Award-winning Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, has admonished those who are fond of heckling and looking down on young woman who are not married to refrain from doing so.
She said no young woman should be pressured into marriage as it could make them choose the wrong person to spend the rest of their life with.
Adichie gave the admonition on Friday at the 21st Annual Conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service as a keynote speaker. The event was held at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
She also noted that when young women, who were expected to get married at a particular time, had not done so, it was simply because they had not chosen the man they wanted to be with.
She opined that they (women) should be allowed to take their time to choose the man they love to spend the rest of their lives with.
Speaking during the Question and Answer session after her address, Adichie said it was wrong for older women to ‘keep watch’ on younger women, questioning them on when they would get married.
Adichie said, “I find that many young women here have this obsession about getting married. You’ll hear things like, ‘Is she married?’ ‘When is she getting married?’ ‘Who is she getting married to?’I think it is disastrous for us to have this kind of obsession. It puts young women under so much pressure.
“So, for the big aunties, please, don’t do it to young women. They too want to be happy. So, if they are not yet married, it just means they haven’t found the right guy to be happy with.
“It is not as if being single is anything bad. They simply want to be happy. It is so much pressure. I have spoken to many young women about this to find this out. It is not just for the individual young women, but the participation of women in society
“If we weigh them down by culture, judgment and pressure, they are not going to go out there and change the world, and we want women to conquer the world.”