By Atoyebi Nike
Teenage pregnancy is more than just a health issue; it is a national emergency that threatens Nigeria’s development, gender equity, education system, and healthcare resources. For a country already grappling with high maternal mortality rates, a struggling economy, and a youthful population, ignoring the growing incidence of teenage pregnancies is like sitting on a ticking time bomb. The irony is that this is a crisis we can prevent if only we fund it like one.
The Fire We Keep Ignoring
In Nigeria, teenage pregnancy rates remain alarmingly high. According to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), one in five adolescent girls aged 15–19 has begun childbearing. These figures may be even higher today, especially in rural and conflict-affected areas where access to education and healthcare is limited. Unfortunately, these pregnancies often come with life-threatening consequences: unsafe abortions, obstructed labor, school dropouts, and increased vulnerability to poverty and gender-based violence.
This is not just about morality or behavior, it is about systems failing young people. It is about poor investment in education, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services, weak social support structures, and the continued cultural silence around adolescent sexuality. Without serious and sustained intervention, we are not just failing our girls; we are setting entire communities on fire.
What Better Funding Can Do
There’s no mystery about what works to prevent teenage pregnancies. Countries that have succeeded in reducing adolescent pregnancy rates have three things in common: comprehensive sexuality education, youth-friendly health services, and economic empowerment initiatives. Nigeria needs to take a cue and commit to funding these pillars properly, beyond token budgets and donor-driven short-term projects.
- Fund Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE):
Nigeria has flirted with the idea of sexuality education for decades, yet implementation remains patchy and controversial. Better funding would allow for curriculum development, teacher training, and safe classroom environments where students can learn about consent, contraception, menstrual hygiene, and relationships. This education must go beyond biology, it must be about agency, respect, and informed choices. - Scale Youth-Friendly Reproductive Health Services:
Many teenage girls do not seek help when they are sexually active or pregnant due to stigma, cost, or distance. Community health centers are often not equipped to support adolescent-specific needs. With better funding, we can establish and equip youth-friendly clinics, deploy trained counselors, and ensure free or subsidized contraceptives and maternal care services. - Support Girls to Stay in School:
The relationship between education and delayed childbearing is well-documented. A girl who stays in school is more likely to delay marriage and pregnancy. Investments in girl-child education school feeding, transport, tuition waivers, menstrual products are long-term investments in national development. We must also tackle the socio-economic triggers like child marriage, poverty, and gender-based violence—that push girls out of school and into early motherhood. - Economic Empowerment and Life Skills Training:
Many teenage pregnancies are driven by transactional sex, especially in communities where girls lack economic options. Better funding can support vocational training, mentorship, and digital skills programs for adolescent girls. When girls have access to income-generating skills, they are more likely to make empowered life decisions.
We Cannot Keep Patching a Burning Roof
Policymakers often respond to teenage pregnancy with punitive or moralistic rhetoric, blaming girls or their families. But this blame game does nothing to address the systemic failures that lead to early pregnancy in the first place. It’s like patching a burning roof with tape we need to fund the fire service, not the mop.
Budgets at federal and state levels must reflect the urgency of the crisis. This includes allocating funds not just to health and education ministries but also to gender affairs, youth development, and community outreach. Development partners and private sector actors must also align funding efforts with evidence-based strategies that prioritize adolescent well-being, not just optics.
A National Conversation and Commitment
Preventing teenage pregnancy requires more than money it also requires political will and community engagement. Traditional and religious leaders must be part of the conversation, not barriers to it. Parents must be empowered to talk openly to their children about sexuality. Youth voices must be at the center of policy design and implementation.
But money matters. Without consistent funding, all the awareness campaigns and pilot projects in the world will fizzle out, leaving behind the same cycle of broken futures and lost potential.
Conclusion
Teenage pregnancy is both a symptom and a driver of inequality. Left unaddressed, it threatens Nigeria’s development, healthcare systems, and economic productivity. But it is preventable if we choose to fund prevention as a priority. This is not just about helping girls avoid pregnancy; it is about giving them a fair shot at life.
We must act like our future depends on it because it does.
