Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has urged African governments to enforce 18 years as the minimum age for marriage to protect girls from child marriage and safeguard their education.

Ezekwesili, founder of Human Capital Africa, made the call in a statement on Sunday to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, urging traditional and religious leaders to support efforts to end the practice.

She said 23.6 million Nigerian women and girls were married before age 18, the highest number in West and Central Africa.

“In Jigawa, 78 per cent of women aged 20–49 were first married before 18, and 63 per cent of women left school to marry,” she said.

Ezekwesili warned that child marriage undermines girls’ education, public health and national productivity, citing a Columbia University report that estimates global economic losses of up to $175 billion annually, rising to nearly $2.5 trillion by 2040, due to lost productivity and increased health risks.

She also cautioned that cuts in foreign aid, weakening global commitment to women’s rights and rising conflicts could reverse progress in tackling child marriage.

“Enforce 18 as the minimum age of marriage in law and in practice, in every state and every community, with traditional and religious leaders as partners,” she said.

She called for increased domestic funding and stronger accountability systems to track girls’ learning, transition to secondary school and child marriage rates.

Ezekwesili noted that an estimated 68 million child marriages had been averted over the past 25 years through girls’ education, legal reforms and social protection.

She said the African Union’s Decade of Accelerated Action for the Transformation of Education and Skills Development in Africa (2025–2034) provides an opportunity to prioritise girls’ education and school retention.

“A Decade that does not end child marriage will not have transformed African education,” she added.