Bride Price Palava: My Igbo Fiancée (Episode 1)
Bride Price Palava: My Igbo Fiancée
Randomly I was going through my birth certificate, and I suddenly realized how I was getting older, I started examining myself personally to see what was actually keeping me from tying the knot with Nkechi the daughter of Chief Ogbuefi Madunabor, then it dawned on me that the sole reason was BRIDE PRICE!!
Look, my dear friend, in this story, I want to succinctly talk about the Igbo culture and the economics that comes with its bride price, with the hope that at the end of your reading, you can donate charitably to this course so as to enable me to surmount this Herculean task! My brother, it’s a small world, it’s a small world (no mean say you fit trek from Lagos to Kano). The bride price as far as I’m concerned is the most important part of the Igbo nuptial process, forget the big ceremony where canopies are mounted and rice and stew suddenly become very plenty (RSVP). The transactions leading to this ceremony is the pivotal part of the whole thing, without it, nothing will hold! Leave wetin them write for motor, enter the motor first!
Some parts of Igboland have been criticized mightily for exorbitant bride prices, I’m not even denying that. Some places in the south eastern part of the country, won’t mind charging you the equivalent of the Nigerian budget estimates just to marry their daughter. But having said that, it is important we understand the background of bride price, and what it aims to achieve.
The bride price is usually made up of small amounts of money, food substances and other tangible gifts coming from a man who intends to marry a lady and the reason for it is germane and genuine).
Back to my story, like I told you earlier how I intend plucking a very ripe fruit in Chief Ogbuefi Madunabor’s compound. Yes, I really want to marry his daughter Nkechi, the spirit is willing, but the pocket is weak and dry!
The worst part of the story was when I approached Chief Ogbuefi’s house just to make enquires, I was met with a 28-paged printed and spiral bind list! Perturbed with what to do with this book that was almost looking like my uncle’s final year PhD thesis hardcopy, I asked around and was told that, the process involved in making the list is not just about the bride’s family alone, according to them the umbrella of “Kinsmen” uncles, aunts, cousins, family friends, old neighbors, nephews and nieces all contribute to the final preparation and publication of the said list! You can imagine, the padding that document would have passed through before its final assent and publication by the bride’s father. I decided to take a copy home and promised the bride’s father that I will come back very soon, like a man that came to price rice in the market I took the list and the price estimates and went straight home to see if the product in question was within my reach.
On getting home I decided to take my time before opening this document because cow wey dey hurry-hurry to go America, go come back as corn-beef!! After taking my bath, I ate and I relaxed, I decided to open this voluminous document, lo and behold my eyes couldn’t believe what it was seeing, Bra and Pant for Umuada (First born daughters of the family)?? Dry-gin for Umunna?? Really?? Umunna people are now native gods??
Even native gods cannot finish 12 cartons of dry-gin, the god wan wound himself?? I flipped the back page and saw 500 tubers of yam, I asked myself if Chief Ogbuefi Madunabor wanted to start selling yams, at least he should have told me, I will know how we can go about it, not this way of padding the bride price budget and inflating figures! It was still the same Ogbuefi that was complaining to me how Buhari is not fighting corruption well the very same day I went to his house!
To be continued!
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