What will
you do if a Billionaire offers you 1 million dollars ($1m ) to sleep with
your wife for just one night. That was the question asked last week by Buki and
Sholz of Classic FM on their lunch time program. According to them, there was this movie about
a couple who were dead broke, so much so, that they couldn’t even afford to buy
themselves a meal on the anniversary of their wedding. They were at this
restaurant where they had intended to have dinner to celebrate their
anniversary, but, on going through the menu, they found out that they could
barely afford anything on the menu.
However, seated in a quiet corner in the
restaurant was this billionaire who was obviously attracted to the wife and has
noticed their predicament. He asked them over to his table and told them they
could have anything they wanted on his bill. They got talking and during the
course of their conversation the billionaire asked the husband, what will he
say if he offered him $1 million to have his wife for just one night.
Initially
the couple had laughed over it and looked at it like a bad joke but on getting
home they realized that the billionaire was dead serious and the reality of
their situation hit them. The fact that they could not even afford to pay their
rent and many other things made them sit down and have a heart to heart talk on
what they should do.
Well your
guess is as good as mine on what happened afterwards. However, I threw this
question open the other day at our usual hang out spot and Ola a 45 year old
stock broker said he will take the money. We were all surprised when he said
this, but then everybody is entitled to his opinion. I asked him, if he was
sure of what he was saying, and how is he going to continue living with his
wife knowing that he had shared her with another man for money? It was then he
told me that he will split the money halfway with his wife and then ask for a
divorce, because he definitely won’t be able to sleep with her again after the
act. Ehime a 42 year old businessman on his part, said he cannot do such a
thing, as it is against their tradition in Esan land where he comes from. He
told us that while that kind of act maybe acceptable in the western world it would
be a big taboo over here in Africa, and in Nigeria in particular. He said in
Esan land, once a couple is married traditionally it will be a big taboo for
the wife to sleep with another man, and if she does this, it will have dire
consequences on both the woman and her children, as she may end up losing her
children one after the other and eventually she will lose her life if she refuses to
confess. However, if the husband is privy to this and is still married to the
woman, he will be the one to lose his life. So he said he will not want to lose
his life and so cannot accept that kind of offer even if he is offered a $1
Billion dollars.
Although I
did not get to hear the responses from listeners on the radio program to know
how they responded but I know that majority of Nigerian men will not accept
such an offer. Just like Ehime said, our culture and tradition forbids such a
thing. In Urhobo land where I come from, our tradition is just like that of the
Esan people. Once a couple is married traditionally the woman cannot afford to
sleep with any other man because it will definitely work against her and her
hubby if the man is aware. Ola was however of a different opinion about this.
He said that there are a lot of married women who sleep around these days and
nothing is happening to them or their family.
It may be
true that some married women do get away with infidelity but this can only
happen under the following circumstances
(i)
If
the couple were not married traditionally. ( There are some couples who just did
Court Registry)
(ii)
If
they were merely cohabiting and have not done their traditional rites.
(iii)
There
are some part of Nigeria where this kind of taboo is not applicable
(iv)
Some
women go to the extent of looking for the antidote to forestall any eventuality
that may arise as a result of their Misdemeanor
So you can
see why it will be difficult for a lot of Nigerian men to accept such an offer.
Even without the shenanigan of our culture and tradition. It will be quite
difficult for any man to accept money and agree to share his wife. This is
Africa and in Africa such things are not acceptable. Although I know that with
the harsh reality of the Economy some men like Ola might want to accept it considering
the amount of money involved. The question however is, will they be able to live
with themselves after doing this. LOL
Send me your
comments and tell me what you think. I will love to know
