Ebira people, mostly living along
the River Benue plain down and
beyond the River Niger, are a
tribe found in Kogi state in Okene,
Okehi, Adavi and Ajaokuta local
government areas and in some
parts of Nassarawa and Edo
states.
The word Ebira means behaviour
when translated literally with
ethics and hospitality as
compliments. The unique features
of the Ebira culture with its ethnic
aestheticism, are appreciated
most in the event of traditional
marriages.
Victoria Mayaki sheds more light
on this. When a man sees a lady
he intends to marry, he discusses
his intentions with her, who, if
interested, tells him to bring his
people to express his intentions
to her parents.
In respect to the Ebira tradition,
the man does not walk to the
parents of the woman to disclose
his intentions; his parents or
elders mostly the women do this
by going to the lady’s parents to
introduce themselves and also to
inform them of their reason for
coming to the house.
After this is done, the parents of
the lady then conduct a thorough
investigation on the upbringing,
background, family history and so
on, of the intending groom to
unravel any history of madness,
terminal diseases or criminality in
the man’s family. This is with a
view to deciding whether or not
to give their daughter’s hand in
marriage to a family with a
tainted reputation in the society.
After the research, if their
findings are appreciable, an
approval is given to the man to
visit the bride-to- be from time to
time to further get to know
themselves properly.
A date is later picked for the
formal introduction of both
families and this is called “Ise
Ewere” which literally means
what has been in secret is now in
the open. During the celebration,
there is usually the presentation
of gift items made by the family of
the groom to the family of the
bride.
The gift items usually include;
about 99 tubers of yam, dried fish
or bush meat, 10 liters of palm oil,
a bag of salt, assorted wines and
kola nut. The groom may also
decide to present two wrappers
to his would-be bride but this is
optional.
On the day of introduction, it is
not necessary that the man
attends the occasion as his family
members do the necessary things
on his behalf. The bride’s family in
turn, entertains the groom’s with
food and drinks. The families
interact with one another and
formally introduce every member
of both families.
After this is done, the date for
traditional marriage is then fixed.
The tubers of yam and other
items brought are distributed to
neighbours and members of the
extended family no matter how
small. Much significance is given
to this to ask for their prayers for
a happy marriage as well as to
ensure the acknowledgement of
the community that the lady now
has someone she intends to get
married to.
The amount to be collected as
bride price is also agreed upon by
the parents of the bride and it
depends to a large extent, on the
financial strength of the man.
Apart from the bride price, there
are other things like “ozemeiyi”
that is “I am attracted to her”
which a certain amount of money
is attached to, and “otanuvogei”
that is “joining hands together”.
There is also “idoza” that is
“farming price” paid to the
bride’s family because Ebira
people are predominantly
farmers. In the olden days when
every young man had to farm, the
groom and his friends appoint a
day to farm for the father of the
bride but these days because
most young men don’t farm any
longer, they pay money instead.
On the day of the traditional
marriage, women in the man’s
family are seen singing and
dancing carrying tubers of yams
on their heads to the lady’s
house. The singing and dancing
continues at their arrival at the
lady’s house where the ceremony
kicks off. Other items to be taken
are cans of palm oil, groundnut
oil, dried fish, some clothing
materials in some boxes,
jewelries and other things for
adornment of the lady.
The ceremony is usually colorful
with display of dances by maiden
groups mostly the bride’s friends
and by women groups. A
religious leader and the parents
of the couple offer prayers for
them to bless their marriage and
a certificate is thereafter given to
the couple by the religious leader
to acknowledge their marriage.
The lady is thereafter, escorted by
her friends and other women to
her husband’s house with her
belongings.
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