In my community Ezere, traditional marriage of our children is an event parents look forward to in their life time. As a matter of fact every grown up is expected to marry and be married and so it has been in my community. Parents are usually unhappy if their grown ups are not married. I believe that no parent would wish someone else to hand their daughter over to the family of the groom. Witnessing the marriage of our children gives parents joy and a sense of fulfilment. It is also a testimony of the type of family that is involved. For noone wishes to marry from a bad home. Today I am writing about the traditional marriage I attended in my community on Tuesday 30th September,2022. Before I start let me first of all say a few things about marriage in my place.

There are 2 types of marriage in my community namely traditional marriage and the statutory marriage. Anyone wishing to marry choose from any of these 2. Also there are 3 stages involved and these are;

1. Doing the marriage rites,
2. celebrating the marriage traditionally and
3. Finally doing the white wedding.

As we all know marriage is a thing of joy. It has it's foundation in the Bible. The Bible tells us that whoever finds a wife finds a good thing . On the 30th of September, I attended the traditional marriage of one of our relations called Chioma. She is the 2nd daughter of the family of Chinedu Emenike.

The traditional marriage started with her husband people providingg the items listed for them one by one. Anyone that is on the list but not provided is paid for in cash. Our inlaw's father came with wads of money and he paid for the items as they were called. It is this procedure that we refer to as marriage rites.
Customarily the rites precedes the traditional wedding ceremony called "Igba Nkwu."While performance of the rites is the substance of a marriage contracted in accordance with native law and custom of my people, the traditional wedding aspect of the marriage is ceremonial. It is for fun and merriment but anyone who wishes to adopt statutory marriage follows the provisions of the Marriage Act. How is traditional marriage done in Ezere?

Performance of Traditional Marriage Rites

In my village, performance of traditional marriage rites is the most important stage in the process of getting married. This is actually what constitutes the marriage. Without it the parties are merely cohabiting; they would not be recognized as husband and wife. This requirement signifies the consent of the parties and their families that they will be united in marriage. It involves providing all the items required for performing the rites. These items are contained in a list that our inlaw collected the very first time he came to Chioma's family to tell them of his intentions towards her. They brought palm wine, cartons of the specified brand of beer, hot drinks, wine,bottles of snuff for the elders, cigarettes for the youths and money for supporting each set of the family that must be settled. It was a bit expensive, you might say , but it was worth it . They settled all the following:

1. Introduction of their purpose of coming.
2. Presentation of gifts to her father.
3. Presentation of gifts to Chioma's kindred.
4. Presentation of items for negotiation of the bride price,
5. Presentation of items for paying of the bride price.
   In the olden days, it takes five separate visits to accomplish them but in the present time it can be done in one visit. Chioma's husband's people did it in one visit. Let me say a little about the marriage list before I continue.

Marriage List

Chioma's marriage began with collection of the marriage list. The list was collected with a token of about #1000.00(10Steem). The list contains the stages of the visit and the items that they must bring for the marriage. It enabled her husband'd people to get well prepared for the event. See the picture of the traditional marriage.

Go-between

.It is also important to say a few things about go-between or middle man. He is the person who assists the in-laws in bringing out the items listed. He witnesses the ceremony and usually mediates between the parties in the event of any dispute.
After the collection of the marriage list her family appointed one chief Sunday Ifokwe their go-between. He is suitable for the role because he knows about the tradition and custom of Ezere . He came with his copy of the list for use in calling out the items required and settling the cost of each . He started from the first item on the list which was called Introduction ended with the last which was paying of bride price. This involved presenting the initial set of drinks. It was at this stage that Chioma was asked whether she accepted the young man seeking to marry her and whether the family should accept and eat what is being presented. She said yes Take a look at the go-between calling out the items on the list.

Commencement

As said above the marriage started with introduction of the In-laws. When they finished it became our turn to do same. Take a look at the picture of our in-laws introducing themselves

The father of our in-law was introduced sitting down because he is the traditional ruler of his Community. His Community is called Ozara.

Also take a look at the picture of our in-law introducing himself. His name is Kinsley Maduagwu.

See also the picture of our daughter signifying her consent to marry Kingsley. The boy standing before her is one of her brothers.

Entertainment

We had so much to eat and drink after the marriage was contracted. Everyone was happy that it ended in praises.

Conclusion

Our in-laws departed happily to their places with their new wife. It is good to get married for the Bible says that anyone who finds a wife finds a good thing