There is a peculiar kind of confusion that thrives in our society, especially whenever law, culture and international procedures intersect. It is the confusion that makes otherwise calm couples panic the moment the thought of “travelling out” enters their marital vocabulary. Overnight, many husbands and wives find themselves running to Ikoyi Registry as though salvation is hidden inside the four walls of a statutory marriage office. Yet, beneath this rush lies a tragic irony: they are simply chasing what they already have.
The truth is simple, but decades of half–information have made it sound like a revelation. Nigerian law recognises three valid forms of marriage. Statutory marriage, Islamic marriage and customary marriage all enjoy legal legitimacy. None is inferior to the other. None is a second-class citizen in the hierarchy of marital jurisprudence. And yet, at the slightest mention of an embassy appointment, some couples suddenly assume that only a statutory certificate can stand before the scrutiny of foreign consular officers. The result is panic spending, hurried registry ceremonies, and a growing population of Nigerians unknowingly entering statutory unions without understanding its legal consequences.
The problem, as always, is ignorance—an expensive enemy. What most people do not realise is that embassies are not concerned with the style of your wedding; they are concerned with the authenticity of your marriage. They want a document issued by a competent authority confirming that you are indeed married under a valid legal system. In Nigeria, a High Court has the jurisdiction to affirm your marital status through a sworn affidavit. That affidavit is not a “mere paper.” It is a court document with probative value accepted in embassies across the world.
So, if a couple married traditionally in the presence of their elders, or Islamically under the guidance of an imam, there is no need to panic. There is no need to dash to the registry as though customary unions were illegal creations of village life. All that is required is simple: take your customary or Islamic marriage certificate—whether issued by the family, the Ummuna, the Olori Ebi, the mosque, and/or supported by pictorial evidence—to the High Court. Swear an affidavit affirming that you are married under that tradition. Walk out confidently. Your marriage has been judicially acknowledged. And the embassy will accept it.
Marriage is not a race to the registry. It is a legal relationship defined by the law under which it was contracted. Once a High Court affirms it, the world recognises it.
This is why one must consistently remind Nigerians that the law is not the enemy. The enemy is the rumour that feeds on our panic. Nigerian customary and Islamic marriages offer significant cultural and legal flexibility, including the allowance of polygyny under certain systems. If a man, like the often-cited Pa Ned, marries more than one wife customarily, the law does not invalidate any of those unions simply because they were not celebrated in a government hall. Each marriage can be affirmed at the High Court, and he is free to travel with any one of his wives—one at a time, of course, because even international travel protocols are not designed for polygamous tourism.
The real tragedy is that couples lose money, time and emotional energy because we have elevated a single registry to the status of a global gateway. Meanwhile, the Nigerian legal system, properly understood, already provides the tools needed for international recognition of customary and Islamic marriages. What is lacking is public enlightenment, which is why these clarifications must continue to echo from platforms like this.
At the heart of this conversation is a bigger lesson: Nigerians must learn to trust their own laws. Our legal traditions are richer than we often assume. Our customary institutions, though unwritten, carry centuries of legitimacy. Our Islamic family structures are recognised in both Nigerian jurisprudence and comparative international practice. It is the responsibility of every couple to understand the system under which they married and to stop feeling inferior simply because a friend or neighbour insists that only an Ikoyi certificate “works for abroad.”
Marriage is not a race to the registry. It is a legal relationship defined by the law under which it was contracted. Once a High Court affirms it, the world recognises it. Let the chaos stop. Let the unnecessary expenses stop. Let the panicked midnight calls to “run to Ikoyi tomorrow” finally stop.
Our marriages must work. And part of making them work is freeing Nigerians from needless fear, needless spending and needless misinformation. The law is clear. The process is simple. The solution has been waiting all along.
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