- A Nigerian woman has gone viral after criticizing bride price, saying it has become a financial barrier for many men to get married and has led to some women remaining unmarried in their 30s.
- According to her, some men who are ready to settle down are unable to do so because they cannot afford the financial requirements that come with a bride price.
A video of a young Nigerian woman criticizing the practice of bride price has gone viral on social media, triggering widespread reactions online.
The video, shared by X user @mazi_chinonso1, shows the woman expressing dismay at what she describes as the negative impact of bride price on marriages in many communities.
In the video, she laments that this tradition, which was meant to respect marriage, has now become a major obstacle for many couples. According to her, some men who are ready to settle down are unable to do so because they cannot afford the financial requirements that come with a bride price.
She also pointed out that many women remain unmarried in their 30s, not because of a lack of suitors but because of the high cost of the marriage process.
In questioning the origins of the practice, she argued that it contradicted what she believed to be the simplicity of marriage.
In her words:
“God gave Adam a wife for free. I don’t know who brought the idea of bride price. Now some of us are about to get married but have no money to buy bride price. Some of our girls are already 35 years old and don’t say men don’t have dai but no money for bride price. We start where God stopped. Let’s leave the issue of bride price.
“What are some of our girls getting old for today? Bride price. Not that men don’t have any. God gave Adam his wife for free and he told you he didn’t know what he was doing? Una come and change that mind now.”
“You go to some communities and if you want to marry their girl, they will go around with a list and give it to you, as if you want to buy the girl, but the wife you want to marry, you don’t buy. Let’s change the idea of bride price, I plead to let the girl marry the old Tang of many father’s family.”
The video has since attracted mixed reactions, with some arguing that high bride price requirements would delay marriages, while others defended the tradition as an important cultural practice.
