Child marriage and VVF

Almost everyone in the neighbourhood admired Mariam Adamu (not real names). Her fair-complexion, height and extremely beautiful figure would pass for an international model anytime.

Her seven-year-old child seemed a photocopy of her too. 21-year-old Mariam had just moved in with her husband into the neighborhood, from a neighbouring city.

Hence, neighbours knew practically nothing about her outside her near-goddess beauty. It wasn’t until a couple of years later when her husband took a second wife with whom he later relocated, that the cynosure of all eyes became the centre of real pity; Mariam had been living in unimaginable emotional trauma but was sensible enough to cover-up.

 She was living with Vesico Vagina Fistula, VVF, an abnormal fistulous tract extending between the bladder(vesico) and the vagina that allows the involuntary leakage of urine from the vagina. She developed this at childbirth. Her disappointed husband obviously couldn’t bear it anymore than abandon her for at least a healthier woman!

Poor Mariam died the following year from lack of care. Victim of early marriage What tragic end for another unfortunate victim of early marriage!


No fewer than 800,000 women in Nigeria, basically for reasons such as Mariam’s, suffer from VVF annually in Nigeria, according to a 2015 report by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA. Also known as child marriage, early marriage, a common phenomenon in some parts of Nigeria, refers to either a formal or informal union entered into by an individual who is less than 18.

There’s been a whole lot of controversy surrounding child marriage in Nigeria, with some endorsing it on the basis of religion even as the 1999 Constitution Section 49 4(b) remains confused about it after stymied attempts at its deletion by the senate.

 Notwithstanding, statistics and background checks on victims of child marriage identify socio-economic factors as major drivers. Whatever the reason is for giving out a minor in marriage, the sour end of majority of these girls proves that the disadvantages certainly override every possible benefit it might accrue- whether to victims, their immediate families and the larger society.


Therefore, a woman is not biologically fit for marriage until 18,” a Lagos-based Gynaecologist, Dr. Lemadoro Steven, told Woman’s Own. Obstructed labour could result in VVF, lead to neuronal injury resulting in obstetric palsy thus making it difficult for her to walk or stand for life, with VVF also leaving her with a whole gamut of problems such as urine leakage, irregular menstruation, infertility, and much more.

Though VVF can be corrected surgically, it is not uncommon to have such surgeries fail repeatedly, thereby leaving the woman emotionally shattered.

 “So, my verdict is: marriage and pregnancy are a dangerous venture for any woman less than 18,” Dr Lemadoro said.  There seems plenty of psychosocial no-no to it too.


Image Source: United Nations Foundation
Culled from Vanguard Newspapers