High Bride Price: a Price Potential Bachelors Must Pay in Nigeria

September 4, 2008

Bride which is ordinarily ought to be a token paid by man to his In-laws as pre-traditional requirement for marriage in Africa now sends Bachelors begging and panicking. Bride also known in some quarters as Bride wealth is a particular sum of money paid to the parents of the lady he intends to marry or to the Ladys family. Please note in a typical African society such Nigeria, this is different from what is called dowry. As may be in form of properties such as male goat, tobacco, honey, tubers of yam, clothings, umbrella, and host of others given to the the lady herself or her family. The examples of all these are found in yorubaland, south-west of Nigeria. However, the payment of bride price and dowry in the contemporary Nigerian society has become an origin of nightmare for a lot of wishing to get into marriage. The reason is not far-fetched. Families heads now request for more than is necessry, mostly and unreasonably issuing out list of articles often considered impossible to meet up with. some of which may be in form of cartons of beer, and other forms of alcohol. certain old men would then live on these beer. alot of traditional marriages have therefore been canceled owing to these sad developments leaving ladies who have attained marriagable age roaming around and most times taking to prostitution. We there call on the governemnt of Nigeria to come up with laws that will make uniform certain reasonable amount of bride price and dowry to be paid by men wishing to marry. Some people have expressed fears in some quarters in Nigeria that a time may come when Ladies would go begging men for marriages. A consideration of a recent development in which Brides now contribute financially to their own marriages vindicates the above. we therefore appeal to the Authorities concerned in Nigeria to fashion out a way of addressing this problem

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