President Buhari's daughter Fatima Buhari is presently getting married today, Friday, October 28, 2016, in Katsina state.
The fact that Fatima will be the fourth wife of the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has led to many exclamations on the digital gossip square known as Twitter.
For a generation that is obsessed with 'cheating' in relationships, hearing that someone is getting married as the fourth wife feels archaic. It feels like a blast from the past from the pre-colonial era.
We live in a bae world where the concept of polygamy does not exist. Even though there are undercurrents of the culture (remember Harrysong's popular line "even your boo get boo?") Officially, a lot of us are not down with polygamy but when that line comes in, it strikes a chord within us.
play
Harrysong follow the ladder ft Skiibii
(Five Star Music)
For most of us, our grandparents had polygamous marriages. Some of our parents are products of the husband, three wives set up. Our parents skipped polygamy and that directly influenced our distaste for it. Our fathers and mothers believed in the one man, one woman family lifestyle.
Polygamy has its bad sides which have greatly exposed in thousands of Nollywood movies. Our parents have recounted how life isn't exactly ideal in polygamous homes. This greatly influenced our aversion for it.
Pentecostal Christianity which boomed in the late 80s and the 90s is also a factor why polygamy has been frowned upon. Pastors in Italian made suits bashed the family set up of one man with multiple wives.
We are products of the monogamy set up and that is why Buhari's daughter being the fourth wife sounds odd to us and borderline barbaric. We are the iGeneration, a society of me before anyone else. No one wants to be the fourth in line when we have consumed media that tells us that we are our own gods and should not sacrifice our happiness for anyone. Polygamy is the direct opposite of our beliefs.
The ironic twist is that we are comfortable with the wifey-side chick-jump off in relationships but can't fathom polygamy. It seems in our liberation, we have been trapped by our own desire to be free.
Many chicks these days would cringe at the idea of being a fourth wife but they can more or less understand if they are a guy's side chick. Polygamy might have been our grandparents' thing but our thing is surely our lax rules on relationships and multiple partners.
Polygamy still exists and believe it or not people find it cool. These people might baulk at the idea of you having friends with benefits or four boyfriends. Polygamy just has a different name in our generation but deep down most of us are polygamists. You don't have to be married to have more than one partner.
play
