Mustafa Aderonke, a 34-year-old woman from Epe, Lagos State, has shared how she avoided being forced into marriage by her mother.
Speaking on the Talk-To-B Podcast, Aderonke explained after finishing secondary school and completing her WAEC, a married man with six children started visiting their home. He wanted to marry her, but she refused because he already had a wife and many children. She said people in her area advised him to speak with her mother.
She said her mother later supported the idea and tried to convince her to accept the proposal. Aderonke said she told her mother she wasn’t ready for marriage and wanted to learn tailoring, hairdressing, and other skills. But her mother didn’t stop pushing.
To escape the pressure, she said she went to her boyfriend and asked him to sleep with her. She believed that if she got pregnant, her mother would no longer be able to force her into marrying someone else.
Her words,
“When I was done with secondary school, after WAEC, there was a man who comes to our place, he once told me to date him but I saw that he is married and had plenty children almost six at that time. I told him I couldn’t marry him. Some people in my street advised him to see my mother. So when my mom asked me, I told her I cannot marry someone with a wife and children because I still have many things to do, I told her I still have plenty job to learn. I want to learn tailoring, hairdressing, and so on, but she ignored me. When I finished WAEC, I had a boyfriend, during that time, I was a virgin so I went to meet my boyfriend to disvirgin me I said to myself once I’m pregnant she you won’t give me out to a man.
