He stood at the pulpit, Bible in hand, eyes scanning the congregation like a general assessing his troops. “One man, one wife,” he preached, voice echoing across the packed hall. Heads nodded, women dabbed tears, and applause rang like a well-tuned bell. The message was clear: fidelity is God’s command.
But behind the cameras, behind the perfectly polished sermons, the truth was different.
Pastor Joshua Iginla, senior pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, shocked the nation in 2019 when he confessed that both he and his wife had children outside their marriage. For many, it was a jaw-dropping revelation—a man preaching fidelity while living a double life. The irony? He wasn’t hiding it because he was immoral; he was hiding it because society demanded the appearance of perfection.
And the consequences of this hidden life ripple far beyond the pulpit. Women in these households, watching their husbands maintain secret partners, often develop their own “survival strategy.” They stay in the marriage, outwardly compliant, while keeping boyfriends behind the scenes. What starts as secrecy becomes normalized, a quiet rebellion against hypocrisy. Marriage transforms from a sacred union into a delicate balancing act of appearances and private indulgences.
This is not merely a modern problem. Nigerian society has long recognized polygamy, and the Bible never outright condemns it. Figures like Abraham, Jacob, and Solomon had multiple wives, and the Law of Moses even regulated such households. Yet today, polygamy is publicly denounced, while the reality of hidden concubines quietly thrives.
The issue isn’t the number of spouses—it’s the dishonesty. A man who openly marries multiple wives assumes responsibility and transparency; a man who preaches one wife while secretly keeping concubines spreads deception. And when his actions become a template, women respond in kind. Infidelity, once condemned, becomes a model of survival.
The lesson is clear: the danger to marriage is not polygamy itself—it is hypocrisy. One must either live by the ideals preached or accept the consequences when private actions undermine public virtue. Anything in between fosters distrust, deceit, and a culture where hidden lives dictate behavior.
In a society where appearances dominate, truth and consistency are the real tests of faithfulness—not slogans on pulpits or social media posts.
