What do you know about the Igbo traditional wedding? Few years back, we began our Knowledge Tuesday, a series on the different traditional wedding ceremony of the variant’s tribes in Nigeria. We began with the most popular one which was that of the Yoruba tribe from the southwestern part of Nigeria.
Today we have taken it to the east side. These are the Ndi Igbos. Popularly known as the Igbo clan predominantly from the southeastern part of the country. They are people whose musical sound is unique. They are majorly found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, as well as minor parts of Delta, Rivers, and Benue states. Also scattered in little hamlets in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
Today, we would be looking at how the traditional wedding rites are performed. Here are some activities you should expect when invited to the Igbo traditional marriage.
–Iku Aka or Iju Ese known as the proposal/introduction. It is a pre-wedding format where the families of the bride and groom get to meet officially for the first time, this is where the the Man and his family visit the woman’s family and make their intention known.
–Ummuna consent. This is to formally request for the bride’s hand from the extended family especially the elders in the house. The Ummuna are male elders from both the man and women family. They are the ones who provide the list which contains the items which are officially the prerequisite for exchange for their daughters hand. The Ummuna from both sides consummate the marriage deal.
–Ime ego /Paying the Bride Price. This is presented to the bride’s immediate family and Umunna to get their daughter’s hand. The bride family accepts if the groom and his family is worthy of their daughter after they must have provided all the items required in the marriage list.
–Igba Nkwu Nwanyi /The wine carrying ceremony. As the drums beat begin to permeate the air, the bride carries this gorge filled with palm wine, local alcohol in pursuit of her groom. When she finds him, the party begins, and everyone is elated. Music is played and food is served. This is what is known as an Igbo traditional marriage ceremony.
There are more things to look out for in the Igbo traditional wedding rites, however, these are the core things to expect at any Igbo traditional wedding ceremony. I hope you learned a thing or two about the Igbo traditional wedding rite. Kindly subscribe and join our guest list to get the latest updates.
