Aside insurgency and its attending violence, displacement and hunger, a major ill bedeviling communities in Northeast of Nigeria is forced child marriage. Fortunately, this is one major area intense activities of Civil Society Organisations are beginning to record significant success amongst others. Gboyega Alaka who beamed searchlight on their activities in the region, reports.
Until very recently, forced child marriage or marriage of under-age children against their wish was commonplace and a norm in Damara community in Pulka, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State and environs. Parents literally married their girl children off to men of their choice, irrespective of the age difference or whether the young girls have any iota of feeling or affection for the man.
In most cases, it was about what the parents could benefit, directly or indirectly from the man. As a result, young girls have been known to attempt running away or facing a bleak future of loveless marriage. Often, intercourse in such marriages take various shapes of rape upon rape, as the unwilling girls scarcely give their body willingly. And that is not leaving out other gender-based violence (GBV) such as physical abuse, verbal, even emotional abuse.
However, thanks to Borno Women Development Initiative (BOWDI), a Borno State based Civil Society organisation, this seems to be a thing of the past.
According to Hajia Isa Yagana, wife of Alhaji Isa Yagana, a native of Bama, forced child marriage is fast becoming a thing of the past. According to her, they were made to see reasons, following series of workshops, meetings and enlightenment from members of the Borno Women Development Initiative, who came to the community to speak with them and make them see why such practices are against modern times and hence archaic and should be dropped.
“We are familiar with BOWDI. They worked with us for quite a while in our area. They were very concerned about issues that affect young girls. They made us see reasons why we should protect them from abuse. They also told us to stop girl child marriage or forced marriage of our young girls. They said we should rather allow them to go to school, as that would empower them,” Hajia Yagana said.
“Of course we saw reason with them and took a decision to stop marrying our young underage girls out or marrying them off against their wish.
“They also gave us money, food stuff and seedlings. They move from one place to another. Our community is Bama, but they have also been to Konduga.”
Another member of the community and beneficiary of BOWDI’s activities, Peter Dawa of Bulama Damara, said, “Due to BOWDI’s activities in our community, more of our girls now go to school. Also, we have decided not to force our young girls into marriage anymore. They made us see the wrong sides and the whole community took a decision to drop the habit.”
Both respondents spoke on phone in Hausa.
Executive Director, BOWDI, Umar Grema, said the Damara feat stands out as one of their very significant achievements.
“We went in there, sensitised the people on the inappropriateness and ills of forced or child marriage; we paid advocacy visits; and in the end, the people in the community were enlightened, and they stood up to say, “Okay, from this day, we declare our community to be free from child marriage. I think this is one of our very remarkable achievements. So, we are looking to replicate it in other surrounding communities – because there are several other communities still steeped in the practice. However, this depends on partnership and donor funding.”
Expatiating further on the activities of the organisation, Grema said, BOWDI’s objective is to educate, enlighten and train girls and women, and also expose them to social environment as developing society.
“The fact that we are in the far North (of Nigeria) where these women are being denied their rights, meant we had to create awareness in them and the girls. We educate the girl child on health issues and equip them with skills. We also sensitise them on Gender-based Violence (GBV) threats. We were also able to expand to other activities like peace building. Because the women are more in population, we kind of believe that for us to have a more peaceful environment, we need to engage them in peace building activities. We also do advocacy. We have over the years done food security; we engage in distribution of food items in about four local governments in Borno State. We also distributed food supplements to pregnant and lactating mothers, and to children under the age of two.”
Some of the communities where they have extended food support to the people, include: Konduga, Moshomari Kura, Moshumari Gana, Galtimari, Shiluwari, Kijimatari, Kafaruwa, Mainari, Sabongari 1, Yandandari Gana, Mandrari 1, IDP camp, Sabon Gari 2, Yandandari Kura, Low-cost, Mandrari 2, and Duwari.
Grema said they implemented the food and nutrition projects in these communities from2018 to 2020 and later moved to Dalori 1 and Dalori 2 IDP camps in 2021 to terminate in December.
He stated that BOWDI also runs safe spaces in Adamawa and Borno States. “We have about five locations in Adamawa State and six locations in Borno State. We sensitise them on GBV issues and provide them with psycho-social support. Our women and girls safe spaces have these skills acquisition component, where women are equipped with skills.”
Most of BOWDI’s activities, he said, are inspired by the fact that they operate in places with displaced communities
“We have heard serious cases of GVB being reported within those communities and other extremely hard-to-reach communities. However, I would say that due to our activities, it has subsided to some extent.”
Reviving culture, fostering peace
Another CSO making its impact felt tremendously in Borno State is Smiling Hearts Initiative (SHI).
According to SHI’s Project Manager, Framni Babayo, Smiling Hearts Initiatives International is a humanitarian non-government, non-profit organisation founded in Borno State, Nigeria, which started operation in Nigeria in 2016 as Zumunchi Hearts Initiatives International before officially registering under its current name in 2018.
The organisation’s principal mission is to deliver services to humanity in all areas of the world without sentiment of any kind, while its vision is to create a society where the least in the society have access to social amenities, facilities and fair protection as citizens, even in emergencies (working with refugees and in IDP camps).
