WHEN the family and peer pressure come to bear on marriages, a condition accentuated by the current depressed economy, the next thing is for partners to want to path ways.

ANOTHER reason for divorce petitions is due to impatience and intolerance, making partners to file for separation, forgetting the marital vows they made at the inception of marriage, to remain an indivisible unit.

MOST times, partners show little or no commitment to each other’s welfare and development, a condition some experts blame on the social media for encouraging infidelity, with a divorce being the result.

NEEDLESS to say, these factors are responsible for a recent report that no fewer than 2,520  divorce petitions were filed before the Ondo State  and Federal High Courts  in 2021.

THE HOPE frowns at the high rate of divorce petitions in the state, especially with impeccable sources at the  State judiciary revealing that over 200 divorce petitions were filed every month during the out-gone year.

ACCORDING to the report, the court heard an average of 10 to 15 cases of divorce at every sitting, meaning that the situation is a cause for apprehension and concern.

OUT of the 2,520 divorce petitions filed, 2,400 were recorded in Akure, the state capital, while 31 were filed at Ondo town  High Courts and 87 at Ore.

WHEN divorce  happen, the partners go their separate ways, but this isn’t the end of the matter, as the children of the union must come into the equation of things.

WITH the breakup of a marriage, no one is there to instill home training and native intelligence to children, which have grave consequences.

DEVOID of home training, affected children may join criminal gangs and take part in other unwholesome activities, and before long, this reflects negatively on crime rates, as untutored children are more likely to engage in activities such as cultism, kidnapping, and other forms of urban crime.

THE situation impacts negatively on such indices as early marriages, prostitution and other vices exhibited by girls who grow up in divorced homes.

SINCE they lack father figures and home training, the girls allow peer pressures to sway their character from the path of decency and righteousness.

CONSEQUENTLY, they become deviants or victims of teenage pregnancy, or patronize unsavory characters such as Yahoo Boys, and a vicious circle of poverty and criminal behavior becomes the norm.

UNFORTUNATELY, studies reveal that divorce affect women more than men, with statistics showing that  they face a 30% decline in the standard of living they enjoyed during marriage.

IN most divorce cases, women retain the custody of their children, meaning things like children’s school fees, medical bills and other expenses fall under their responsibility.

SINCE little or nothing comes from fathers as child support, women become busier in order to provide for their children, making them have less time to help their children with their academic work, thereby leading to  high  rates of school drop-outs.

EVEN though they suffer less from the negative consequences of divorce, as they spend less time on the education of their children,  men are also not excluded.

THOUGH scholars haven’t done enough work on the issue in this country, available evidence suggest that men experience high levels of absenteeism, stress and health issues at the workplace due to divorce and unsettled homes.

IN essence, they offer poorer performances and lower productivity during official duties, which could lead to sack, thus creating unemployment.

THEREFORE, The Hope feels concerned about the high level of divorce  rate  not only  in the state  but across the  country.

TO control the  alarming situation, we suggest that partners should restrict the usage of the social media, since it makes them vulnerable to media manipulations, false attitudes and  infidelity, making them less committed to their partners’ welfare and development.

PARTNERS in marriage should uphold the tenets of their faith and give room for effective communication, so that such unsavory habits like intolerance and impatience are kept under  strict control.

ALONG with family and peer pressures, the economy creates a room for divorces, especially as the present financial crunch in the country is frustrating, allowing other attendant factors to follow suit.

WITHIN this context, partners should also  explore entrepreneurial ways towards having multiple sources of income, to survive the crushing economic depression in the country.

THE government must institute policies to ameliorate the harsh economic pressures in the society, since the more divorce cases the society has the more opportunities for all concerned to engage in desperate attitudes.

FINALLY, religious institutions must challenge partners to revisit the foundation of their marriages, by making them respect their vows to remain as an indivisible entity, so the specter  of divorce petitions becomes a thing of the past.