Veteran Nigerian comedian, Alibaba, has sparked discussion by suggesting that polygamy could help stabilise families and prolong marriages.
In an interview with media personality Nedu, Alibaba argued that the presence of competition among wives could lead to greater harmony at home.
He claimed that some men believe having only one wife could make it difficult to maintain control in the relationship, whereas multiple wives might foster more cooperative behaviour.
“Some people feel if it’s only one wife, you may not be able to control the wife. But if the wife knows that you have more than one, she will calm down. She will calm down because she knows that if she misbehaves, another person is available,” he said.
Alibaba backed his view with references to cultural practices in parts of Nigeria, notably in Ibadan. He noted that in some cases, women encouraged their husbands to take additional wives as a way to avoid infidelity and preserve family unity.
“So there are different reasons for polygamy. I actually know of a woman in Ibadan who encouraged her husband to be polygamist. Most of them back then, I don’t know who wants to doubt this, the women marry a young girl and gift it to the husband. And they do that because they don’t want the man to have concubines,” he explained.
He further highlighted traditional customs where widows with young children were often married to their late husband’s brother to ensure continued care for the family. He described this as a form of polygamy driven by familial obligation rather than romance.
“You have families where when the brother that married the woman dies, and she’s either just a new wife or she has just two children, and they need the children to be taken care of and you don’t want her to go to another family.
“They call all the brothers and say, which of you can take over this girl and take care of her? So if the man already had a wife, that’s the cause of polygamy. And as much as people try to say it is not right, like in your introduction, there are people who say no, it’s not right. The same person would have about like three, four, five children,” he said.
