#western africa

[folkfashion]

Bwa dancer, Burkina-Faso, by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher

[kemetic-dreams]

How Igbo customs checkmated wife battering

•Modernity neglected them

•Blame pentecostal churches; they destroy marriages — Ogbuefi Ray Ifeme

•They encourage conduct of marriage ceremonies in Igboland with soft drinks, instead of palm wine

•We use diviners to mete out punishment to wife batterers — Igwe Ukuta

•No Igbo community tolerates wife battering — Anaso

By Anayo Okoli, Vincent Ujumadu, Ikechukwu Odu, Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Chinedu Adonu, Chinonso Alozie, Ugochukwu Alaribe & Nwabueze Okonkwo

ENUGU — Domestic violence, particularly wife battering, has become rampant in the society today, including Igboland.

The death of popular gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, allegedly in the hands of her husband, brought to the fore what some women undergo in their marriages.

This was not so in the past because in Igboland, they had customary ways of checkmating such acts.

In Nri Community in Anambra State, for instance, they included precautionary traditional rules to checkmate it as one of the items in the marriage list of requirements.

And at the marriage ceremonies, the groom is made to pay what they called ego otiti okpili, which literarily translates to ‘money for punishment’ of proposed groom, if he dared molest the wife.

The money, in essence, is like an advance payment by the groom to the in-laws, to hire youths in their kindred to deal with him if he molests or abuses their daughter in the course of the marriage.

And to ensure that the groom understands the implication, in the course of the ceremonies, he would be called to step out; the elders would dutifully explain to him what the money is meant for and ensured that he understood what he is paying for. The groom basically consents in advance, to thorough punishment if he beats his wife.

The traditional ruler of Iggah community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Herbert Ukuta, said his community use diviners to mete out punishment to men who beat their wives. The monarch explained that the degree of the punishment is usually determined by the severity of injury inflicted on the wife and the cause of the violence.

According to him, it is a taboo in his community for men to batter their wives, no matter the provocation. He said that he has also initiated an orientation programme in the community, which has helped to enlighten his subjects on causes of domestic violence which has been guiding them to avoid such.

“The traditional punishment for wife beaters is always determined by diviners in my community. The severity or otherwise of the punishment is determined by the degree of injury inflicted on the wife and the cause of the violence. Sometimes too, it is the wife who beats the husband but it is a taboo in my community for husbands to beat their wives.

“Instead of beating the wife, I normally encourage my subjects to report their wives to their parents or church leaders, as the case may be. If the church or the parents fail to resolve the problem, it is brought to the clan for settlement.

The middleman interacts with both families and if any of the parties going into the marriage has any problem, he or she complains to the middleman. If worst comes to worst, you don’t even return somebody’s daughter to the family, it must be through the middleman and the same middleman will return the dowry to the man if the issue cannot be settled.

GIF by noonlight-stims

“Women are gold to Igbo men. It is now that we see Igbo men touch our ladies, be it in marriage or whatsoever. The reason is that we have city marriages now. You will see a girl today, the next day she is married to a man whose parents she doesn’t know. Somebody will stay in London and a marriage will be organised on his behalf here.

Middlemen don’t come into marriages now, even the kinsmen will just come, collect their entitlements and go. This is where the problem lies.

“Unfortunately, Osinachi’s husband is from my maternal home, Ukpor. He is not a responsible man. If he was a true Igbo man, he wouldn’t have maltreated his wife and again, religion messed up our marriage institution in Igbo land.

“You can hardly find a man or woman who would be there for the other because each will be dragging on gender equality. It is religion that is the problem. In Igbo customs and traditions, the man is the head of the family and the woman is the neck, so, we respect them.

“My maternal grandfather had 32 wives. My mother was the last daughter. Out of those 32 wives, majority didn’t bear children for him. They married those days for farming and to show how brave one was.

The church, particularly the Pentecostal denomination, has bastardized our tradition. White wedding is not even acceptable to us in Igbo culture and tradition. Religious marriage is not for the Igbo because the priest won’t pour libations to the ancestors; neither will he settle the kinsmen. That is the problem.

These days, women give out their daughters in marriage which is not traditional in Igbo land,” Ifeme said.

