Failing Economy Leads More Marriage Crashing Over ‘Chop Money’

FOR the past five years the nation’s economy has had negative effects on marriages. Divorce of many marriages has been the end product.

While so many other factors including lack of trust, lack of respect and infidelity among others may not be ruled out for possible causes of plethora of divorces, it is rather appaling but not shocking that a common issue such as  “feeding money” is a major culprit to this deadly menace.

Since 2016, marriages have moved from bad to worse. This is because most men who have been providing for their families can no longer do so. Some of the men who are unfortunate to have wives who don’t understand, end up having disastrous homes where beating, battering, heckling and hounding are major ingredients. The pot of soup these ingredients usually cook is divorce.

In 2016, official statistics suggested that the dissolution of marriage in Nigeria was uncommon.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, just 0.2% of men and 0.3% of women had legally dissolved their marriages. However,  in 2018, a report stated that separation rates in Nigeria recorded a 14 per cent increase.

The report said a total of 3,000 divorce cases were recorded in Badagry, Lagos. The reasons advanced for seeking resolution of 80 percent of those marriages was mainly inability of the man to take care of the home.

Also, in a 2019 report titled: Deciphering the high rate of Divorce in Nigeria, Kano State alone had over one million registered divorcees.

More so, it is reported that the Social Development Secretariat, Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA records a total of 20 to 30 reportedcases of divorce at one of the offices daily.

Further records at the Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court showed that over 2,000 divorce cases were filed between the year 2019 and February 2020, with an average of 30 cases being entertained every day, even as the court tried its best to reconcile some of the couples through arbitration panels.

In 2021 and 2022, the numbers are soaring, the conflicts are rising and divorce is no longer scary.

On February 8, this year, it was reported that one Mrs Olubunmi, a caterer, approached the court to dissolve her marriage, accusing her husband of abandoning her for two years.

She said for those two years, the man did not provide chop money.

Economy&Lifestyle had sought the opinion of a marriage counsellor and Clergy, Mr Adeji Oluwaseyi and this is what he said: “It’s unfortunate many marriages are crashing owing to bad economy. Besides that, the economic condition has also made many families struggle in many other important areas of their lives. Today, many married men cannot pay their rent any longer because the cost of renting an apartment is very high, particularly in a conducive environment. This is rendering many families homeless.

“Another area is feeding. Many families today hardly feed well resulting in couples being scared of child-bearing. This has also resulted to people committing abortions.

“The state of the economy has also affected our spiritual lives. Couples no longer pray together, because they are busy looking for daily bread. A man who has not paid his bills will hardly be spiritually focused” he added.

Also, a teacher and house wife Mrs Adeniyi Shade, corroborated Oluwaseyi, when she said: “The rate of divorce has increased due to unstable mental health of couples , caused by the failing state of the economy, especially that of men.

“However, most smart women who seek to keep their marriages now have to get themselves busy with two or more jobs to support their husbands.

Some of them do online businesses while at the same time carrying out their traditional roles as housewives.”

“For instance, I am a teacher but since I saw that the price of everything is going up, I had to use my savings to stock my shop so that my husband can return home in sound mind. I open my shop for business, immediately I return from school because my shop is right in front of my house.

“Many women are doing the same, if not more to retain their marriages. That is the new normal”she added.