mindset: in Hausa land, the belief there is maturity for girls start once she reaches puberty which is 13 years, and once a girl reaches puberty the girl is expected to get married and start a family; so the cultural mindset is one of the reasons while Hausa girls get married very early. Also, they believe that a girl’s biological clock ticks faster than that of a man, and for that reason, girls should be married off early to start reproduction.

2. Lack Of Education: in Hausa land, the role of women is to get married, take care of the family and raise children; education has no place in the place of Hausa girls; because of the lack of education, they are married off early to start raising family early enough. But for other tribes, girls are given equally opportunity to go to school, and by the time the girl graduates from Higher Institution, the girl must have clocked 23 years which is a matured age to get married.

3. Religious Belief: most Hausa’s are Moslems and there early marriage is not condemned in the Koran, which is why it is still condoned in the tribe.