When Yakaka Mandara tweeted a picture of a first wife feeding her husband’s second wife at a wedding reception, she did not expect that the photo would go outside of her country, Nigeria. But that’s exactly what it did, reigniting an age-old debate about polygamy in Africa.
Polygamy is a centuries-old practice in Africa that has yet to disappear from modern life. It has both cultural and religious origins. It is legal in 26 out of 54 African countries, particularly Muslim majority countries.
In the case of the picture Mandara posted, sources say the first wife threw a huge wedding for her husband as he married his second wife. People have commended her effort in helping to usher in a second wife while others have criticized it for being outdated.
