+ Why Hubert Ogunde’s children have never gone to court to fight for a property
Oluwemimo Ogunde. SAN. son of Chief Hubert Ogunde opens up on how his dad effectively managed his harem in the African best practices in an interview with
How was he able to manage conflicts and competition between wives and children?
Oh, that’s a very good question; let me tell you how. I’m sure you will find it very strange when I tell you. Each time my father wanted a new wife, he called his older wives and told them that he wanted a new wife, then, they would volunteer to bring the wife for him. My mother, for instance, I know the person she brought. So, when the senior wife brings a wife home, that junior wife is under that senior wife in authority. My dad didn’t really interact with the junior wives. It is stratified, it’s hierarchical. My dad didn’t talk to these junior wives; the senior wives had their own time with their husband. They rotated daily through the week. The junior wives only get a time with their husband by the senior wife surrendering their slots to them. So, the junior wife has that protection because she knows that on the day that her own mentor, guardian or leader would have her day, the day would be surrendered to her or she would be given the opportunity.
There were no days assigned to the junior wives because there are only seven days in a week (laughs)…. So, it took the higher wives to surrender. So, you can see the level of selflessness and cooperation. That prevented any form of hassle. There’s no way you wouldn’t respect an elderly wife that gives you her slot to meet with your husband. The arrangement was even known to us as children, so you can see the cooperation in our home.
How was the cooperation between the children?
On the children’s side, the eldest wife had authority over all the children. There is a way we ate then. Your mother must not be the one to prepare your food. Food comes from a general pot. Food would be cooked for all the children, then trays would be served and four meals were served on each tray, so, we all ate together under the control of the eldest wife. Although we had our quarrels as siblings would, we grew up together. Have you ever heard of Hubert Ogunde’s children going to court to fight for a property? It won’t happen.
Punch September 4, 2022
