Stakeholders launch Neem Tree Dialogue to tackle child marriage in Kaduna
By Sani Idris Abdulrahman
Stakeholders in Zaria, Kaduna State, have launched “The Neem Tree Dialogue”, an initiative aimed at tackling child marriage and preventing violence against children.
The stakeholders include traditional and religious leaders, government officials, law enforcement agencies and international development partners.
The initiative, founded by a lawyer and women’s rights advocate, Barrister Maryam Abdu, was launched at the palace of the Emir of Zazzau on Thursday in Zaria.
The initiative is receiving strategic support from UNICEF to promote community-led solutions to child protection and girls’ empowerment across Kaduna State.
Abdu said the initiative would promote positive parenting, protect child rights, improve access to justice and strengthen girls’ agency across communities.
She said the initiative was anchored on her novel, In the Shadow of the Neem Tree, which tells the story of Halima, a fictional girl affected by early marriage.
According to her, although Halima is fictional, her experience reflects the realities faced by many girls in communities.
“Across our communities, many girls face similar experiences, circumstances that deny them the opportunity to fulfil their potential,” she said.
Abdu said the initiative would take the story beyond the book by using it to promote community dialogue, awareness and concrete action.
She said parents, traditional and religious leaders, as well as government institutions, would be engaged through structured discussions on positive parenting and child protection.
In his keynote remarks, Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa , linked forced child marriage and social trauma with substance abuse among young people.
Marwa said NDLEA rehabilitation and counselling centres frequently handled cases involving young women escaping forced marriages, domestic abuse, isolation and desertion.
According to him, drug abuse often results from deeper experiences of trauma, neglect and hopelessness among vulnerable young people.
“A child forced into marriage loses her education, her health and her voice,” Marwa said.
He said tackling drug abuse required more than arrests and seizures, stressing the need to address social conditions that expose children to trauma.
Marwa pledged the NDLEA’s support for community-level drug demand reduction initiatives and commended the project’s 12-week parenting training programme.
The Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, Dr Gerida Birukila, said sustainable social reform began within the family.
Birukila stressed the need to equip young parents with appropriate parenting skills to protect children and support their development.
She said empirical evidence showed that keeping girls in school longer could help prevent early marriage.
Representing the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Hafsat Umar reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to enforcing child protection laws.
Umar said the government would continue efforts to prosecute offenders and improve access to justice for vulnerable populations.
She, however, said legislation alone could not eliminate harmful social practices without active community ownership of the values behind the laws.
“Legislation can prohibit harmful conduct, but sustainable change occurs when families and communities embrace the values behind the law,” she said.
Umar said empowering girls was not contrary to community values but could strengthen families and communities.
The Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmad Bamalli, commended the founder and organisers for the initiative and pledged the support of the Zazzau Emirate Council.
Bamalli said the council was already collaborating with the Neem Foundation on family disputes, matrimonial issues and youth welfare.
He said such collaboration was being pursued within the framework of local values and Islamic teachings.
The monarch also stressed the need to protect young people from exploitation and involvement in drug-related activities.
He said the Emirate Council would continue to support initiatives aimed at promoting family stability and protecting children.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event ended with a call on community leaders, parents, security agencies and the media to sustain the dialogue.
The stakeholders also urged communities to translate discussions into concrete actions capable of protecting children’s rights and securing their future.
(NAN)
