POLYGAMY IN YORUBALAND!- A YORUBA-JOSEPH FAGBOLA-EXPLAINS USING KING SUNNY ADE ATI ABIOLA AS EXAMPLES!-FROM FACEBOOK ATI NAIJA.COM

FROM FACEBOOK ATI NAIJA.COM
FROM FACEBOOK-JOSEPH FAGBOLA

SUNNY ADS ALAYA REKETE (REPETE).

I can't resist looking at the colorful pictures of King Sunny Ade and his many wives , not only because the pictures are fascinating and entertaining, but also because they remind me of my late father, Joseph Agbola Fagbola who had 6 wives and 10 concubines. That was the vogue up till the late 1950s and even early 1960s. It was a way of measuring success, and a life well-spent. Ijesa people will refer to a man with so many wives as 'ALAYA REKETE' (REPETE). This has only become inelegant in the face of improved healthcare with reduced infant mortality rate, as well as our stagnant economy with its attendant human misery of galloping inflation, skyrocketing unemployment, moral decadence and spiritual withering. But with people like Sunny Ade who is in the showmanship business, lewd and lascivious, as well as hedonistic living are all part of the trade mark of that type of occupation. An eloquent testimony to this could be found in the high velocity of divorce rate in Hollywood and Nollywood. The rate of divorce in those places is vivid in the thrilling and exciting novels of Jackie Collins, such as HOLLYWOOD DIVORCES, HOLLYWOOD WIVES-The New Generation Lethal Seduction, etc

I believe the pictures have not shown all ladies with whom Sunny Ads has relationship. Of course reference is made to all the ladies paraded here as official ones. It is like making reference to late Simbiat, late Kudirat, Bisi and Doyin as official wives of late business-mogul and ace politician, M K O Abiola. There are hundreds of other ones bearing his name today. I happen to know that the first wife of Sunny Ade, Abike (knee Akeredolu-Ale), is not shown in the pictures under reference. She and 3 of her brothers-Prof Ekundayo, Tunji, and Yomi-were my schoolmates at the Bishop Oluwole Memorial School (BOMS), Agege in the early 1950s.

Sunny Ade has not disclosed the number of his kids. This is either because the number is explosive and mind-boggling or because in Yoruba tradition 'a ki i is omo f'olomo' meaning we are forbidden from counting the number of children

SUNNY ADE ride on please!

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FROM NAIJA.COM

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Photos: Meet King Sunny Ade's 7 'Official' Wives

Adams Odunayo, 4 days ago

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Not many know that Nigerian musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and pioneer of modern world music, King Sunny Ade has about seven ‘official’ wives.

The 68-year-old Osogbo born musician who can be classed as one of the most influential musicians of all time recently made it known that he doesn’t even know how many children he has but has decided to stop having them. This is evident, because all these ‘official’ wives have children for the Ondo-state royal blood.

With insinuations that he has other wives who can be referred to as ‘unofficial’, the internationally relevant musician whose real names are Sunday Adeniyi can be said to still be in the age-long culture of polygamy.

King Sunny Ade’s musical sound has evolved from the early days. His career began with Moses Olaiya’s Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band. He left to form a new band, The Green Spots, in 1967. Over the years, for various reasons ranging from changes in his music to business concerns, Sunny Adé’s band changed its name several times, first to African Beats and then to Golden Mercury.

READ ALSO: Marrying More Than One Wife Is No Big Deal — KWAM 1

He has worked with foreign music stars and has gained an unquestionable ground internationally. Here are photos of the ace musician’s seven ‘official’ wives:

Meanwhile, at the beginning of another round of tour of the United States and Canada, Sunny Adé was appointed a visiting professor of music at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. In July the same year King Sunny Adé was inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame, at the Brooklyn African Festival in the United States. He dedicated the award to the recently deceased Michael Jackson.

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BLACK MARRIAGE! -POLYGAMY!- THIS SOUTH AFRICAN BROTHER MARRIED THE 4 MOTHERS OF HIS CHILDREN AT ONE TIME! -FROM BBCNEWS.COM

POLYGAMY!-THIS SOUTH AFRICAN BROTHER MARRIED 4 WOMEN AT THE SAME TIME LIKE OUR GREAT NIGERIAN FELA DID!-BUT FELA MARRIED 27 WIVES AT THE SAME TIME!-INSTEAD OF GIRL FRIENDS GETTING PREGNANT AND BEING SENT FOR ABORTION THIS BLACK MAN IS BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL HIS LOVES!

by Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade BBCNEWS.COM

SA man’s mass wedding ‘saved money’
By Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Durban
South African businessman Milton Mbele broke all the traditional rules of a polygamous wedding when he recently married four women on the same day.
The four brides dressed in flowing white gowns walked down the aisle together, before saying “We do” to the 44-year-old groom.
Mr Mbele says he didn’t marry them purely for the spectacle but also because it made financial sense.
“I don’t know how much four different weddings would have cost me but I know doing it all at once saved money,” he explains.
“For example I only needed one tent, I needed to hire one caterer and one photographer for the entire ceremony.”
If I feel like taking another wife this is something that will be in the open
Milton Mbele
“I began putting money aside for the event towards the end of 2007 and started collecting quotes for things like the tent and catering costs early last year.”
He says he loves all his wives – Thobile Vilakazi, Zanele Langa, Baqinisile Mdlolo and Smangele Cele – equally and also treats them that way.
Mr Mbele himself wears four rings on his finger – he says this is a sign of his commitment to all his wives.
The wives say they were shocked by the news that Mr Mbele wanted to marry them at once but add that they agreed because they love him.
Some two weeks after their much publicised two-day ceremony, Mr Mbele says he is overwhelmed by all the attention his wedding has attracted.
I met Mr Mbele and Smangele, at 23 the youngest Mrs Mbele, at a hotel in Durban – the pair were set to do a radio interview with a national radio station the next day.
‘Our culture’
In their hotel room the pair sat comfortably on the bed while taking questions about their big day.
Mr Mbele, a Zulu businessman and municipal manager, says polygamy is still very much part of Zulu tradition.
Milton Mbele has four wedding rings
“This is a proud part of our culture. It has been practised for generations before us.”
“My grandfather himself had three wives,” says Mr Mbele, quickly adding that he isn’t blindly following in his grandfather’s footsteps.
“I prefer polygamy to having many girlfriends which is what some married men do,” he says.
“If I love more than one woman, I would rather make it known to the other women in my life and make it official.
“If I feel like taking another wife this is something that will be in the open and my wives would know,” he says.
President Jacob Zuma, also a Zulu, has three wives.
But the practice has been met with criticism.
Inside polygamy
Some point out that it does not afford equal rights to men and women.
Women are not allowed to wed more than one husband, while a man can have as many wives as he wishes.
There are seven days in a week and I have four wives. I will take turns visiting them and use the remaining three days to rest
Milton Mbele
In a polygamous marriage only the first wife is legally recognised, which could pose some difficulties in dividing the husband’s estate when he dies.
South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world – some five million.
Since having more than one sexual partner increases the chances of contracting the virus, it is understandable that Smangele’s family had reservations about her entering into a polygamous marriage.
“My family was not pleased at first but they came around eventually,” she says.
They are taking the necessary precautions, which include regular HIV tests.
“I had my last test a few months ago when I was pregnant. We are all disciplined about staying healthy,” she says.
The arrangements seem to have been carefully thought out down to the last detail, including how Mr Mbele will alternate between his four wives, who all live in different parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal province.
“There are seven days in a week and I have four wives. I will take turns visiting them and use the remaining three days to rest,” he says.
At this point Smangele, who has been quiet with her head bowed until now, looks up and smiles at her husband.
The second day of the wedding was a traditional Zulu wedding ceremony
When asked how she feels about Mr Mbele’s visitation plan she quickly responds.
“I believe it will work. I am used to living on my own and having him visit me on certain days so this won’t be anything new to us,” she says, reaching for her husband’s hand.
In fact, Mr Mbele has already been in relationships with his new wives for several years.
He has three children with “first wife” Thobile, two with “wife-number-two” Zanele, one child with Baqinisile, referred to as “wife-number-three” and two children with “youngest wife” Smangele.
He also has three children from a previous relationship.
Mr Mbele is the breadwinner in all his homes – none of his wives is employed. They say they are happy to be provided for by their husband.
He owns 100 cows and 250 goats and has a good job, so he is relatively wealthy, at least by traditional standards.
‘Why we love him’
Earlier in the day, I spoke to Baqinisile, who lives in a large home which she says was a gift from her husband.
The yard has three separate houses; the main house is made from orange bricks – it is the biggest and only one of its kind in the small village.
The Mbeles have postponed going on honeymoon to save money
She welcomes me into her home and ushers me to sit down on luxurious cream leather couches.
In an area where employment and the luxuries it affords are difficult to come by, Baqinisile is living a life some young women in the area would envy.
Baqinisile describes her husband, who she met in 2006, as a fair man.
“He respects us and treats us all the same way,”
“When he buys us clothes, he buys us similar things. Also when he gives us money.
“I admire this about him because it shows me that he loves us the same way,” she says, adjusting her ring.
Both Baqinisile and Smangele admit they were against polygamy when they were growing up but have now changed their minds.
“When I saw what a loving man he is and how he much he values all of us, I knew that I would be able to share my life with him and everyone else,” says Smangele.
Although Mr Mbele says he minimised costs by having a mass wedding, he is still paying for it, so there will be no honeymoon for a couple of years.
But the entire Mbele family will not be going away together – he will take each wife separately in order of their hierarchy.

