Is it true that monogamy (the practice of marrying one wife) is a European or foreign practice that was brought by the Europeans and other foreign colonial powers to the African continent during the era of colonialism against the practice of polygyny (the marrying of more than one wife) by Africans?

There are some Africans, especially in Nigeria, who hold strongly to the belief that Africans are natural polygynist before the coming of the white men (colonialists). These set of Nigerians who love to pride themselves as core traditionalists have continued to hold unto certain African traditional practices that some regard as outdated, one of which is polygyny.

According to these traditionalists, they believed that a man’s greatness and strength was not only measured by the number of wives he marries in his lifetime but also his ability to father many children. As such, having more than one wife is a show of prowess and wealth during the days of old.

Also, some of those who favour the practice of polygyny opine that since the population of women are more than the men and that women tend to live longer than most men, it would therefore be a disservice to women if the practice of one man to one wife is held, in the sense that most women would probably be without husbands. And so, this set of ideologist believe that women should tolerate having mates as it is a favour to the women folks.

Yet, there are still those who compare having many wives to the choices of food that a man eats. These believe that men naturally love varieties and so, just as a man does not eat only one type of meal, so too it is orderly for men as the head to have multiple wives to please the variety of their needs.

Furthermore, polygynist view those, especially the men folks, who condemn them for their act and are against the practice of polygyny, as men who have turned ‘women wrappers’ and shy away from the truth. They accuse such men of going behind the door to have ‘side chicks’ to service their needs while they pretend to habour only one wife at home, deceiving the world. And so, these set of African traditionalists say they are proud of being men that are not hypocrites, as they would rather prefer to have many wives than hide behind the curtain of monogamy.

From a religious angle, certain religion, for example Islam, encourages men to have multiple wives. And yet, religion such as Christianity (followers of Christ) admonishes men to not only have one wife but to stick with her to the end except on the case of adultery. On the notion of monogamy, most Christians lay credence to the Holy Bible in Genesis 1 and 2 which illustrates God gifting Adam a wife named Eve. They have drawn from this notion that if God considers men to have more than one wife He would have gifted Adam more than one woman. And some have gone ahead to argue that while this one woman later brought about the downfall of Adam because she was his weakness, the idea of more than one woman would probably have made Adam much weaker.

However be that as it may, there are still some in the Christian faith who have more than one wife. For example, the act of polygyny is pronounced with the Seraphim and Cherubim churches. And why this practice? There are some who allude to King Solomon, who till date remains the man with the most wives and concubines. And there are still those like King David, Jacob, and even Abraham, among others, who were involve in polygyny.

In conclusion, polygyny is not only practiced in Africa and so it is not an African culture but a global practice. There are Europeans, Americans as well as other non-Africans who have more than one wife. 

And while most Nigerian men would desire more than one wife, many are conscious of the fact that things are not what they used to be as modern day civilisation has brought about both positive and negative changes. For instance, women used to be tolerant and were submissive to their husbands as the Bible professes. But these days, feminism has taken the world stage as women compete with the men and even want to play the man of the house. Also, responsible men are aware of the huge cost of having more than one wife as well as the headaches that come with the practice of polygyny.

So, what do you think?

#penglobaldiscourse #polygyny