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Marriage is a condition of being a husband and wife. It is a publicly recognized permanent alliance between a man and a woman. Traditional marriage custom of a people is a generally accepted procedure of being a husband and wife in accordance with a socially prescribed mode of behavior and the belief of the people concerned. Marriage is a very important institution among the Bassa people. A lot of respect and meaning is given to the institution so much so that adults who do not marry are seen as denying their responsibility to provide for the future of the society. Every grown up man and woman is expected to marry. The Bassa see marriage as a family and not as an individual affair. A married woman is not therefore the property of her husband only, she is also seen and treated as a property of the whole family and clan. |