Olori Atuwatse III said the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, will not change his position on polygamy, and that she accepts his decision to remain in a monogamous marriage, the Premium Times reported.
The Queen made the remarks in an interview with BBC News Pidgin published on 23 September, the report said. Asked whether she would accept her husband taking another wife, Olori Atuwatse was reported to have said, “First of all, His Majesty will not change his mind about polygamy, so let us settle that first.”
She added, jokingly according to the report, “I alone, one person, I am like three women, so I am fine with that.” The Premium Times story said the Olori acknowledged that sharing the monarch’s time can be difficult because of his many official duties, and that the couple are learning to manage the demands of his role. On that point she was quoted as saying, “I just want him for myself.”
The report recalled that the Olu of Warri explained his reasons for remaining married to one woman earlier this year. In January, Premium Times said, the monarch described the demands of his kingship and said he did not want to complicate his family life. The newspaper attributed this comment to the Olu: “As for marrying many wives, I do not know; God did not give me that grace.”
Premium Times noted that Ogiame Atuwatse III and Olori Atuwatse married in 2014 and have three children, and that the Queen’s recent remarks reiterate the position the monarch set out in January about his choice to remain monogamous.
All statements and quotations in this article are taken from the Premium Times report of the BBC News Pidgin interview and from Premium Times’ earlier reporting referenced in that story.
Featured image: Blackmeister via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
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