PRECIOUS IJEOMA ONWUEMENE

The definition of marriage varies according to cultures. Marriage is a legal union between a man and woman as husband and wife. In some jurisdictions, it is a union between two persons in the same sex usually entailing legal obligations of each person to the other. Marriage is also called matrimony or wedlock. It is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that established rights and obligations between them and their in-laws, as well as the society in general.2 When defined broadly; marriage can be recognized by a state, and organization or a religious body, a tribal group, local community or peers. Oxford advanced dictionary defines marriage as the legal relationship between a husband and a wife. According to the definition above, which states that marriage could also be a union between two persons of the same sex which has a legal backing.3 However,, this research stands with the definition that are based on marriage being a union between a man and a woman which is the most acceptable in Egbudu-Akah land and not the other way round. Egbudu-Akah is a town located in Aniocha-South Local Government area of Delta state. Akishe River formed the boundary between her and Ashama, Ubulu in the East, in the west bordered by Ekuku-Agbor, in the south by Ejeme and Nsukwa and in the North by Ute-Okpu. Egbudu-Akah, is located in the forest belt of the state, Delta, it covers a total of about twelve (12)miles east to west, and the same North to South