“Dear Editor,
My name is Nkeiru, a 36-year-old mother of four children. I lost my husband, Cosmas, after a protracted ailment six months ago and now, his family wants me to marry his elder brother, De Ifundu, a man in his 60s with five wives and numerous children.
Before Cosmas died, he was such a nice and caring husband and father who made sure we never lacked anything. We had built our house in Lagos and our children went to one of the best schools.
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His business was doing very well and he had branches in Onitsha, Aba, and Enugu. But after his death and burial and while I was still in the village with the children, his family forcefully collected all the documents to the house, cars, and businesses.
My protestation that I also worked for the properties were ignored as they said that whatever their brother had while alive now belonged to the elder brother including me.
To add to my sorrow of losing my beloved husband, I was summoned by the family and told that for me and children to be part of the family, I must agree to marry De Ifundu or else I will be stripped of everything and my children thrown out of and declared bastards.
At first, I protested and told them I would never betray my husband by getting married to his brother but they said that it was their custom and that I either do what they said or I would be stripped of everything my husband worked for.
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I have been given three days to give them my answer which will either mean me and my children being accepted or rejected by the family.
Please, I need advice on what to do as I am between a rock and a hard place.
Nkeiru.”
Dear readers, this is another case of culture struggling with modernity and after going through Nkeiru’s plight on True Confession today, what do you think she should do?
