Nnadiebube Journal of Social Sciences

Despite modern ideologies and thoughts that seem to have enormously watered down the relevance of social structures and institutions, particularly marriage, Africa, by and large, has remained impervious to the full hit of these ideologies. Therefore, institutions like marriage, which have now come to be ridiculed by some as not being an achievement, are still greatly valued in Africa. For Africans, family is very important. This is why marriage is not seen as something one chooses or not; it is considered something that one must choose. It is a condition sine qua non for being seen or considered a full-grown adult and a member of society. It is in light of this that this paper, with a focus on the Igbo people of Southeastern Nigeria, seeks to explore the concept of marriage in Africa. This is aimed at highlighting the significance of the institution as the bedrock of African society, which makes it an achievement for the average African. To do this, the paper raises the following research questions: What is the concept of marriage? What is the significance of marriage among the Igbo? The paper adopts a critical expository approach to answer these questions. It also heavily relies on secondary sources like books, journals, and the internet to exhaustively carry out the discourse.

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