FLASHBACK: As AU debates over 'child brides', here are the legal ages of marriage in Africa.

It should be noted that the Nigerian Constitution does not establish a minimum age of marriage. The Child Rights Act, which was passed in 2003, sets the age of marriage at 18 years-old. However, only 23 of Nigeria's 36 states have adopted this act.

LUCIA Felix, a 15-year-old Mozambican girl, dreams of returning to her village school but instead she must prepare for motherhood after she was chosen for an arranged marriage and became pregnant.

She is one of the millions of “child brides” across Africa who are married before their 18th birthday, with many already wed when they are younger than 15.

“One day, a young man arrived here to choose a wife from several girls and he chose me. Then I got pregnant,” she said, speaking under a mango tree in the courtyard of her family’s home in the southern village of Jangamo.

Lucia, who is eight months’ pregnant, had just returned from the doctor after contracting malaria and she complained of pains in her belly.

“I’m afraid because I’m still a child and I fear I won’t be able to take care of my baby,” she said.

“I want to go back to school and to study to become a teacher.”

The African Union says about 14 million under-age girls are married on the continent each year—almost all of them forced to by their parents, often against laws that are rarely enforced.

“Child marriage is a human rights violation that robs girls of their rights to health, to live in security, and to choose if, when and whom to marry,” the AU said recently

“It is a harmful practice which severely affects the rights of a child.”

Lucia’s mother, Zaida Zunguze, admits she first supported her daughter’s marriage to her 20-year-old suitor, but said that she wanted Lucia to wait until she turned 18.

“She’s still a child, she knows nothing. I want to continue teaching her how to take care of her house,” Zaida said, sitting on a mat next to Lucia.

“I’m worried because the man said he would provide for the baby, and now he doesn’t say anything.”

The legal age of marriage in Mozambique is 18, or 16 with parental consent, but nearly half the girls are married in traditional ceremonies before they turn 18.

According to the last national census conducted in 2011, about 14% are married before the age of 15.

“The concept of the child here is different. As soon as they show the first signs of puberty, they are already considered an adult,” Pascoa Ferrao, director of the social action department in the southern city of Inhambane, told AFP.

“(Child marriage) has often to do with economic circumstances. If a girl is married off, then there’s one less mouth to feed.

“It leads to increased child mortality because teen mums don’t know how to take care properly of their children.”

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