Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Traditional and Religious Leaders Towards Girl Child Marriage in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Early marriage, a marriage conducted before the age of 18, is now widely recognized to be deeply rooted in socio-cultural, economic and religious fabrics of society in which it prevails. This paper examines the knowledge, attitude and practice of the traditional and religious leaders towards girl child marriage in Sokoto State, Nigeria. The study relied heavily on the open-ended tradition of participatory and qualitative research tools, using specifically in-depth interviews (IDI). Interviews were conducted with a total of 48 respondents made up of 18 religious leaders and 30 traditional leaders. The study finds that there appears to be a marked difference between the attitude of rural and urban religious and traditional leaders towards early marriage. The urban religious leaders appear to have a more favorable attitude towards girl-child education which translates into delayed marriage until age 18. Enrolment and retention of girl child in formal school is the most neutral and non-controversial route to rising age at marriage.