Like many other cultures in the world, marriage among the Zuru people of Kebbi State is a joyous occasion that follows a process deeply rooted in their culture.
Marriage in Zuru land is initiated in two ways, either a man sees a woman and approaches her himself or the family of a boy may admire a girl for her family background or her character and make a move on his behalf.
Magajin Garin Zuru, Danladi Usman, an expert in the Lelna culture of Zuru people told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE that in the latter case, the family of the boy would usually ask him if he likes the girl and if he responds in the affirmative, they go to the girl’s family to put in a request for her hand, on his behalf.
He said back in the days, families were mostly approached for their good name, but these days, families rarely interfere much to avoid complaints of being coerced into choice of spouse.
“In the case that he is the one that spoke to the girl himself, he tells his parents who take over the process from him to indicate the seriousness of the boy’s intention,” Usman stated.
He further stated that if the parents of the girl agree to give out their daughter, they move on to the next stage known as “Quanta”. A ring is gotten for the girl and taken to her parents.
When the Quanta is done, the next thing is Dikweze (this is like kayan nagani ina so among the Hausa), which is followed by a token to signify the acceptance of marriage proposal.
Thereafter, “Golmo” which is central to Zuru traditional marriage commences.
Golmo is a practice where a betrothed boy spends a period of seven years tilling the farm of his future father-in-law and his brothers in willing servitude, to prove that he is enterprising, reliable, responsible and loves his wife-to-be. It also puts to test the resilience of the man.
Usman said in the past, a group of young men came together in groups of 15 to 20, and took turns to work on their future in-laws’ farmlands for this period or they take turns visiting each other’s in-law-to-be.
Golmo commences when boys are in their mid-teenage years, between 14 and 15 years old. Before its commencement, the boys are initiated into manhood after the Dadato rite is performed.
The end of Golmo sets the stage for the wedding to take place.
Within the seven years that Golmo takes place, the in-laws-to-be ask for babayen zaure which is compulsory.
Babayen Zaure consists of building materials such as dried reed
for roofing, ropes and sticks, which the groom-to-be must present every year.
They are items for roofing a mud house.
The betrothed girl is usually as young as 11-12 years and in these seven years, she participates in Dadato, a women rite of initiation to womanhood. It is commemorated with a ceremony at the chief’s palace, where women that have come of age are celebrated with dances and a feast.
During this time, the future husband continues to shower his future wife with personal gifts like clothes, livestock gifts like chicken and farm produce like potatoes or anything he grows. This happens alongside Golmo for seven years.
As part of her preparation for marriage, the girl’s mother gives her sex education.
Usman said chastity is a very dire issue and a Zuru bride then was expected to be a virgin.
“It was considered a sacrilege if she lost her virginity before marriage and was mocked by her peers and ridiculed. A virginity test is carried out to screen out defaulters.”
In a chat with 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE, Alhaji Jafar Ibrahim said his then father in-law-to be asked him to compensate for Golmo with money, after he concluded the initial rites of Quanta and Dikweze respectively.
“This was always an option customarily, but in-laws hardly accepted it in the old days, it was N30 compensation in place of Golmo, but it is now N7000 multiply by seven.
“I paid N49,000 in 2013 and that is what is still paid today. Golmo would have been a herculean task for me because you do not only farm for the girl’s father but for some of her relatives like uncles and other older male members of her family,” he narrated.
He said he also paid for Babayen Zaure to buy reeds, ropes and sticks, which was estimated at N5000 multiply by seven, making it N45,000.
In the case of Ishaku Emmanuel, he only had a church wedding to solemnise his marriage with his Zuru bride.
“The Zuru culture is different from other Nigerian marriage cultures because it recognises only one type of traditional marriage. For me, I don’t think one should have traditional, white wedding or Muslim Nikkah and Zuru traditional nuptial.
“I really like this because the religious rites are traditional weddings too. It would just have been an unnecessary duplication of processes,” he said.
