When I see men, especially my Igbo brothers, fighting against registry marriage (court marriage), I shake my head and cry for my people. If you know the benefits of court marriage, you should go for it. The following are some of the reasons why you should prefer registry marriage if you are a man:
1. There is a marriage certificate issued by government which is recognized by all governments of this world that your wife is your wife. (Her body can be released to you and your own body can be released to her).
2. It is easy to prove that your wife is your wife and that your children are your children if you go to any embassy or travel overseas or buy health insurance or rent a residence, etc.
3. Your wife cannot just abandon you if you are sick. With customary marriage, your wife can divorce you immediately she is able to return the bride price. For registry marriage, she is required to wait for three years unless there is domestic violence or adultery. So, if you have a registry marriage, your beautiful wife cannot just meet a rich American-based man and follow him like that. She is stuck with you for three years from the day she moved out. (Don’t get me wrong: If you commit adultery or domestic violence, your wife can divorce you immediately. No need to wait for 3 years after separation).
4. If you are running from the police, and your wife helped you to escape, she cannot be charged with abetting. She is your wife, you cannot conspire with her to commit a crime, even if the both of you actually conspired. As long as it is a registered marriage. Your wife can help you escape from the police without anybody punishing her for that. But this is only if you had a registered marriage.
5. Your wife cannot be compelled to testify against you in a criminal trial, if you had a registered marriage. And you can stop her from testifying against you even if she wants to testify against you. This is very important to men – yahoo boys, drug dealers, etc. Your woman who sleeps in the same bed with you will know your secrets. If she is a girlfriend or customary law wife, she can be forced to reveal any secrets you shared with her or anything she discovered in your house. But if she is a registered wife, even if she saw you with the gun, she will not be forced to testify against you. And if she tries to reveal it, you can stop her. This is why intelligent men prefer registry marriage with the woman in their lives. That is how they protect their secrets from the police and government. Intelligent men use registry marriage to prevent their wives from ever testifying against them. But Isi-Okpukpu will refuse to do registry marriage and soon his wife will be singing in court during his criminal trial.
6. If you have a registered marriage, you are presumed to be the father of any child she has while still married to you. Your wife’s boyfriend will not be allowed to conduct a paternity test to confirm whether her child is his or yours. You are presumed to be the father of your wife’s children, regardless of any boyfriend in her life. But this presumption applies only if there is a registry marriage.
7. If you don’t have a registered marriage, and you die, your young children may not be able to inherit your assets. Your kinsmen will use your money to punish your children.
NOTE:
Go and get a registry marriage if you love your life. Without a registry marriage, every wife knows that she has no interest in her husband’s business. She will not protect the assets of her husband because what is his is not hers. If his thing is not your thing, why leave your thing and fight to protect his thing?
This report was written by Emeka Ugwuonye, Harvard trained attorney and founder of Due Process Advocates International (DPA)
