Demystifying The Igbo Bride Wealth, A Case Study Of Abiriba

For as long as I can remember, other tribes of the country have for ever poked fun at the Igbos for the exorbitant price they fix on the heads of their marriageable girls.

For those involved in inter-tribal romance, the final hurdle most times is if the intending groom can afford the financial implications of marrying an Igbo girl and in most cases, these group of men tend to bow out due to this perceived hurdle. Based on this, I’m going to use Abiriba as a case study.

Abiriba, also known as “Small London” is one of the few matrilineal towns in Nigeria, its located within Ohafia LGA of Abia State. Kinship is traced through the woman’s lineage and this also dictates the line of inheritance. An endogamous culture that encourages indigenes to marry within themselves which to some extent is aimed at ensuring pure lineages and also preserve their unique culture.

Overtime, due to exposure, education and migration, all these have changed and you can find the Abiriba people marrying not just outsiders but as far as non Nigerians and non Africans, add any shade of continent you can think of.

In Abiriba, the standard bride-wealth is N7 for Abiriba suitors and outsiders alike, the highest you can pay is N10 for graduates and this is accompanied by the following which is presented to her family and is  not included in the usual traditional wedding expenses :

Abiriba Suitor	Non Abiriba Suitor
4 Cartons of Beer	6-8 Cartons of Beer
4 Crates of softdrinks	6-8 Crates of softdrinks
4 bottles of hotdrinks	6-8 bottles of hotdrinks
A big bowl of garden eggs/bittercola with pepper or groundnut sauce	A big bowl of garden eggs/bittercola with pepper or groundnut sauce
A big bowl of sautéed/dry meat	A big bowl of sautéed/dry meat
N7 bridewealth	N7 bridewealth
	Note: The 6-8 is negotiable depending on the bride’s  family

Apart from the above, there are other fees to be paid and if summed up with the above expenses amounts differently for the suitors.

Abiriba Suitor= N 15,000

Non Abiriba Suitor = less than N200, 000

Note that if a suitor for whichever category is billed more than the above, it’s a preview to the kind of family you’re getting involved with.

An Abiriba Bride Identifying her suitor with traditional native chalk ( Nzu)  which is the preferred choice unlike other parts of Igbo that  use Palmwine

Marriage used to be a yearlong affair where the above is done at the traditional wedding in December and the suitor is expected to make some other expenses at different cultural dates, check the table below:

Easter/April	Suitor shows how he intends taking care of the bride by showering her with clothes, trunk-full of wrapper, toiletries, foot wears, bags, money etc, as his pocket permits
Iriama/July	Suitor shows appreciation to his parents in-law, through drinks, wrapper, rice as his pocket permits
Ekembu/September	Earlier appreciation is repeated by suitor. Bride, accompanied by female friends and relatives goes to the village stream to fetch water for her parents’ in-law and suitor’s relatives as well.
October/November	Bride’s namesake who is usually her grandmother if she’s the first daughter  kills a goat in her honour signifying her purity/innocence/virginity. Also called sendforth
December	White wedding takes place	· Note that the suitor is responsible for all expenses incurred during traditional and white weddings except where the bride’s family may wish to help bear some costs to ensure everything is done to their taste.

Like all evolving societies, most people have learnt to cut short this yearlong steps by opting to do everything within a particular period, eg: a suitor if financially capable can decide to do the traditional wedding, white wedding and all the others on different dates but in December, this is popularly known as “3 in 1” and like all product promotions, a suitor will definitely cut some costs this way.

An Abiriba bride greeting her inlaws with Nzu as well, she applies the nzu on either the face or wrists.

It is the duty of the bride’s family to send the bride to her new home with everything a woman needs to make a home, ranging from utensils, electronics, furniture and even a car depending how buoyant her family is.

To assuage your curiosity why the non Abiriba suitor is billed more, it is believed that everyone has three lines of kinship, your mother’s line, your father’s line and finally your in-laws, so if for whatever reason an individual finds himself in dire straits, the in-laws have a duty to help bail such a person out, it goes both ways. Once a woman marries out, this means her family has lost out on the third line of kinship and therefore, the none outsider is billed for that. Also note that a a bride is not handed over until after the white wedding, that means both traditional and religious rites have to be fulfilled first.

So anyone who is entertaining thoughts of marrying a girl from Abiriba should weigh his pocket and make a quick decision.

If you have details of what it entails to marry a woman from your own town, do share with us and if you're from Abiriba, you're free to make your contributions.