“RUN-AWAY” Wives of Chiefs: Women in Search of Liberty and Freedom in Colonial Oyo Town
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Date
2023
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Journal of Behavioural Studies
Abstract
The Marriage Ordinance of 1884 made a significant impact on marriage in traditional Yoruba
societies. Women utilized Native Courts to dissolve their marriages and often remarried. This
trend particularly affected traditional chiefs in the Oyo Division of Southwestern Nigeria, as their
wives left their homes to protest and reject forced marriages. These women were of a higher social
class and threatened the chiefs' authority and spirituality, which were highly regarded in precolonial
Yorubaland. They used various methods to leave the palaces, seeking freedom and
independence. This gender history study explores the stories of "runaway" wives of Yoruba chiefs
in colonial southwestern Nigeria who rebelled against traditional ruling structures and processes
through modern means. The study concludes that, with the help of colonial officials and English
laws, these royal wives began permanently deconstructing the norms of the Yoruba traditional
institution.