Princess Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi, a retired Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Civil Service, has said that during her younger years, women who were still unmarried at 33 were often considered too old for marriage.
Speaking in an interview on TALK TO B shared on Friday, May 8, 2026, Adedoyin-Ajayi explained that in her time, many women got married shortly after completing their National Youth Service. She said it was common for women in their early twenties to already be married, pregnant, or starting families.
She noted that because of the societal expectations at the time, her decision to marry at 33 was seen by many people as a long wait before settling down.
In her words, “In my time, getting married at 33 was old. They saw you as very old because, in my time, you finished your youth service at about 21 or 22, and the next thing was marriage. So by 24 or 25, some even as they are doing their youth service, were already almost getting married and all of that. Some were pregnant, some were, you know. So, me getting married at 33 was deemed to be a long wait.”…….See More
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