Marriage as we all know is the legal union of a man and woman for the purpose of life companionship and procreation. It is not surprising that Nigerians and the English people adopt different marriage systems, the difference in cultures is one of the main causes. But because of English colonization of Nigeria for about a century, the English legal and church marriage methods are commonly used side by side with our different indigenous marriage system(s). The traditional marriage system was and is still far more suitable for today Nigerians than the English system due to some advantages.

The traditional marriage gives ample room for the parents of the would-be couple to be morally and financially involved. The parents and relations from both sides ensure that their children are marrying the right person and they give frank assessments. This is not so with the English system. The English does not stress the involvement of the parents so far as the bribe and bridegroom have both agreed to marry each other. This extreme individualistic attitude to marriage is one of the high rate of crumbled matrimonies.

Secondly and equally important, traditional marriage ceremony is relatively cheaper than the English societal wedding which observes many rites, protocols and have to cater for the large audience at the church and at the reception venue. Beside the above points, there is too much publicity , pomp and pageantry that go with English wedding. This makes it possible for too many people to be unusually close to the new couple who will sooner or later contribute in one way or the other towards the falling apart of the couple. There are cases of would-be husband and wife who will begin to attend a particular church three months before their church wedding. The hypocrisy of their religion will be visible when the marriage will begin to disintegrate even before the honeymoon period expires

The English marriage system is parochial in nature. Polygamy is out of their system. Any white man that practices it commits begandry and is liable to a jail term. It is in contrast to Nigerian marriage system where a man can marry as many wives as he desires. The worrisome trend of many unmarried ladies in English societies is absent from many Nigerian communities.

Socio-economically, the cost of living is very high in Nigeria today. Under this situation many men can’t afford the exorbitant cost of white marriage, while the traditional marriage option is cheaper, simpler, practical to go through by a would-be couple, who earn as little as N2000 monthly.