Nigerians will always have opinions about whether women need to take their husbands’ surnames after marriage or not, but let’s consider what it actually costs — financially and stress-wise — to undergo a legal name change in Nigeria through these women’s experiences.
Image by Canva AI
Lara, 28
When I got married in 2021, I thought the name change would be easy. Since I didn’t have an international passport, I assumed I’d only need to get the court affidavit and newspaper announcement everyone talks about.
My husband got the court affidavit on my behalf for about ₦4k and then paid ₦18k for the name change announcement in the newspaper. I assumed that was all, but then I tried to create a new bank account with my married name, and the bank said I couldn’t because my BVN had my maiden name.
So, I had to return to the bank where I originally did my BVN to submit my marriage certificate, court affidavit, and newspaper announcement. It took about two weeks for the name change to be reflected.
Then, I returned to the other bank to create a new account. But they said the names on my BVN (Bank Verification Number) and NIN (National Identification Number) didn’t match and that the NIN was supposed to be my means of identification. So, I had to go to the NIMC office to update my name.
The first time I went to the NIMC office and saw the crowd, I just gave up. I kept visiting the office and returning home over a six-month period because the crowd always scared me. Eventually, I got someone inside the office to help me and paid them ₦5k. Altogether, it took me a year and so much stress to change my name.
I still don’t know what I’ll meet when it’s time to update my name on my permanent voter’s card. I think I’ll just leave that one abeg.
Azeezat*, 26
I got married in 2023 and saw shege with this name change thing. I planned to travel to meet my husband abroad and decided to change my name before japa. That meant I needed to update my name on my international passport.
The court affidavit and newspaper publication cost less than ₦30k and were ready in two days. However, I also needed to update my NIN name, and that’s where the wahala started.
Every time I went to the NIMC office, the staff said their systems were down and they couldn’t update the change on the server. After going up and down for three weeks, I eventually got one of the staff to hold my documents (wedding certificate, affidavit, newspaper announcement and former NIN slip) so they could help me update my NIN portal as soon as the server was up.
I still had to go back after a week to re-capture my biometrics. I can’t remember the actual price for the entire process, but I gave the staff who helped me ₦7500.
After the NIN, the next stage was to go to the immigration office to update my passport name. I heard it normally costs ₦30k, but I paid ₦80k in total because I wanted to fast-track it. The immigration office collected my old passport, and I went to pick up the new one two months later when it was ready. I heard it takes others up to a year.
Brown, 29
I’ve changed my name twice — once when I got married and the second when I got divorced.
I got married in 2018, and it was pretty seamless. My ex-husband took me to the court, where I used my marriage certificate to swear a change of name affidavit. That cost about ₦1k. Then, I took the affidavit to publish my new name in the newspaper. That cost ₦6k.
After my divorce in 2021, I used the document containing the court judgement of divorce to swear an affidavit, which I used to publish my revert to my maiden name in a newspaper. I think the whole thing cost ₦10k.
I also had to update my NIN after the divorce because I’d registered while married, and it carried my ex’s surname. It was a seamless process because I knew someone in the NIMC office, but it still took a few weeks.
Esther, 32
I got married in 2021 but only changed my name in 2023 because I was trying to include my husband’s details as my spouse and next of kin on my pension account, and my pension fund administrator said it’d be easier if we bore the same name.
The affidavit and newspaper part were pretty straightforward, but the NIN update was unnecessarily annoying. I paid ₦2500 and had to queue for the whole day before submitting my application and re-capturing my biometrics. Then, it took two weeks for the update to reflect, and I had to queue for hours again to collect my new NIN slip.
I also want to update my name on my bank account, but I heard that’ll involve updating the BVN. I’m not ready for another lengthy process.
Erioluwa, 43
I changed my name a year after my wedding in 2015, and I only needed the court affidavit and newspaper announcement. I can’t remember how much the newspaper cost, but the affidavit was ₦2500. Then, I submitted the documents to my bank and place of work, and they changed my name where necessary.
I even registered my NIN with my married name before I changed my name officially and had no issues.
I was just lucky, really. I hadn’t registered my NIN before, so I took my marriage certificate there and filled out the form with my husband’s surname. Fortunately, the NIMC staff didn’t check. If not, I’d have gotten delayed until I did the affidavit.
Ronke*, 24
I started my name change process about four months ago, and I’m still in the NIN name update stage.
I’m using the new NIMC self-service portal, which is supposed to allow me to change my name from the comfort of my home. However, there are several issues with it. The portal says I need to upload the court affidavit for the change of name, which I’ve already done.
But it also says I need a government-issued means of identification with the new name. I only have an international passport, and I can’t update my name there because I still need the same NIN. Even updating the voter’s card requires NIN, too, so what does Nigeria want me to do?
Someone has suggested getting a driver’s license with my new name so I can then change the NIN. But it doesn’t make sense why I have to spend so much just because I’m trying to avoid queues at the NIMC office.
*Some names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.
NEXT READ: At 62, I Returned to Nigeria to Retire. Things Took an Unexpected Turn
