A century ago marriage was a mark of responsibility and a symbol of adulthood in Igboland. It was a group affair and one that involved two unrelated kinship groups. It qualified the actors for full participation in the community and served as a means of forging political, military, and economic alliances. Denise Paulme (1971: 3) called it the imperfect means of concluding alliances. The essence of marriage in Igboland in the precolonial and early colonial periods was not necessarily to unite two lovers but primarily to establish a legal basis for procreation, which because of the emphasis on children, the Igbo regarded as an obligation to the ancestors. This was based on the understanding that those born owe the debt of begetting others. Different types of marriages existed in pre-colonial Igboland. They included the normal marriage contract involving two exogamous families; marriage …