POLYGAMY IN AFRICA-SOUTH AFRICAN POLYGAMY FOR PRESIDENT ZUMA HAS 3 WIVES AND IS ENJOYING IT!-FROM BBC.COM

from bbc.com

How do Zulus explain polygamy?
By Elizabeth Diffin BBC News Magazine South African president Jacob Zuma, on a visit to the UK, has been criticised by some in the British press for having three wives. But while the practice raises eyebrows in the West, how is it justified in his home country? Trade talks and his nation's hosting of the World Cup are on the agenda for Jacob Zuma's three-day state visit to the UK. But interest has mainly focused on his consort - Thobeka Madiba, the latest woman to join his polygamous marriage. In the UK, to be married to more than one person at a time is illegal. But the Zulu ethnic group, of which Mr Zuma is part, practises polygamy by tradition. This clash in attitudes dates from the 19th Century, when white missionaries preached that conversion to Christianity entailed divorcing one's "extra" wives, says Ndela Ntshangase, a lecturer in the school of Zulu studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. President Zuma attributes his polygamy to the Zulu culture And British colonisers "pushed [monogamy] down the throats of black people" through taxes that rose for each wife, and land allocations with insufficient space for polygamous family units, says Mr Ntshangase. However, polygamy in South Africa is still a fact of life for many. While urban Zulu communities have found it difficult to uphold the arrangement, those in the rural homelands have maintained the tradition. Muslim populations and other cultural groups in South Africa also practice polygamy. While some in the British press have seized on Mr Zuma's attitudes to marriage, he defends his private life as part of his culture. "When the British came to our country they said everything we are doing was barbaric, was wrong, inferior in whatever way," he told Johannesburg's Star newspaper this week. "I don't know why they are continuing thinking that their culture is more superior than others." So how do they explain the tradition? Boy-girl balance In southern Africa, the population skews slightly female, says Mr Ntshangase, who says the male population is partly depleted by "unnatural deaths" in war and other dangerous activities. "If you say it's one-to-one, you will have a big chunk of ladies who aren't going to have husbands. What do you do with them then?" But this gender imbalance argument holds no sway for Protas Madlala, an independent political analyst, who declares it "unsophisticated". Elders also use polygamy to warn young men that they could lose out on love if they don't behave. "In order to win a girl, you must be a good boy," says Mr Ntshangase. "Responsible young men become responsible husbands." The president's most recent wife accompanied him on his state visit In Zulu culture, "every family member must work for the betterment of the family". And a way to improve a family's status and income is to add extra members, he says, and adds that additional wives can be particularly advantageous in an agricultural society. And polygamy offers women a degree of economic well-being they might not otherwise attain, says Mr Madlala. "Polygamy fits into the socio-economic inequalities we have. It gives [the wives] insurance of sorts." But the theory that polygamy favours equality for women holds little water for Leslie Mxolisi Dikeni, a research associate at the University of Pretoria. "On paper there is total emancipation of women, but traditional forms of polygamy are not allowing for that," he says. Even in so-called equal polygamous marriages, there's innate gender imbalance between the husband and his wives. Spectre of Aids Some of those who support polygamy believe a monogamous system would mean more unattached women, who would then have affairs with married men, says Mr Ntshangase. He claims that in a polygamous marriage, a woman will share her husband instead of getting divorced. "[Divorce] is another type of polygamous marriage. It's just not happening simultaneously or concurrently." Under apartheid, polygamy thrived in rural Zulu villages But polygamy does not stop men and women straying. South Africans who are uneasy about their president's lifestyle point to the fact that he recently fathered an illegitimate child, says Mr Madlala. Nor does it necessarily mean an end to separation - Mr Zuma has already been through one divorce. Even though polygamy is a part of its traditions, there is a new reality that raises questions about whether this lifestyle has a place in modern South Africa. More than 5 million people in South Africa are HIV positive - the most of any country in the world. "South Africa is almost the Aids capital of the world," Mr Madlala says. "Our president is not really a good model." Below is a selection of your comments. Polygamy is the future not the past. Women get to share not only one man but also a sisterhood with the other wives. One man is more than enough. The women also get to share childcare and the children grow up in a larger social group where there is less likelihood of child abuse and neglect. I can see lots of advantages. David Cadogan, Richmond Polygamy is practiced more around the world than monogamy and has been the case since modern humans evolved. The propensity to mate polygamously can be broadly described as a cultural preference but this is really due to many factors largely dependent on the type of environment when these practices came about and would have been genetically advantageous. While polygamy is not as beneficial in evolutionary terms to women as it is men (unless the woman is the first wife) I would not say this is an example of the