E.O. Okwechime

This study explores the complex dynamics of polygyny by examining the attitudes, agency, and behavioral patterns of the co-wives in Lola Shonayin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives. Set against the backdrop of a contemporary yet deeply patriarchal Nigerian society, the novel provides a nuanced lens into the domestic warfare, strategic alliances, and individual survival mechanisms deployed within a polygynous household. Utilizing a African feminist theoretical framework, this paper analyzes how the four wives—Iya Segi, Iya Tope, Iya Femi, and Bolanle—navigate their socio-cultural limitations. The textual analysis reveals that rather than remaining passive victims of patriarchal containment, the wives exhibit diverse attitudes ranging from fierce rivalry and manipulation to subtle subversion and solidarity. While the older wives manipulate traditional structures and leverage secrets to maintain security and power, the entry of the educated, monogamously-raised fourth wife, Bolanle, disrupts the established hierarchy and inadvertently exposes the foundational deception keeping the household intact. Ultimately, the study argues that Shoneyin uses the wives' conflicting attitudes to critique institutionalized polygyny, exposing it not as a harmonious traditional ideal, but as a site of intense emotional labor, psychological maneuvering, and hidden female autonomy.

Women have in diverse ways contributed to the development and growth of society. Their contribution leave every community where they are belong better than it was. This study, which is anchored on women’s empowerment theories, covers three plays of Ahmed Yerima: “The Wooden Pot”, “The Sick People” and “Erelu-Kuti”. The study examines the economic, political and cultural roles of women in these plays. Each play analyses the relevance of empowered women in society in the aspect of politics, economics and culture. These women have in no small way given to society what their male counterparts have. Their contributions are as relevant and elevating as that of men who have made their habitat and those around them better

This essay examines intolerance and social collapse in Chimamanda Adichie's Purple and Hibiscus and Sefi Atta's Everything Good Will Come with the view to highlighting its effects on familyhood. 1.2 Scope of Study This essay is limited to Chimamanda Adichie's Purple and Hibiscus and Sefi Atta's Everything Good Will Come because the two novels deal with different aspects of intolerance and social collapse in society