The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives

Based on Lola Shoneyin’s 2010 debut novel, which was later adapted for the stage, Daniel Oriahi’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives is a sharp, funny, and often devastating portrait of polygamous family life in contemporary Nigeria. 

Baba Segi (Odunlade Adekola), a wealthy and haughty patriarch, has spent years building a household, marrying several women in the process: first wife Iya Segi (Iyabo Ojo), second wife Iya Tope (Mercy Aigbe), third wife Iya Femi (Bimbo Ademoye), and the most recent and youngest, university-educated yet naïve Bolanle (Omowunmi Dada). The new wife upsets the tentative balance struck by the first three wives, who have been locked into rivalries, secrets, and mutual survival strategies, each trying to solidify their own status. When Bolanle fails to conceive, Baba Segi enlists doctors to find out what is wrong with her, setting off a chain of revelations that unravel the fragile order holding the household together.

Oriahi shifts between the women’s perspectives with compassion, tracing each one’s past to dismantle the standard stereotypes that would typically define them as materialistic, subservient, or venomous. Using humour, the narrative exposes deep wounds caused by infertility, sexual exploitation, and tested loyalties.

The film features many of Nollywood’s finest talents, including a spectacular lineup of cameo appearances. Omowunmi Dada’s empathetic performance gives Bolanle’s plight real emotional stakes. The tale lingers as a critique of misplaced patriarchal pride and a tender study of the hard choices women make to meet impossible expectations. 

ROBYN CITIZEN

Content advisory: sexual assault