By Prisca Sam-Duru

Bizarre cases of domestic violence are gradually replacing stories on every other aspect of human life, on the pages of dailies and magazines in the country. In recent times, headlines such as Man hacks wife to death for adultery, Man baths wife with acid, Man sets wife ablaze for…,Woman baths husband with hot water while asleep…, and and the stories seem unending as new cases keep cropping up.

At the point of some of the events represented by the mock headlines above, it becomes clear that the centre can no longer hold and things surely fell apart.

With the rate at which Nigerian couples divorce, one may not be wrong to say that couples in the country are competing with Europe and American couples in this regard.

Worried by this ugly trend, one of Nollywood’s actresses Maimuna Abaji Yahaya who now finds fulfilment in keeping couples together through her project, Still Bonding, staged a drama with theme revolving around the family.

The fascinating play, featuring some of Nollywood’s finest acts; Ahmed Yususf, Gift Olayinka, Emeka Okoye, Amina Ndim and Asua Obi, exposes some of the major factors responsible for irreconcilable differences between couples which often lead to divorce. It above all, sends a stern warning to intending spouses to ensure they unveil each other before saying I do, as well as warning parents to desist from choosing life partners for their children.

In the Family drama, a poor widow played by Asua Obi encourages her daughter Mariam, acted by Amina Ndim, not to live the kind of poverty stricken life she has lived since she married her father and after his untimely death. She instructs Mariam to marry an old but rich man, Chief Okwuego played by Emeka Okoye, instead of marrying her choice Abu (Ahmed Yusuf). Her brother, John (Gift Olayinka) kicks against the idea for the obvious reason. He warns their mother that forcing Mariam to marry against her choice would be calamitous.

All John’s pleas fall on their mother’s deaf ears as she is carried away by gifts from the chief in addition to promises to build her a mansion and repackage her life.

Mama pressures her daughter more and more and promises Mariam who maintains at this juncture, that she is in love with Abu, that she will learn to love chief Okwuego since according to her, love is a gradual process. She tells Mariam that she will learn to love the chief. Abu learns about Mariam’s mother’s plan to marry off his hearthrob and exhibits a character typical of hooligans. At this juncture, the audience feels nothing but pity for the young, naive and helpless girl who is torn between a rascal who is madly in love with her and a man old enough to be her father. It was surprising when at last, Chief Okwuego records a feat against the much younger Abu.

But Alas, Okwuego displays unimaginable character against his wife. He becomes brutish and treats her like a rag and piece of furniture as she isn’t allowed to go outside. Mariam suffers both mental, psychological and physical torture. Sadly, Chief keeps reminding her that he bought her with a huge prize and warns that no member of her family should visit his house. The violence climaxes into serious cuts and bruises on the poor girl.

As events unfold, Mariam discovers that spending a day more in Chief’s house only means digging her own grave. To the audience chagrin, after sympathising with her daughter because of the wounds Chief inflicted on her, Mariam’s mother cajoles her to go back to her husband and make her marriage work.

That didn’t go down well with the audience as so many women have met their untimely death in similar circumstances as the one told in the family drama. Most members of audience who commented on the drama afterwords, insisted that in as much as divorce is unacceptable, whenever someone’s life is at risk, separation becomes a good option.

Maimuna Yahaya on her part advised parents to desist from making choices for their children especially as regards to marriage. She also emphasised the importance of patience, understanding and communication to overcoming challenges in marriages, stressing that divorce which is not the best option, can be prevented if the right steps are taken before marriage takes place.