Guardian

MRS. Bimpe Osagie, a marriage counselor, says though there  were people in the Bible who had many wives and even concubines, polygamy is not good because the wives and children will be affected. “

Definitely, the man at the centre will love one wife more than the other and this is where war begins in the home.”

Bimpe notes that sometimes, the husband is irresponsible thereby abandoning the children for their mothers to cater for, thus saddling only the mothers with both providing for them and instilling discipline. Such children often take to crime which affects their future and the society.

The stress in a polygamous setting, she adds, often becomes so much it affects the health of the husband which may lead to his death or he abandons his wives and children to look for another wife so it is a vicious cycle. “I believe it should be one man, one wife because the more the wives and children, the more the war in that home.”

Mrs Bimbola Sowemimo, a pastor and lecturer, opposes polygamy. Polygamous Christians, she says,  are practicing “Old Testament Christianity”, which, according to her, has been refined to a better life after Jesus Christ died to set us free from sin.

“We have seen times without number how polygamous homes operate. Even the ones who give an impression that all is well only pretend, as the usual vices that come with polygamy are hatred, enmity, envy, jealousy and what have you. These have also contributed to the problems of this country because parents give birth to children they cannot afford to care for. Most of them just roam the streets to survive, which has given rise to one of the biggest problems of this country—- Boko Haram.

“Corruption is also on the increase partly because many polygamists are earning the minimum wage of N18,000.00 monthly, which is not enough for one person. So, with two, three or more wives, the next thing is to start stealing government money to be able to survive with his family.”

A Trader at Oshodi Market, Tanwa Aleja, declares:

“I will never allow my male children to be polygamous because their father who happens to be my husband was a polygamist before his death and I know what I went through. He was married to five wives and had 10 children, but there has never been harmony or peace in the house. It was war everyday and this was what led to the sickness of my husband until two years ago when he died. So I don’t think polygamy is a good thing when you look at the damages it causes in some homes…”