The traditional ruler of Ogrute Autonomous community, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Wilfred Ekere said that it is a taboo in Enugu-Ezike. He, however, regretted that customs and values of the community have been bastardized by the people.

He noted that the predominance of autonomous communities threw up traditional rulers who don’t know the tradition, custom and culture. They dictate to the people, neglecting the oldest men who are the custodians of tradition and culture.

According to him, the tradition in his community requires that anybody who beats his wife would bring a goat, a carton of stout, malt, two gallons of palm wine and food for cleansing.

In addition, any woman beaten by her husband will have to go back to her father’s house and the husband will come for her for peaceful discussion with drinks and kola nuts. He, however, regretted that the traditional law which ought to be binding on every member of the community, is now based on family acceptance.

“Our tradition has been bastardized by the people. The law is now made according to family. We have effective law for domestic violence and wife battering as prescribed by our forefathers. Wife battery is a taboo,” the monarch said.

In Atuegwu community, Nnewi South Council Area of Anambra State, Mr. James Anaso, the President-General of the town union, said that it is usually one of the conditions given to a suitor in his area that on no account should he lay hands on their daughter no matter the circumstances.

According to him, should a daughter from the community report on any physical abuse by her husband, the leadership of the village would not hesitate to send emissaries to the family of her husband with a serious warning.

[nickysfacts]

Fulani braids are such a beautiful hairstyle, with so many unique ways to wear it💜

🪙🐚🪙

[postcard-from-the-past]

Mossi hunters from Burkina Faso, Western Africa

French vintage postcard

[geoazie]

Aesthetic of the languages on earth : Hausa

Hausa is a Chadic language spoken by 51 million people over Niger, Nigeria and Benin. It is an official language of Niger and Nigeria.

[inspiredbythegodz]

Altar and Offering to Aje Shaluga Orisha of Prosperity and Wealth.

[gregor-samsung]

The Burial of Kojo (Blitz Bazawule, 2018)

[intersectionalpraxis]

[neyatimes]

US imposes election-related visa restrictions on Nigerians

Reuters  —  The United States has imposed entry restrictions on more Nigerians for undermining the democratic process during the African nation’s 2023 election cycle, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. “These individuals have been involved in intimidation of voters through threats and physical violence, the manipulation of vote results, and other activity that undermines…

[heritageposts]

Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons. The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret. The documents, uncovered by an American academic, Sasha Polakow-Suransky, in research for a book on the close relationship between the two countries, provide evidence that Israel has nuclear weapons despite its policy of "ambiguity" in neither confirming nor denying their existence.

. . . continues at the guardian (24th of may, 2010)

here's also a research paper published in 2004, which, looking at declassified south african documents, lays out apartheid south africa's rational for acquiring nuclear weapons (bombing, or 'deterring,' black liberation groups):

[folkfashion]

Igbo bride, Nigeria, by Lakin Ogunbanwo

[worldspotlightnews]

At least 44 killed in Burkina Faso attacks | CNN

CNN  —  At least 44 civilians were killed in two separate attacks on villages in northern Burkina Faso, authorities there said. A local governor, Rodolphe Sorgho, blamed terrorists for the “despicable and barbaic” attacks, without naming a specific group. In a statement Sorgho gave his “sincere condolences to the grieving families and wishes a rapid recovery to the wounded.” Few other details…

[serialunaliver]

I can't stop thinking about that video of cobalt miners in the congo with little to no protective gear struggling to pull other miners out of a collapsing mine

The fact that they're working to death LITERALLY for billion dollar corporations ran by CEOs who get to relax in mansions and on yachts makes my blood boil

This is violence of capitalism and colonialism

[nickysfacts]

Beng tribe’s unique form of birth control!🩸

🌱🩸🥘

[reportwire]

Bola Ahmed Tinubu elected Nigeria's president as opposition calls for new polls | CNN

Lagos, Nigeria CNN  —  Bola Ahmed Tinubu was on Wednesday declared the winner of Nigeria’s controversial presidential elections, as opposition leaders decried the polls as rigged and called for a fresh vote. Tinubu, 70, represents the ruling All Progressives Congress party, which received close to 8.8 million votes – about 36.6% of the total, according to Independent National Electoral…

[intersectionalpraxis]