By: Newsroom Staff*
In 2012, on a work assignment in southern Nigeria, Ben pulled into a gas station and met a girl who would change the direction of his life. She could not have been older than 12, pumping gas for long hours for little pay. Curious, he asked why she was not in school.
Her father had died. Her mother was sick. There was no one to send her, even though she wanted to go.
“I didn’t think any child at 14 should be working,” Ben said. “If you want to work, it should be by choice, not because you didn’t have an option.”
He decided, on the spot, to send her to school. That decision became the seed for what is now a book, an organization, and a personal mission he has carried for more than a decade: ending the practice of marrying off young girls before they have the chance to be educated.
A Childhood Shaped by What Poverty Takes Away
Ben did not grow up poor himself, but he grew up close enough to poverty to watch what it does to a family over time. He has seen dreams stall out permanently, and girls handed into marriage early simply to relieve a household of the cost of feeding them.
“What propelled me to become who I am is the poverty that I’ve seen around me,” he said. “I’ve seen people’s dreams go unrealized because they don’t have opportunities.”
That proximity to what could have been, paired with what education did for his own family, convinced him early that schooling is the fastest route out of generational poverty. “My family stood out among so many people in my neighborhood simply because of education,” he said. “I would also like to extend that kind of help to others.”
Why “Books Before Brides”
The title is deliberately blunt. In northern Nigeria, Ben witnessed girls as young as nine or ten handed over to much older men, often for economic reasons and with the tacit approval of local custom. He pointed to a widely reported case of a state governor who married a 15-year-old while in his fifties, an example, he said, of how little is done to discourage child marriage in parts of the country.
The consequences go far beyond a stolen childhood. Ben’s eldest sister, a school vice principal and school administrator, is often among the first to encounter these issues firsthand. Through her work in education, she sees the challenges girls face and can escalate serious cases to Ben for further support. His sister, a doctor, has also helped by gathering a team of medical personnel to establish a temporary medical care center for the girls for a few days, but her involvement has primarily been in coordinating that medical support rather than directly managing the cases.
He is direct about who bears responsibility. “People masquerading as husbands, people I call silent predators,” he said. “They exploit the poverty of parents to gain access to their children.”
For Ben, the book is not an argument against marriage. It is an argument for sequencing. “You will get married if you want to, but no child should be denied education,” he said. “Because I know what education can do.”
The Girl Who Proved the Theory
Among the stories that shaped the book is that of a young woman he calls Esther, who went on to complete industrial training in southern Nigeria. Ben arranged and paid for her first-ever flight to Lagos. She had never left her home city before, let alone boarded a plane.
“The excitement on her face was unmistakable,” he recalled. “The possibilities that were unlocked said it all for me.”
Esther, now around 26, is one of several young people Ben has personally supported through school. “I’m never tired because I can see the results already,” he said.
Haven Consulting Services
That commitment eventually became an organization. Haven Consulting Services grew directly out of Ben’s experience with girls like Esther and provides support through carefully scheduled medical and educational outreaches. The organization currently supports seven individuals directly, covering tuition, schoolbooks, and bags so finances are no longer the reason a child is kept out of school. Because these outreaches require significant financial resources, Ben aims to organize them at least twice a year rather than maintain a constant outreach operation.
“I have seen girls who once worked as gas station attendants doing extremely well in school right now because they received external support,” Ben said.
A Father’s Watchful Eye
Photo Courtesy: Prof. Benjamin Adejumo (Ben’s wife Jessica Nkechika Adejumo and daughter Jeanna Ibukunoluwa Adejumo at home in Nigeria; despite living and working in the U.S., his daily dedication as a father continues to anchor his advocacy for girls’ education and safety.)
Ben’s advocacy starts at home. His wife, Jessica Nkechika Adejumo, and their daughter, Jeanna Ibukunoluwa Adejumo, live in Nigeria while he works in the United States, a distance he said makes his involvement in his daughter’s life even more deliberate. “I talked to my daughter’s teacher just two days ago,” he said. “If you spend five hours with my daughter in school, I want to know what you are going to tell her. Don’t tell me about mathematics or her musical skills. I know that already. Is she kind? Is she friendly? Does she look happy?”
That kind of attentiveness, he said, is what he hopes other parents take from his example. “If you know better, you will do better,” he said. “It is my job to protect my child, to make sure she gets ready for life.” Jessica shares that same watchfulness at home. “That awareness does not stop at home; I also take it into my interactions with her school,” she said. Staying engaged and paying attention can help protect a child long before a crisis occurs.
What He Wants Readers to Take From It
Ben hopes readers walk away with three convictions: that there is no substitute for a girl’s education, that education is one of the most effective tools for breaking cycles of poverty, and that in communities where marriage is still treated as more urgent than school, that hierarchy needs to be reversed.
Asked to summarize the book in one line, his answer was immediate: “Go to school, get an education, and change your life.”
A Problem Beyond One Country
Child marriage is not a problem unique to Nigeria, Ben noted, pointing to similar realities in Southeast Asia and India. “It’s better to address it now and let the movement gain traction,” he said.
A Message for Communities, Men, and the Diaspora
Ben’s call to action extends well beyond parents. He wants community leaders in Nigeria to better understand what an educated girl can become for an entire generation, and he wants the Nigerian diaspora in the United States to invest their resources back home. He also has a direct message for men and boys: to see every girl and young woman as they would their own daughter or sister and to treat them with the same respect and care.
“If you imagine your own child being affected by a situation like this, personalizing the issue can change the way you respond to it,” he said.
Looking ahead, Ben wants to see counseling built directly into community programs, so girls have somewhere safe to speak up without shame, and real systems of accountability for those who cause harm.
Bringing the Book to Readers
Books Before Brides is published by Trinity Publishing Press, the imprint behind Ben’s catalog of purpose-driven titles. The e-book edition was created to reach readers in Nigeria and across the diaspora communities Ben hopes to mobilize.
His larger message, though, is one of possibility rather than despair. “A child with no special advantages can become somebody without knowing anybody,” he said. “Dreams do come true, regardless of your background or where you come from.”
Join the Mission for Change
Ben Adejumo’s work doesn’t stop at the final page. Readers can learn more about the principles of Books Before Brides by checking it out on Amazon. His library of articles on leadership and ethics, along with details on Haven Consulting Services’ work in protecting girls and restoring access to education, is available at benadejumo.com.
