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I have tried not to pass commentary on the IVD’s case as a mark of respect for the dead, and not just that, but also the circumstance, and to avoid any misinterpretation of my view. However, I will just mention this summarily; I have studied the matter from facts or perceived facts gathered privately and in public and I will just say three things:
1. The Nigerian Legal System on marriage and cultural position have failed the test of time and must change now. The Marriage Act and the Matrimonial Causes Act have failed to take into account evolving dynamics in contemporary social interactions with a rigidity more invested in the sustenance of the appearance of regularity than in the sanity and sanctity of marriage. Today, over 1000 divorce matters still remain in courts where the courts in Nigeria have refused to allow parties go their separate ways. I think right now marriage should be interpreted quite simply as contracts where parties can mutually prescribe the governing rules and conditions to exit from it with attendant penalties like we have in prenuptial agreements. (We are getting married on the following terms, if you do xyz, abc is the penalty) Peace!
2. IVD will walk away freely after a brief trial to address public psychology because he cannot be convicted for murder or manslaughter or any offence relating to the demise of his wife in the light of available facts. (This is not to say he is innocent but the law is no respecter of emotions).
3. Similar things will continue to happen because our legal, economic, cultural and traditional value system are not in tandem with present day reality of the concept of marriage and many will continue to be mentally subservient. People simply MARRY or REMAIN in marriages for the wrong reasons such as social expectations, religion believes, economic security, public validation, cultural validation, self-esteem, peer pressure, family pressure, pity, loneliness, social insecurity, stigmatisation and so on. Until we wean ourselves of fondness for misplaced prioties in marriages, the cycle will continue unabated.
Pelumi Olajengbesi Esq.
Managing Partner
Law Corridor
17/10/2022.
