@Seni 9 February 2022

Culture:- Once upon a time...

Hello everyone Wednesday is over here already, the week is going fast already and valentine is coming😂😂, some people have taken that day as holiday, but people like me will be in class asides that I see it as a normal day, show love to anyone you want to whether single or in a relationship.😂 I am from Kogi State, which is in Nigeria's north central region. People often ask if I am Yoruba or Hausa; I am Yoruba, but my state also has Hausa's. The name "kogi" comes from a Hausa word that means river; two rivers, the Niger and the Benue, meet at kogi. I'm from IFFE - IJUMU, and in Kogi, we have three main tribes: Igala, Ebira, and Okun. I've heard the Ebira people are both wicked and fine(Doesn't mean its true). Everyone was around over the holiday season last year, so we were talking, and my father began telling us about our hometown because he was complaining that we couldn't speak our dialect, so he began telling us about our homeland and its culture. Please check out my sponsors For marriage, they used to have clans, which I can't recall the names of, but he mentioned the OYE clan, which is where I belong, ***and we couldn't marry someone from the same clan; we had to marry someone from outside the clan***. It is also customary that when someone wants to marry, the eldest of the clan anchors the ceremony, and the dowry is distributed according to clan rank, with everyone collecting a piece of the money, even if it is only 100 naira. The purpose of sharing it with the family is to bring marriage blessings. He also discussed the conflicts that occurred at the time, stating that they had a cave they used to hide in when the war broke out, and that there was a very large stone that, once pushed, could kill anyone attempting to ascend the mountain, and that there was something they used to warn them. He also mentioned a woman who rescued them by climbing the mountain, removing her cloth, and rolling the stone, which killed all of the assailants. That is why women are not permitted to leave the house when they are holding a festival in her honor.

He also discussed the sacrifices his forefathers made before the arrival of other religions, stating that they would place a calabash outside and bow to it, as well as pray to it, and that it worked for them because they strongly believed in it; he also stated that some people still worship it today. There's a lot more I can't recall, and I'm sure I wasn't able to go into depth because the narrative was so long that day. ***Our culture is beautiful, and we should not let it die because there is so much history behind it. It has been a while since I visited my village, but I am confident that I will return.*** Thank you for reading.💚