An Introduction ceremony in Ikere-Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria

The journey to Ikere-Ekiti also called Ikerre a small hilly town in Ekiti State, South-west of Nigeria with a population 59,257 (1991 census) from Lagos can be difficult yet exciting. Difficult because of the hold-up one obviously cannot avoid inside Ibadan and exciting because of the good road which leads to the town. Our mission to this little town with lots of beautiful hills to behold was to attend an introduction ceremony. Our man from Etinan was seeking the hand of a beautiful Yoruba lady and this landed us to this little town of Ekiti people.

Our arrival to this town revealed the rich culture of the Yorubas when it comes to the introduction rites. Introduction in the African society presents the families of the couple to be with the opportunity of knowing each other before the date of the marriage ceremony is actually fixed. It also helps to inform the bride’s family especially that their daughter is not into prostitution with a man but has decided to enter into marriage with him.

Upon our arrival, we found chairs and tables neatly arranged waiting to receive us. The warmth faces of our Yoruba hosts also showed us that we did not make any mistake stepping into the shores of the family. The “Ekabo, ekabo, ekabo (welcome) which we heard everywhere became a national anthem among our own people but we soon adjusted to responding with “Eshe o, eshe o (thank you) thus we became impressively familiar to “ekabor” and “esha”.

Anyway, little did we know that quickly had to appreciate our own arrival with we were told was “welcome money” demanded from us. To this we responded with suppleness, thou we stunned that this was to happen. This reminiscence quickly faded-off as quickly as it started with the welcome dance which we were told was to reveal to us that the purpose of our visit was well appreciated by our In-Laws.

Next was the phase of “Alaaga” (traditional Masters of Ceremony) who in this case was a woman, very beautiful to the eyes whose eyes readily caught the eyes of “Awon ore oko” (friends of the groom) her voice was so active that most of us began to wonder whether she was engaged in any rehearsal minutes before our arrival, but as I was later told by someone from Ikerre, her perfection in this role was as a result of her frequent engagement in “Alaaga”. The “Alaaga” never traditionally or formally introduced herself to us but with time she soon got to know almost everyone of us by name.

We reacted to every instruction she dished out to us in avoidance to a monetary fine that may follow. It was the “Alaaga” who made us stand still and erected before our In-Laws until the news reached us from her that our journey to Ikere had been welcomed by our In-Laws. By the way, the groom hails from Etinan Local Government, Akwa Ibom, obviously an Ibibio man yet the introduction was conducted in Yoruba language, something I appreciated so much even though many of the Ibibio guests had to rely on me to interpret every of the words uttered in Yoruba.

Finally, we were instructed to take our places as we breathed the way of comfort for the first time. We found ourselves directly seated opposite our In-Laws> Just when I was wondering what the next item on our program of events was, we were ordered out to stand in front of the bride’s family elders with someone whispering “doable” (prostrate). Within some few moments, the groom the groom was converted to a powerful soldier who must submit to wishes of his In-Laws, taking instructions from the almighty “Alaaga”

He was made to stand upright with the rest of us standing behind him and waiting on “Alaaga”. We removed our native caps, which we held in our hands as we listened to every instruction but not without scrambling for space in the mat to prostrate. Soon after, it was a moment we all had been waiting for, the bride was ordered out immediately by the “Alaaga” with her face covered with a piece of “Asho-oke” material.

She was handed over to us but not without a speech from her father. The introduction was declared ended and we were ready to leave but not without the sumptuous “Iyan (pounded-yam) with Egwusi” soup which we ate with relish. This fulfilled what I was told that pounded yam belongs to the Ekiti people.

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