Everyone knew my grandpa to be a very generous man. He was very popular in the village for this and he was also the head village Chief. He was a great farmer, and a big influencer in the village.
He married 6 wives at almost the same time and they all lived together in his big house. Each wife has their own rooms with her children but they all shared one common living room and 4 kitchens.
My grandpa married them because they were all hardworking and he would always take them to his big farms to work on them.
One day my grandpa decided to marry a 7th wife. He found delight in the girl and decided to bring her in as his wife, he also paid for her bride price as he did for all the other wives and performed all the necessary rituals.
So as usual he took all his wives to the farm and they were all working, but his latest wife was tired too soon and decided to take some rest, but the other wives were still working. Grandpa was closely observing his new wife, and he only noticed that she was lazy and was sleeping at the farm while others were working.
My Grandpa was very disappointed that he got home before all his wives, and by the time the new wife could get home, her belongings were already outside and grandpa sent her back to her parents and divorced her, his reasons being that he cannot live with a lazy woman.
So he was left with the 6 remaining wives. All his wives respected him so much, or I can say they all feared him. He doesn't tolerate any nonsense from anyone including his wives.
One day his wives were having issues at home that they began to quarrel with each other, my grandpa came home to see them fighting each other, well he got very furious at them that he decided to send them all out of his house.
But he soon regretted this decision, he felt very lonely but he was still angry that he broke almost everything in the house which maybe gave him some cool because that's where he lashed out his anger.
The next day he called all his wives asking them to return home that everything was all Ok. But they were all still very scared, they all hesitated to come home. They wanted one of them to make the first step and then all all follow through. So one of his wives gathered the courage to return with her kids, and the rest of the wives also returned home with their kids. Each of the wives had approximately six kids, some had more than that.
My grandfather loved all his wife, but he was a very strict person, they had to be careful how they talk to him and did certain things. The wives lived peacefully because grandfather doesn't tolerate fighting. Unlike other polygamous homes, my grandpa's family was different. But I imagine they all lived in fear of him, including his children, They still say today that they had a very strict father but they are all responsible adults today and they give good credit to their father.
I still say today that my grandfather was very intelligent to have married and handled up to 6 wives with approximately six kids for each of them, This was a huge family setting, not al polygamous marriages I've seen that works out very well like that of my grandpa, he instilled respect and fear on all his wives and kids.
Polygamy is still a common practice today in Nigeria, especially in the Hausa tribe. I also grew up in a polygamous home, my own father had two wives, But this is story for another day.
Polygamy has been practiced in various cultures throughout history, often for reasons related to social, economic, or religious factors. My grandpa's family was a typical example of a polygamous home, But I'm glad none of his kids took after this act, they all have one wife as it should be!
Marrying more than one wife simultaneously is not my problem, my own take is being able to handle the family well, what about the kids, how will the relationship affect them, what about the feelings of the first wife and showing respect for her?
There should be careful considerations of these factors before deciding to take more wives.
What's your take on the topic of polygamy?
Thank you for your time here 🤗
