Historically, kin Nupe (Nupeland) lies within the middle Niger region. The region extends from Niger-Benue confluence at Lokoja in the south to Timbuktu in the north.On the eastern side within Nigerian the region extends to as far as kuta area and on the western side to as far as kaiama area. In specific terms, the people known as the Nupelive in the heart of Nigeria, that is in the low basin formed by the valleys of the two rivers ( Niger and Kaduna) 9o 30 and 8o 50 north latitude in Niger state. Today, Nupepeople are found in Niger, kwara, kogi states and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. More specifically, they occupy the following places: Agaie, Bida, Edati, Lavunetc.Just like every other culture in Nigeria, marriages also take place among the Nupe people in a distinctive manner from what is obtainable in the eastern and southern parts of the country.The earliest practices of marriage in a typical Nupe society goes down to the fact that a boy never picks a girl of his choice likewise the girl also never picks a boy she wants to marry by herself. It is essentially done by the parents as at that time and as such, a boy is not expected to reject but to accept his parents choice. A girls hand in marriage is being tactically asked for by the boys parents even before the girl is matured. The boys parents do not go directly to their future in-laws to ask for a girls hand in marriage rather they preferably send a reasonable member of the society known as lina to the girls parent to present their proposal. If the proposal is accepted, the lina then goes back and tell the parents of the boy that the mission was successful and a day will be fixed for the introduction ceremony known as Emikpe.In the early 80s, the items needed during the introduction ceremony were hundred pieces of kolanut with a small amount of money not more than ten naira (N10). Members of both families and other people within the community are invited to witness the introduction ceremony. After the introduction ceremony, the courtship is allowed to continue until both families agree to get the couple married.In the past, marriage in a traditional Nupe society was a very labourious and cumbersome exercise as a lot of time was spent in the marriage process. When a girl is to be given out in marriage, the time and date of the marriage is kept out of her knowledge as she may decide to run away. The bride spends 8 days in her parents house as series of events takes place before she is conveyed to the grooms house in a spectacular mode known as kpanganagi.Around 1980-1982, kpanganagi was the most wide spread musical accompaniment for marriages and naming ceremonies in the urban Nupe areas, as it has advantage of being cheap and mobile. The procession from the house of the bride to her husbands compound is normally preceded by kpanganagi players and womens dancing is normally performed to it. Today, however, brides are being conveyed by cars and this has completely killed the performance. At a wedding, the players make the rounds of the male guests, drumming proverbs and Taki praise-epithets for them, in return for small presents of money. The players in this ensemble present closest parallel to the elevated beggar status that many praise-drummers have in Hausa society. They are regarded by guests at a wedding as a nuisance that must be tolerated, and, although, eventually they do give small sums of money to the players, it is often with an ill grace. After arriving at the grooms house, the bride will have to spend another 8 days before the marriage ceremony is finally over.Surprisingly, in a traditional Nupe society, women of low birth who marry above their status into the aristocracy can claim the status of their husbands; and women who marry beneath their social strata do not lose their status but raise their husbands to their own social level. The men will be allowed to share most of the social and political privileges of the class into which they marry. But even if the men are not admitted fully into the titled class, their children would always acquire the status of their mother. This is why the endogamous marriage system known as family marriage as Nupes call it, ensures that the women of the rulling class should marry within the class.Unfortunately, though, instead of appreciating these beautiful and cheap cultural practices of Nupe traditional marriage, it is regrettable that globalization is threatening its survival if totally not swept under the carpet. This is so because Nupe youths are now at liberty to choose any girl of their choice to marry. The parents are only contacted for them to assess the character, religious and family background of the girl before giving approval for marriage unlike what was practiced in the past where parents single handedly pick wives for their children.Similarly, with the influence of modernization, the items that are collected by the brides family during introduction ceremony have outrageously increased compared to the earliest practices. Bride price is now not less than ten thousand naira (N 10,000), the groom also has to fill up set of boxes with wrappers and underwears, 1 basket of kolanut and an additional two thousand naira as token. The introduction ceremony is now more elaborate than what was obtainable in the past as the couples do organize a dinner party with friends and well-wishers.So also unlike in the past where the time and date of the marriage is kept out of the girls knowledge to prevent her from running away, the time and date is now known to the couples and invitation cards are also being printed prior to the wedding date.Generally, traditional marriage system in Nupe society is less expensive when compared to what is being practiced in other parts of the country like the east and south. Zainab (U14/FLC/MCM/017) A 300 level student of mass communication department IBB University Lapai Niger State.
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