Bride price list in igbo land

This article will reveal to you all you need to know about bride price list in Igbo land. Keep reading to find out.

About the Igbos Tribes

The Igbos are also referred to as ibo.They occupy the south eastern part of Nigeria in West Africa. The Igbos can be grouped into the following main cultural divisions: northern, southern, Eastern, Western or cross River and north Eastern.

They also speak Igbo a language of the Benue-congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family.The Igbos are popular for their variety of soups. The most popular soups are oha,okazi,ofe owerri, akwu. The Igbos are found mainly in Abia, Enugu, Anambra,Ebonyi, Imo.

The igbos also exist in other cities and towns like Aba,portHarcourt,Afikpo,orlu,Nsukka and okigwe.The Igbos are also found in cities outside Igbo land such as Kano,ibadan and Abuja.

 

What makes the Igbos unique

 Before we reveal the bride price list in igbo land, let's discuss a little about their uniqueness.

The Igbos are said to be the second largest group of people living  in  southern Nigeria.Despite the fact that they are found in different cities and towns, they all speak the same language.The Igbos are believed to have a strong love for money and cannot be cheated when it comes to business.The Igbos are predominantly farmers and are known to be very hard-working.

 

Bride price list in Igbo land

Every tribe has a unique way of celebrating traditional marriage ceremonies. Here,we will be looking at the bride price list in igbo land.

Traditional marriage ceremony in Igbo is referred to as igbankwu or wine carrying.

In Igbo land the parents of the bride and groom,their extented family members play an active role in the traditional marriage of their children.

The groom visits the bride-to-be family alone and also invites her to visit his family. The bride to be visits the groom family. She will stay few days with the groom's family (this is called "mbiaru di")this is for the groom's family to access her.

The groom visits the bride family with few of his friends and relatives and formally asks for the bride hand in marriage.most times,the groom and his relatives don't get a positive or negative reply,they then schedule another date to meet.Both families normally carry out different investigations to see if their children are fit to get married.

This is usually carried out by an older relative.The groom and his family visits the bride to be family,they then tell the bride's family of their intention to marry their daughter. During the groom's visit to the bride's family certain items like kola nuts, palm wine,

dry gin is presented to the bride's family.

If the groom is accepted,he will be given bride price list.

The bride price list in Igbo land Includes;

1. General gifts
2. 2 crates of malt
3. 6 crates of soft drinks
4. 2 bags of rice
5. 2 bags of salt
6. 2 Bottles of hot drinks/whiskey
7. 30 tubers of yam
8. 20 heads of tobacco snuff
9. 25 loaves of bread
10. 10 packets of cigarettes
11. 2 Igbo style lace blouses
12. 2 big basins
13. 2 Gele head tie
14. 1 gallon of kerosene
15. 1 basin of stockfish
16. 25 litres of palm oil
17. 25 litres of groundnut oil
18. Gifts for umu Ada:This means daughters,this would be shared among all the grown daughters in the bride's extented family
19. Wrappers(Ankara, George,Abada, Holland's)
20. Igbo style lace blouses
21. Beverage
22. Drinks (oft drinks)
23. Shoes and bags( designs and colours)
24. Gifts for umuna: These items will be shared          among the male of the extented family of the bride
25. Kola nut
26. Palm wine (in gallon/Jerry cans)
27. Bottles of hot drinks
28.  Cigarettes (rolls)
29. Cash gifts
30. Goat (1)
31. Cash gifts
32. Money to bring down pot from the fire(ego nfoti                    ite)-N100
33. Money to open the wine keg(ego nkwupu udu)-                    N1000
34. Money for in laws
35. (ego ego cherem)-N50,000
36. Money for maternity (ego maternity)-N1000
37. Money for the village chief (ego onye eze)-N1500
38. Lump- sum cash(ogwe ego)-N5000

     The bride price list in Igbo land is negotiable, it also varies from one village to another.