You have selected an item in the AllAfrica archive that requires a subscription. You can register by visiting our subscription page. For more information on how to become a subscriber, you can read our subscription and contribution overview Despite the fact that polygamous marriage has no legal regulation, there are still certain conditions precedent that must be met to have a valid permanent marriage. Prerequisites may vary from one ethnic practice to another. However, there are essential conditions that are common in terms of consent, capacity, bride price or dowry and formal donation. [6] Once these are properly fulfilled, the valid habitual marriage has received a life. Once these are properly observed, a valid customary marriage has been given life. The husband has no special legal obligation to fulfill before he can marry another woman. However, subject to the above-mentioned legal provisions, he could only enter into such subsequent marriage(s) under the same customary agreement as he had originally entered into. He was to marry four more women, and with each additional woman, his relationship with my grandmother broke down a little more.
Grandma has always been a very quiet woman, and there must have been times when she wondered if those first days of living for each other were just a figment of her imagination. After 11 years of marital happiness and before her eyes, the husband with whom she had shared dreams and duties became more and more distant and unrestrained. In other parts of the world, including parts of the Middle East and Asia, polygamy is legal but not widespread. And in some countries – particularly in a segment of West and Central Africa known as polygamy belts – the practice is often legal and widespread. Polygamy, also known as « polygamous marriage » or « polygamous family, » refers to a type of marriage in which a man marries more than one woman as a life partner. According to the Blacks Law Dictionary,[3] polygamy is defined as « the condition or practice of having more than one spouse at a time. » It further explains that polygamy can be simultaneous (when more than one spouse is present at the same time) or sequential (when the spouses are married consecutively). [4] After Zamfara State introduced Sharia law, which brought polygamy with it, many other states such as Kano State soon followed, thus legalizing polygamy. [22] While the Nigerian government recognizes monogamous marriage only under civil law and recognizes polygamous partnerships with similar benefits at common law, states that adopt Sharia law are not affected and can therefore provide polygamy to their citizens.
There are no religion-based requirements in the North, so Christians are legally allowed to form polygamous associations, as are Muslims. Christian Church leaders such as Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Anglican Church of Nigeria condemned the practice of polygamy by Christians, and Akinola went on to write: « The observance [of polygamy] will destroy our testimony if it is not addressed decisively. We cannot claim to be a church that believes in the Bible and yet be selective in our obedience. [9] Reports of Nigerian Mormons practicing polygamy have also surfaced. [10] Despite the limitation to four wives, there is ample evidence that many Nigerians circumvent this law, as in the case of Muhammadu Bello Masaba, an 84-year-old Islamic cleric accused of illegal marriage because of his excessive number of wives, in which he had 86 wives. [11] The charges were later withdrawn by Niger State`s Sharia Commission, allowing Masaba to keep all of her spouses. Supporters have vowed to continue their attempts to implement Sharia law in the state. The state remains one of the few states in northern Nigeria that is not governed by Sharia law, perhaps due to the majority of the Christian population. Although Sharia law is not currently being introduced, there is a Sharia court that operates in the state, although it only concerns Muslims.
Similarly, polygamy is used according to Rollin M. Perkins is defined as a term synonymous with « bigamy » which indicates the simultaneous marriage of two or more spouses. [5] The Oxford Law Dictionary therefore defines polygamy as « the practice of having more than one spouse ». Last year, two of the Nigerian president`s daughters married men who happened to be governors of states in northern Nigeria. One became wife No. 4 and the other joined the family of a man who already had two wives. What parents would allow such a thing? Yes, it is possible that the president`s daughters married out of love, but it is easier to conclude that these marriages were politically motivated, the women pawns in a game that goes far beyond what they themselves understand. As I approached my teenage years, I often heard my parents give advice to my brothers who were old enough to bring their girlfriends home. Ethnicity was not an issue for them (unlike most Nigerian parents); Their main concern was that my brothers were not dating young women from polygamous families.
It seemed unfair to me. I didn`t understand the logic of judging someone based on a family situation over which they had no control. I confronted my mother one day. She said she had nothing against the girls themselves, but children from polygamous families were often conditioned to be sneaky. She said they had to be like that to survive. Well, she would know. His own father had five wives. The Plateau State does not currently recognize polygamous marriages under civil law. Efforts to impose Sharia law in Plateau State have led to several brutal clashes between Christians and Muslims, motivated by strong opposition from the predominantly Christian population.
In 2018, Sharia law was not implemented in the state`s legal systems. Although polyandry is illegal in Nigeria, the northern Nigerian people of Irigwe traditionally practice polyandry. where women have several husbands and are also allowed to give birth for them. This practice of the Irigwe was banned by their council in 1968. A few months after arriving in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, I befriended a very warm 26-year-old woman named Aisha. By northern Nigerian standards, she was ripe for marriage. Fortunately, she had Abdul, a man she kept talking about. Abdul was 30 years old and very generous, showering her with expensive gifts. I often saw him parking in front of the apartment she shared with her mother.
On one occasion, while raving about Abdul`s virtues, she mentioned that he was an incredible father to her three-year-old daughter. Naively, I asked how long ago his wife had died. She looked at me shyly, hoping I wouldn`t think less of her. She told me that he was married and that his wife was expecting their second child. This shows that although religion considers it legal to have 2 wives in Nigeria, poverty is mainly the deciding factor for marrying more than one woman. Indeed, although it may be legal to have 2 wives in the habitual and Muslim marriage, the wife cannot have more than one husband at a time. Polyandry is the act of a woman who marries more than one husband. According to the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, one-third of married women in Nigeria are in polygamous couples and 16% of married men (aged 15-49) have more than one wife. Polygamy is more prevalent in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria.
The survey also found that older men, those in rural areas and those with low levels of education, were more likely to have two or more women than other men. This position suggests that wealthy men have fewer wives, even among Muslim believers. The Nigerian president, for example, has only 2 wives, fewer than the four approved for a dominant Muslim. Polyandry also existed among the tribes of South America when the Bororo practiced polyandry, while up to 70% of Amazonian cultures may have believed in the principle of multiple paternity. « The Tupi-Kawahib also practice fraternal polyandry. Since the southern region of Nigeria consists mainly of Christians, polygamous marriages were not introduced into law at that time. Attempts to introduce Sharia law (and thus legalize polygamy) have been made in Oyo, Kwara, Lagos,[6][7] and several others, but all without success. Polygamous unions are recognized by common law in Nigeria and offer a handful of benefits to members of polygamous associations, ranging from inheritance law to custody. [8] Now, in my professional life as a teacher and writer, and as a mother of four, I watch in horror as women of my generation choose to be second or third wives. And I was shocked by how easily men in the mid-30s marry other women.