Located on a land area of about 1,206 square kilometers,
Kwali is one of the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Abuja, with a population of about
85,837, based on the 2006 census.The council was created from Gwagwalada Area
Council on October 1, 1996, by the
military administration of General Sani Abacha...
Famous for pottery, Kwali is the hometown of the legendary
woman potter, Dr. Ladi Kwali,whose image adorns the N20 bill. The inhabitants
are also into cloth making, hunting and trading.
Strategically overlooking the Lokoja- Abuja expressway, the
agrarian community, with massive arable land, is suitable for farming
activities.
Kwali Area Council plays host to a number of important
monuments, including Federal Government College, National Mathematical Centre,
Sheda Kwali, Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Nigeria Education Research
and Development Centre, National Fire Academy, Sheda, Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation pump station, Awawa, and more.
On this particular day, our reporter’s mission to Kwali was
not about the fanciful institutions that adorned the council, but to witness a
marriage ceremony at Ashara village, where he was told dogs are used as part of
the wedding dowry.
The village was in the news months back when some of its
hunters tracked and killed a hippopotamus by the banks of River Gurara.
Usman Mohammed, a resident and hunter, who the reporter
approached for guidance, said, before now, the hippopotamus had been
terrorising residents and destroying crops, and even preventing fishermen from
fishing in the river for many years.
He volunteered to ride with the reporter on his motorcycle
as he meandered through the road that snaked through the bush leading to Ashara
village.
Not long after we took off, the rains started threatening,
with trees curling and bowing in the direction of the billowing wind.
Mohammed asked me not to worry about the impending rain as
we could take refuge in a nearby settlement before the downpour.
He was right, a few metres away was a little settlement of
four hunts and a local rest hall. We dashed into the rest hall in time to avoid
the pounding rain that descended heavily on the red soil.
The angry rain fell ceaselessly for hours such that people
started complaining about ruined business and farming activities as a result of
the rain.
From the place where I took refuge, I counted 12 people in
the hall. I used the opportunity of the rain to engage my guide on the purpose
of my visit.
I asked whether it was true that his people used dogs as
part of wedding dowry, since I was there to witness a ceremony where a dog was
going to be presented as a dowry for the bride.
The question attracted the attention of other people in the
hall in utmost bewilderment.
I introduced myself as a journalist and told them about my
mission to their village.
They chuckled with laughter as they dismissed my story on
the grounds that I was still living in the past.
First to react was a lanky old man with a cracky face whose
name I learnt was Yusuf Ashafa, the head and owner of the compound.
Ashafa, who was in his late sixties, admitted that such a
practice existed with their ancestors, particularly the Paiko people who are
now settled in Niger State, but it has since been abandoned.
He disclosed that though the people of Ashara village eat
dog meat, it has never been part of a dowry, but it could be used as a gift to
show love and is not compulsory.
He took the reporter down memory lane to the days when the
princes in Gbagyi-speaking areas had the right to marry any maiden of their
choice.
This, he said, was not a contemporary practice.
He explained that, if a member of the royal family
identified a woman of his choice on a market day in the community, he would
dash to the palace to mobilise the royal guard to go and fetch the lady for
marriage.
“Many years ago, before western civilisation took precedence
on our culture, if a young prince developed interest in a lady he just saw at
the market square, all he had to do was to quickly run to the palace to alert
the guards to carry bring her home for marriage. He would inform the guards, who were trained
for the purpose, to run off with the girl from the spot and take her straight to
the palace. The only thing they did while she was being taken to the palace
would be to find her parents and perform the normal marital rights of paying
her dowry,” he said.
He further explained that the reason why market days were
the most suitable for royal men to scout for wives was due to the fact that it
was on such days that ladies came out in their best looks and wears.
In Gbyagi culture, according to him, market days were not
only for the purpose of buying and selling, but also an avenue for young people
to socialise and target their life partners.
He added that it was a disservice to prevent unmarried
people from going to the market in those days.
How did family members whose maidens were taken away on
market days accept this tradition?
Another occupant in the hall, Yaro, an accomplished hunter
with reputable skills, explained that rather than take offence at the ‘kidnapping’
of their daughters, the ladies’ families considered it a kind of honour that
their own was considered worthy to be married to the royal family.
He stated that the attention of the community would be
turned to the family, as the marriage would not only make them prominent but
protected. They considered the prospects of being associated with the royal
family, which was a great privilege.
“When a lady was taken by a member of the royal family, the
whole village would declare a seven-day feast where communities were mandated
to come with food, musicians and gifts to mark the wedding celebrations. Within
that period, the people were expected to dine and wine with the royal family,
as musicians, magicians and acrobats displayed their talent from morning till
the early hours of the next morning for seven days.
The middle-aged hunter, however, pointed out that the
tradition has since waned as a result of western education, and the powers of
the royals have diminished as a result of human rights campaigns on the
prerogative of the girl-child to make her choice of husband.
Despite the fact that they are all the same in most of their
cultural heritage, our reporter was told that Gbagyi people have some
differences in language and norms.
Explaining the differences among Gbagyi people across the
Middle Belt states of Niger, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Kogi and Kwara states.
Mohammed pointed out that Gbagyi is the language they speak
generally, though there are several other dialects peculiar to groups in the
different states. There are dialects
like Gbagyi Yama, the Gbagyi Nkwa, which is spoken in Paiko, Gbagyi Nche,
Gbagyi Matai and Gbagyi Ngbagun.
“The language Gbagyi refers to the central language we
speak, as we are divided into different groups, cutting across the various
places.
By the time the rained stopped, it was evening and most of
the day’s activities were disrupted and the reporter hurried back to town.
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