Igbo+Marriage+Customs

The Igbo regard marriage as the cornerstone of their entire social structure, it brings together households, lineages and even towns. The Igbo believed every adult must marry and build their own household. The key unit of agricultural production was the household, and in order to build large households, husbands usually practiced polygamy. Taking in several wives enhanced a man's status as well as the prestige of the first wife. She shared the titles of her husband and presided over household deliberations. The wives lived in their separate houses, cooked for themselves and raised their own children. The Igbo law also permitted an unhappy wife to leave.