The organisation has implemented several projects in Song, Mubi North and South, Girei, Damboa, Shani, Biu, Hawul, KwayaKusar, Potiskum, Gaidam, Yunusari, Gashua, and Jakusko, Damaraturu Jere, Kaga, MMC, Monguno in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States funded by IOM, NHF, FAO and Self- Fund.
“All these projects,” according to Babayo, “were implemented within the context of the Nigerian North East Humanitarian Crisis.”
According to Aisha Abubakar, who partnered with the organisation in one of its numerous activities in the region, said the organisation, along with her own CSO, Engagement for Better Citizens Initiatives (EBCI) undertook a major project in Culture Healing, which she described as very timely and impactful.
Abubakar, who is currently studying for her PhD in Peace Studies, said she was glad to join up with SHI for that project, since they had the fund and she didn’t.
“I suggested Culture Healing because I have a background in Peace Studies. I thought going by the insurgency that had ravaged the region, something about helping the people rediscover their culture would go a long way.
“With the insurgency and the accompanying displacement of the people from their original communities, people, especially the young ones had lost touch with their culture, and some were actually running away from their culture. Some who were born within the time of the insurgency didn’t even know what their culture was. But of course, culture is your identity. The more we do away with it, the danger for us. So we organised a day training or workshop, where we invited people from the 15 wards of the LGA. During the training, we had a kind of drama on peace building, and lectures. How do we interact? How do we promote and advocate for our culture? Here in Borno, there is this inferiority and superiority complex. We had to make them understand and admit that even if I am Babur, I cannot change that fact and I have to work with my neighbour who is Shuwa or Kanuri. The Shuwa feels that they are superior because of their complexion and beauty but they cannot do with me coming from Northern Borno or Southern Borno. So it’s all about promoting cultural heritage of the people. The programme also went a long way in promoting peace in the region.”
Abubakar, who is based in Maiduguri, testified that the programme impacted positively on the people. A lot of people began to have a rethink and a redirection. You see a young man from Northern Borno whose trousers is sagged, his hairstyle is rubbish and he practically does not know the implication of what he is doing. He doesn’t realise that this is somebody else’s culture he is pushing. Oh yes, we need to interact with other people but our culture should be held supreme.
“So with this kind of programme, they began to say, ‘Okay, we need to accommodate each other.’ But if you don’t promote your culture, who will? And it really went a long way because the Kanuri girls we brought to the programme who were so shy and couldn’t say a word, especially on the first day, suddenly became courageous on the second day and started speaking up and saying, “Yes, we are Kanuri, a lot of people thought we cannot do it, but we’d do it this time around.”
Asked to testify if she witnessed SHI execute any other projects, especially in the area of food security, Abubakar said, ‘I honestly don’t know.”
But Ochei Sunday does.
Aside testifying to SHI’s role in the mission to foster peace in the Northeast region, Sunday, who is based in Maiduguri township and is one of the about 50 CBOs (Community Based Organisations) trained by Smiling Hearts Initiative, said, “Smiling Hearths Initiative has been carrying out food security activities in the area with the support of the FAO (Food And Agricultural Organisation). They gave out seedlings and fresh food vouchers, which the people used to collect food items from designated food vendors.”
In the area of promoting peace, Sunday said, “One of the major activities they carried out here in Borno was on how to sensitise each community leader – whether Muslim, Christian or traditional rulers on creating awareness on peace building. They facilitated a peaceful gathering, where the people were imparted with peace messages and at the end of the day, everybody was happy. They also facilitated a kind of peaceful gathering between the Christians and Muslims during the Ramadan fasting, where they had dinner together – all in a bid to promote peace within the society.”
Additionally, SHI also extended its activities to secondary schools, where its officers preached the importance of peace to the young people.
“We also encouraged them to form Peace Clubs within the schools and appointed Peace Ambassadors amongst them. You would begin to appreciate what we’ve done here if you consider the fact that in most of these communities, most of the young people don’t really know what peace looks like, having been born into the insurgency.”
The outcome of this whole effort, according to Sunday, is that there is less suspicion among the people and less likelihood of violent conflicts.
Relief Response Mission battling hunger
Another CSO contributing to the fostering of peace and helping to battle hunger in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, Northeast Nigeria, is Relief Rescue Mission.
Ibrahim Filimon, who spoke on behalf of the organisation, said its thematic focus include livelihood, food security, area of nutrition, general protection, child protection, as well as WASH – Water-Hygiene and Sanitation and Mental health and education.
At the moment, he said the organisation’s targets are people or host communities of people that are disabled and most vulnerable people who are in need.
“We give them food and nutritional foods such as sorghum, millet, vegetable oil, salt, beans and super cereal for sustenance. Between January and December of 2021, we have been able to feed 78,000 beneficiaries for food security and nutrition. For children, we have been able to feed about 6,000; and for pregnant and lactating mothers, we have been able to feed about 4000.”
Filimon, however, said beneficiaries have to fall under the vulnerability criteria.
So far, the organisation has carried out interventions in Magumeri LGA, which comprises about 12 wards and several communities such as Chinguwa, Furma, , Magumeri and Kareram.
“These are mostly victims of the insurgency whose communities have been ravaged, displaced and are just coming back to pick up the pieces of their lives. We also take our interventions to IDP camps and to townships of their LGAs where they are taking refuge under security watch.”
For funding, Filimon said, “We get funding from the United Nations agencies or the International body of humanitarian organisation.”
•This report is supported by Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (ACT) and the British Council