Kanayo O Kanayo and Polygamy

In a certain short clip of a particular podcast that went viral (July 2024), which featured our popular Nollywood actor A.K.A. “Nna anyi sacrifice.” He said, ‘I don’t believe in one wife, it’s not our culture, it’s not our tradition, it’s not who we are, these are imported things.”

This is where many people find themselves today but these are emotional outbursts which lack adequate reasoning , criticality and wisdom. And yes, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion but certain opinions should first be reflected upon before spewing.

Why?

Culture is simply a people’s way of life. This means that it is the people that makes a culture and people are not made for a culture. By this fact,every aspect of a culture has a reason or reasons behind them, such that if a culture no longer serves its purpose, it is to be reviewed,updated, changed or dropped. Polygamy had its purpose too but does it still serve its purpose in this contemporary era of gen Zs?

But, what were the purposes of Polygamy?

Polygamy was practiced in West Africa and particularly in Igbo society in the past for:

1. Wealth and status: It was seen as a way for men to accumulate wealth and status as having many wives was a sign of prestige and respect . A man who could marry many wives shows a man who could feed many mouths.

2. Wealth and Labour: Polygamy allowed men to have many children, who were considered a source of wealth and work force or labour, such that the many children contribute immensely in the farming which in turn results to huge harvest. The huge harvest raises the status of the man within the community as a wealthy man. Wealth then is tied to farm harvest.

3. Marriage Opportunity: Polygamy also provided an opportunity for women to get married, as it was believed strongly that every woman should have a husband and otherwise, such is looked down upon.

4. Remedy to barreness: Polygamy was perceived as a remedy for cases of barrenness in the first wife, as additional wives could bear children for the husband.

However, time and science have overtaken these reasons for :

1. Wealth and Status are no longer tied to farming. People now have different and viable means of becoming wealthy and getting high status. You Kanayo O. Kanayo is an example. Did you get your status from bumper farm harvest and marrying many wives? No, you got your status and primary wealth from Nollywood harvest.

2. Wealth and Labour: This has already been overtaken since it’s not even your number of wives and children that became the work force to your wealth but your fans, movie producers, the fame from Nollywood, etc.

3. Marriage opportunity: Women of this gen z era are even having issues with themselves and it’s no longer obtainable to say that a woman must get married in order to have dignity and respect. Many women now get that dignity and respect through what good they could offer to the society.

4. Remedy to barrenness: In this era of science and technology, medicine has found cures to several factors that constituted barenness in women. Are you then suggesting that barren women should forsake the good modern medical means and allow their husbands get more wives?

Moreover, the white people you were accusing of importing monogamy were the ones who made making wealth and status very easy through education, science and technology, etc, such that people could now watch your movies from their phones and privacies, and in turn, you became famous and rich. I remember that you are now a lawyer through education.

Today, you have a car, electronic gadgets that you use for shooting movie and properties, which you believe in and use. These were all imported too. May be you should stop using them and use the ones from our culture and traditions.

Wisdom is profitable to direct (Ecclesiastes10:10). We can’t stay in the yesteryears forever. Some of the things you are proposing are already overtaken by time or may be we should go back to wearing our wrappers, sitting on the floors to eat, eating with bare hands and calabash, walking on barefoot, etc?

No matter what, even our traditional style of clothings now with “Isiagu” and the one you used in that podcast etc, were only an updated version of the white’s dressing. Yet, it doesn’t make it inferior, rather a growth in culture and tradition.

You are still free to marry ten wives but don’t indirectly encourage these generations who can barely take care of themselves to do so.

Dear reader, if you read this article to this point, share it with others and follow Fr. Truth Series. for more.