Nigerian stand-up comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, better known as Alibaba, has said he believes in polygamy because it offers practical and cultural benefits.
In an interview with Nedu, Alibaba said that having multiple wives can stabilise relationships by fostering cooperation among them, as the presence of another wife discourages misbehaviour.
He said, “Some people feel that 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.”
Drawing from historical practices, Alibaba cited examples from Ibadan, where women encouraged their husbands to marry additional wives to prevent infidelity and maintain family unity.
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“So there are different reasons for polygamy. I actually know of a woman in Ibadan who encouraged her husband to be a polygamist. Most of them, back then, I don’t know who wants to doubt this, women marry a young girl and give her to the husband. And they do that because they don’t want the man to have concubines,” he added.
He also described traditional customs where widows with young children were married to a brother-in-law to ensure care, presenting this as a form of polygamy rooted in familial responsibility.
“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 three, four, five children,” he said.
While acknowledging differing views, Alibaba stood firm in his support for polygamy, emphasising its role in certain social contexts.
