By Marriages between blood relatives, or in extreme cases, incestous relationships, are largely regarded as a “taboo” in many African cultures. Aside from being socially unacceptable, some countries in the continent, in fact, have relevant laws against such intimate relations.
However, a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Lagos State University, Dr. Adeyinka Olarinmoye shares a contrary view.
Responding to a Facebook post which read “To whom it concern. Please stop sleeping with your cousins”, the anthropologist argued that marriage between cousins is approved.
Olarinmoye buttressed her argument by citing the Adam and Eve narrative and Noah’s Ark story, saying incestous relationships helped populate the world.
In a chat with a BlackBox Nigeria correspondent, she further disclosed that her postulations were “anthropologically thought”.