emancipation of women. It is too easy to be dismissive and overly moralistic when it comes to practices which we are not used to. Whether President Zuma treats each wife equally or well is beside the point and is somewhat irrelevant to the fact that he practices polygamy. Suzannah Lipmann, London, UK Why anyone would want more than one wife is beyond me, but that's the way of life in some countries and who are we to tell them they are wrong? Funny as it may seem but we are not always right and have no right interfering in other people's traditions. We may be open to changing our whole way of life to accommodate every Tom Dick and Harry who complains about everything we do but that's because we are weak and pathetic. What we should do is stand our ground and look after our own traditions. If foreigners don't like what we do, they'll just have to accept the way we are. Alastair, London Why is it we consider Western culture the moral barometer to which all other countries must adhere? The hegemony of Africa should have ceased with the death of colonialism. Apparently our press still believe themselves to be on a 'civilising' mission, akin to Victorian missionaries. R. Williams, Liverpool It is a debate that is set to continue, especially in a country with strong Christian bias. The "wrong" thing, as far as the law and bigamy is concerned, is that a person can be prosecuted and sent to jail for having more than one wife in the UK - even if the wives live together and are completely happy with their situation and lifestyle. However, a married man can have many affairs with multiple women without his spouses' knowledge and, in the eyes of the law, he is doing nothing legally "wrong". Masu, Stockton What concerns the South African taxpayer is not so much that the president is polygamous - but who is paying for the 4 wives (one divorced) and 20 children? Given that the president has a track record of unfortunate financial mismanagement, it's doubtful that he can afford his lifestyle on his salary. Where is the extra money coming from? Rob, Cape Town, South Africa This is one more example of the British press/media creating a moral panic, and the west in particular pushing their values on to the rest of the world. The Aids issue is not due to lax moral standards per se in third world countries, but as a result of lack of sufficiently available medicines which are controlled by western pharmaceutical companies and distribution of financial aid which is consistently reneged upon by the wealthy west. Anyone in today's world who supports their own cultural identity and practices should be commended, not condemned. But that would not make good press. Arthur Hassall, Manchester. UK It is an interesting point that the missionaries in the 19th century were encouraging people already in polygamous marriages to divorce their 'extra' wives ... what happened to two "wrongs" don't make a right? Gareth, London Polygamy is only legal in South Africa under certain circumstances. Generally polygamy is only a choice for people who have a much more rural/traditional upbringing. As a Christian I believe polygamy is a wrong choice to make, but I also have to recognise and respect that it is not my place to judge. As a republican I don't believe the royal family is justifiable, but I have to respect that it is firmly entrenched in British culture and would have to treat the royal family with respect as the constitutional Monarch. Why can't British people treat the South African Head of State with the same respect due him as the legitimate and duly elected President of a sovereign state? What is all the fuss about? Gary Morrison But what about the women? Are they only allowed one husband? Surely, if women are only allowed one husband but men are allowed several wives each, you would need more than a "slight skew" in the population male : female ratio for there not to be very large numbers of unattached men. Helen, Berkshire, UK I believe part of the origin of polygamy in Zulu culture was because for a long time it was a warrior culture in which many men died. In that circumstance, the man's brother would have to marry the widow - so it was a way of ensuring women were provided for. It's also very much a status thing. I have a Zulu friend with more than one wife. It shows he can afford a large household (he has over 25 children) and because he's a member of the royal family, it's expected of him. Deborah, London Polygamy is still part of Western culture, but there is a taboo on speaking about it. Several of my friends are in polygamous relationships where all partners are aware of the other people involved - this is not the same as having an affair, or cheating. They are not married, but that does not detract from the serious footing of the relationships - which have in some cases lasted for several years. Regarding the risks of Aids and HIV transmission - the Poly practitioners I know are some of the most fastidious practitioners of safe and protected sex. Moreso than many of the serial monogamy practitioners I know, who will have a series of liaisons with people whose names they don't even know and won't be able to remember the following morning whether they even used protection. Kate Jones, Lancaster UK Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version Ads by Google Expatriate In Nigeria? £50k-£1m In Savings? Free Report To Get You The Best Interest Rates! www.OffshoreSavingsDesigner.com MBA without Bachelor British Online MBA for Managers Upgrade your career today ! www.college.ch CHOGM 2013 - Sri Lanka 53 world leaders meet in paradise Visit the official website today! www.chogm2013.lk
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