The world began to mark the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) 10 years ago.
Peace was at her roadside shop located at Festac Gate, Lagos where she sells cooked and peppered cow skin. She looked very sad and dejected as I approached her. Just 20, she is raising her four children from a failed marriage alone.
Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice my presence until I touched her shoulder. She apologised.
Noticing that she was still absent-minded, I asked her what the problem was. Her story centres on her experience as a victim of child marriage.
The young woman, according to her recollection, used to be a bubbly child while living with her poor parents in Imo State. Then, one day in 2014 when she was 13, she returned from the market with her mother and older siblings when her father handed her to a man he called her husband who brought her to live with him in Lagos.
Peace said she knew he was not the right man for her. But she could not shake him off until she had had four children with him.
"My village has a high divorce rate because young girls are forcefully married at a very young age and many eventually leave the men to return to their parents in the village," she said.
"My worry now is how I will take care of my four children. I was thinking of how to make up their school fees just now," she explained.
10 years after
It has been 10 years since the world began to mark the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC), which has drawn attention to issues that concern girls in Nigeria and across the world.
State governments, policymakers and the general public have lent their voices to the campaign for a better life for the girl child. Yet, investments in girls' rights remain limited and female children continue to face challenges preventing them from fulfiling their potential.
Imo State, where Peace is from, passed the Girl Child Act (GCA) 18 years ago on 4 August 2004. But girls who are less than 18 are still married off in the south-east Nigerian state to men whom they have never met in their lives.
A recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) predicted that Nigeria will have 29 million child brides by 2050.
The report states that numerous states in Nigeria have failed to domesticate the federal Child Rights Act (CRA), especially in the northern part of the country.
It also noted that the federal government's failure to legislate and enforce 18 years as the minimum age for those seeking a constitutionally recognised marriage, is a factor in the increase in child marriage.
Domestic Violence
On domestic violence, Executive Director, Women's Rights and Health Project (WRAHP), Bose Ironsi, said the girl child is still far away from where she should be.
She said the girl child is not safe anywhere because she suffers the most whenever there is terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of insecurity.
Mrs Ironsi said women who were teenagers ten years ago and are now married still face all forms of domestic violence.
"We have cases of couples who have been married for less than five years and are in abusive situations. So the fact that the international day started 10 years ago hasn't helped reduce the cases of domestic violence in many instances," she said.
"We don't have the political will to fight it. So I will say we are still where we were 10 years ago, even though people are reporting more, voices are being amplified, and the judiciary is becoming more aware.
"A lot of resources are being put in place, especially in Lagos, but getting justice fast is still a problem. And people still have cultural issues that are inhibiting them from reporting, so we know for a fact that where there are 1000 reports, 3000 are not reported," Mrs Ironsi said.
She said due to late justice, many girls have developed mental health issues which have also discouraged other girls from speaking out.
"Government needs to do a lot to build the courage of young girls so that reporting will be more. Do a lot of sensitising and taking the community people into consideration when putting laws in place, as well as give adequate funding to necessary bodies in charge of dealing with these perpetrators," she said.
Mrs Ironsi noted that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are the ones doing a lot in the area of domestic violence, stressing that the Nigerian government is doing very little in the area.
Rape
On rape, the Executive Director of Women of Inestimable Values Foundation, Blessing Okojie, said there is hardly a week in Nigeria without a reported case of rape.
According to Section 31 (1) and (2) of the CRA, anyone who has sexual activity with a child below 18 years is guilty of rape and faces a life sentence if convicted.
The law further states that the punishment for such an act is between 12 years and life imprisonment, depending on the severity of the crime.
Speaking on efforts that the government has made in the fight against rape, Mrs Okojie said although there is a lot of improvement in the fight against rape and also the enactment of different laws against rape, Nigeria is still far from winning the fight.
According to Mrs Okojie, "Previously, most victims of rape were afraid to speak up; this is because of fear of stigmatisation and fear of not getting justice. They rather remain silent than expose a perpetrator because our culture and traditions support the perpetrator more than the victim. But now things are beginning to change," she said.
Mrs Okojie believes that the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, also called the VAPP Law, introduced by the Nigerian government and currently adopted by 26 states is a great achievement in curbing rape.
She said many Nigerians now openly condemn rape and demand punishment for the perpetrators.
"A culture which was like a norm previously is now being condemned by many organisations and stakeholders fighting against this menace," she said.
Politics
Speaking on how women have fared in politics in the last 10 years, the Executive Director of Gender and Development Action (GADA), Ada Agina-Ude, said Nigerian women have done so much but have recorded limited success.
She said in terms of female representation, Nigeria is making progress "because, in some areas in Nigeria, people felt that in the next 100 years we will not see women representation because of religion and culture, especially in the North, but we can see them emerging which is quite impressive.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
She said there are, however, states in the North where women defeat their male opponents in legislative elections.
However, the sexagenarian said, with all the progress recorded, women are not making as much headway as expected.
"It is over 20 years since 1999 and we thought we would have made a quantum leap. We have been talking to different stakeholders to make our voices heard but still no difference," she said.
Recounting the efforts women have made in the past, she said a major one was the introduction of funds for women in politics for their campaign but the progress was still very little.
She said women's representation has never gone beyond 16 per cent in all parties, including smaller parties. She said even with that figure, women had more representation in the past compared to the recent list of candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which shows that just nine per cent are women candidates.
"Everywhere in the world where progress has been made in women's political representation, it has always been with some kind of affirmative action. It may be in terms of giving women constituencies which were tried in our National Assembly but suddenly it was terminated.
"We are talking about additional constituency which will not affect any other person's constituency, which is the surest way. But they refused. This led to women protesting at the National Assembly.
"The political parties can also decide that a certain number of seats should be reserved for women because these things have been done in other countries and it is working," she said.
