The Yoruba ethnic group remains one of the most populous of all the tribes in Nigeria today.  The tribe can be found in the southwestern part of Nigeria and they occupied states like EKiti State, Ondo State, Osun State, Oyo State and Lagos State.  You can also find Yorubas in some other states like Kwara and Kogi. All the places occupied by Yorubas are referred to as Yorubaland.

Before you can marry a woman in Yorubaland, there are certain traditional things you must done.  These marital rites are not so difficult and they had been in practice for centuries now.  In the remaining part of this write-up, we will focus on those things and also make mention of things like bridal list and other Yoruba marriage traditional requirements.

Traditional marital rites in Yorubaland

Once a Yoruba woman reaches the age of marriage, she sees the husband as her crown. The Yoruba culture even views single women as crownless individuals. The process of marrying a woman in the Yoruba tradition is very simple and straightforward. 

The man needs to first inform the girl of his intention to date her. If the two of them agree to date, then they may spend some time to get to know each other. The dating period can vary from one couple to another. The age of the couples may also be a determining factor of how long the courtship will be.

Once the man makes up his mind to marry the woman, he will take the step to visit the family of the girl to get to know them. He will also take the girl to his own family so that his family members can get to know the girl.  During this first visit, he may bring gifts or not. He may also come alone or come with one or two of his family members or friends.

If the man sees a girl he will like to marry in Yorubaland, he only needs to show the girl to his family and the family will take it up from there. The family will choose an Alarina or a middleperson.  The Alarina will be responsible for investigating the girl’s family to know if they are acceptable or not.  Marriage between blood-relatives is not permitted in Yorubaland.  

The investigation is to find out if there is any bad habit in the family of the bride or groom.  It can also help to detect if there is any curse or generation problem that seems to be plaguing either family. If the problem can be corrected, the other family may decide to find a solution to it. 

If the problem does not have a solution, however, the family may decide to call off the wedding.  This may cause heartbreak, but it is better to end things at the courtship level than to progress to a marriage that will end up in regrets.   

After the investigation has been done properly, then the two families may decide to move ahead with the marriage plan. This only happens if the man and the woman involved are still interested to marry each other.

The man can then pay a visit to the bride’s house with his family members for the introduction. He will need to bear some gifts along too like fruits.  This gives the members of the two families an opportunity to get to know one another. During the introduction, the two families will also decide the date for the traditional marriage.  

In case the  man that wants to get married is not around, his family members can compete the entire wedding preparation on his behalf , with a member of the family standing in for the absent person.    The family may also use the picture of the absent bride or groom to represent the person at the wedding.   After the wedding, the new bride will be handed over to the family of the groom.

 The bridal list

The bridal list consists of items that the grooms’ family needs to bring for the wedding. The items are also called Eru Iyawo.  Usually, the bridal list contains the following:

·         42 tubers of yam

·         Honey

·         vegetable oil

·         palm oil

·         1 dish of peppered corn meal or adun

·         42 pieces of dried fish

·         The pride price or Owo Ori

·         Alcoholic drinks

·         Salt

·         Goat or cow

·         Fruits

·         Sugarcane

·         42 Alligator pepper

·         Bitter kola

·         25 pieces of kolanut

·         1 big bottle of honey

The list may, however, vary from one town to another.  For example, the Ijebus may have a different list from that of the Ekitis or Oyos.  Even if the lists are different in a way, the difference is usually minimal.

The traditional marriage

The traditional marriage usually takes place in the home of the bride or any other location preferred by the bride’s family.  The ceremony is anchored by spokesmen from both families, who are called Alaga Iduro and Alaga Ijoko. The Alaga Ijoko is presented by the bride’s family and the Alaga Iduro is presented by the groom’s family.

A lot of drama takes place during the wedding ceremony. After the Alaga Iduro ushers in the groom’s family, the Alaga Ijoko would bar them from entering until they have paid a fine as a gate fee.  They may even be forced to dance and sing before they are allowed entry.

After entry, the groom’s family goes to where the bride’s family is seated to greet them. The males among them prostrate and the females among them kneel. After they are bid welcome and given where to sit, the letter presented to the bride by the groom earlier will then be read to the hearing of everyone  present by someone from the bride’s family, a female preferably.

The groom will then be asked to declare his intention to marry the bride, after which the bride is ushered into the venue dancing. Upon her arrival, she first heads over to where her parents are seated to greet them and her face will later be unveiled by the groom’s family.

The dowry will be handed over to the bride’s family, who would then return the money, saying that they are jot selling their daughter, insisting that the groom should take a good care of their daughter.  

 

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