In Nigeria, it is the culture of the people, regardless of tribe, to receive payment of bride price to emphasize the institution of marriage, but what do you call the act of using women as currency.
It might be shocking to know that in this age and time, women are used as currency by their parents or family members in exchange for food items, paying off debts, and even livestock.
Such women are referred to as money wives or money women as shared in a video on YouTube by one Emeke Chukwuleta.
The “money wives” phenomenon is a common practice in Becheve community in Obanliku, Cross River State, Nigeria.
These wives who are given out sometimes before they are born are essentially handed out to their husbands as chattels, to do as they please.
In recent times, with the advent of technology, the young brides are being advertised on Facebook and then sold to become the properties of old men for the rest of their lives.
The men can use them as they like. Some of them are used as baby making machines, some are made to do all the house chores and to farm. Some even say the men get to decide who they vote for in an election.
It is almost close to impossible to find a family where a man does not own a “money wife”; she is essentially property, and when the husband dies, she is passed down to his next-of-kin.
Even worse is the fact that if the money wife dies without giving a child, her family is liable to give a replacement.
Regardless of the stringent and elaborate rules that guard this tradition, the woman is not considered.
Once she is brought over, the money wife ceases to be her family’s responsibility and the husband who sees her more as property than a woman for whom he is liable to care, often leaves her to fend for herself.
The Wife of the Cross River State Governor claims that efforts are underway to stem the practice and support the women left at a disadvantage by the practice.
Watch video of some interviewed ‘money wives’ below:
