By Maria Immaculate Owechi
Polygamy which is the act of marrying more than one wife has existed since the African traditional society. When Christianity and civil marriage were introduced, it was condemned and considered abominable, however, it is still embraced in a traditional and Islamic marriage setting.
Despite being allowed, not many women welcome co-wives. That is why it was suprising when a first wife from Nigeria posted a picture of her self-feeding her husband’s second wife on Twitter during their wedding reception. Her twitter handle became viral in a matter of seconds.
According to reports by Face2Face Africa, the first wife organized a huge wedding celebration for her husband and would be co-wife.
Yakaka Mandara, a Nigerian woman who came across the picture tweeted in support of the first wife’s action, ” If only women would understand and embrace their co-wives, it’s much easier than jealousy that eats them up.”
This caused mixed reactions from social media users beyond the borders of her country with some appreciating her efforts in embracing and welcoming the second wife. One user twitted,” May Allah bless this woman, I hope to be this obedient to Allah one day.”
Another added, “This is such a beautiful thing.”
Other people assumed that is was because the man was wealthy that they did not mind embracing each other, “When there is money, polygamy is sweeter.”
Others especially the women were critical of the first wife’s actions and even questioned if she was genuine with some hinting on the possibility of poisoning the second wife through the cake.
One user said, “I can’t do that… I know it’s his right to have another wife so I won’t stop him but I can never go this extra just to get the applause of people.”
Another putting herself in the first wife’s shoes said she would but for different reasons; “One, I am probably poisoning her and the second one, I’ll marry a man who makes me his ONLY wife.”
The other replied to her tweet as the second wife and saying she would tell the first wife, “I’m not tryna die on my wedding night….thank you. I can feed myself.”
One lady turned everything the other way around by suggesting, “Wait for my husbands to care of one another like this.”
This content was originally published here.