01/10/2020

Urhobo Traditional Marriage List and Requirements

The Urhobo Traditional Marriage is highly dependent on the families of both couples in line with various traditional customs and cultures of the tribe. An average Urhobo values his own family members more than anything. So, an Urhobo Traditional marriage will be successful only with the agreement of the two families.

The Urhobos are mostly found in the Niger Delta area and are one of the major tribes in Delta State with over 2 million populations. Even though they aren’t only into farming again, their traditional marriage rites among other cultures are still retained.

Continue reading to find out the steps involved to get the Urhobo Traditional marriage lists and requirements with their different proposal methods.

Urhobo Traditional Marriage Proposals

In Urhobo land, couples get married through various proposal methods. Most are involved directly by the parents while only a little percentage is done by the couples.

Arrange Marriage:

This is common in Urhobo land, mostly when the husband/man is living abroad but prefers to marry from his hometown. His parents and other family members are the ones who will propose to her bride on his behalf. Carry out the marriage rites and send his wife to him. The couples only get to know each other after marriage.

Esavwijotor

This proposal is done by the parent and the groom’s family also. But this time, it’s done for their young ones. A young girl is married for their son who is also not of age. Once they are old enough for marriage, they are joined together after necessary traditional rites.

Ose

This is another traditional marriage proposal done by the Urhobos. A man and woman are bound together without the payment of the bride price. But they are allowed to enjoy some marital rites whether they are living together or not.

Courtship

This is one of the recent most practiced proposal types. A man and a woman see and start a relationship with each other without the parent’s involvement. They study each other until they are ready to get married.

Irrespective of the type of proposal a bride and a groom meet each other. They perform the below steps to get married.

Urhobo Traditional Marriage Rites

The traditional marriage rites in Urhobo land start when the groom’s family knocks on the bride’s family door called “Ghore-Etuk“. This is done by the groom’s family after the lady agrees to marry into the man’s family.

The man informs the bride’s mother of his intention who in turn alerts the father. The young man is invited after, who in turn visits with a bottle of dry gin.

He later goes with his family members for both families to meet. An introduction date is set at this stage and the necessary list is also presented.

On the introduction date, the bride’s extended family and the groom’s are all fitted. They are entertained with drinks and traditional Urhobo songs and dance. The bride price is also paid by two members from both families outside the house. The requirements list is also presented.

Once everything is settled. The Urhobo traditional wedding ceremony date is agreed to by both families.

Urhobo Traditional Marriage Requirements List

The following is what is expected for the brides to present before the ceremony.

A bottle of Schnapp or any other hot drink.
N500.00 and another bottle of Schnapp to open the floor of the marriage ceremony.
N2,000 for the bride’s family youth, members, and siblings.
N2,000 for the bride’s wives including her mother.
N1,000 with another bottle of schnapps.
N1,000 for showing the bride’s face.
N400, a bottle of schnapps, and a kola nut plate for Praying, and blessing the couple.
N6,000 with a bottle of Schnapp as the bride’s dowry.

Note: The bride’s price isn’t fixed and will be determined by the family of the bride.

Also, the following gift is expected to be presented to;

The bride’s father

A hat.
Traditional attire or wrapper for the men.
A walking stick and a Shoe.

The Bride’s mother

A head-tie and a blouse.
A wrapper with a gift of N5,000 for the bride.
A box of clothing materials of various types.
N15,000 cash to appreciate the bride.

For the family

3 bags of salt for wives of the bride’s family.
N5,000 as an escort fee to be done after the marriage.
Drinks, and money for entertaining guests and well-wishers.

Urhobo Traditional Marriage Ceremony

After everything has been settled, the next is the traditional ceremony. The bride is called upon after the presentation of more than 4 different ladies for the man to identify. The man continues to reject and compensate them until his bride is presented.