when a women or a man marries a white for example, majority of times they(male/female) follow the Nigerian traditional side( which is understandable as a lot of whites do not have that culture) but what happens when a Nigerian man marries a Ugandan for example. Does the man go with the women's traditional culture or does the lady go with the man's side or do we incorporate both aspect into the engagement. Has anyone been to an intercultural engagement and wedding and what is the right way to go about this?

i hate such marriages!

Every one has his or her dislikes. My friend is actually getting married to a gal from another country so that was actually what sparked my curiosity.

PAGAN 9JA:
i hate such marriages!

black_panther25: when a women or a man marries a white for example, majority of times they(male/female) follow the Nigerian traditional side( which is understandable as a lot of whites do not have that culture) but what happens when a Nigerian man marries a Ugandan for example. Does the man go with the women's traditional culture or does the lady go with the man's side or do we incorporate both aspect into the engagement. Has anyone been to an intercultural engagement and wedding and what is the right way to go about this?

Only in Nigeria is when they almost always follow the the Nigerian cultural side, and interracial marriages in Nigeria are not high but are alot in Europe and other countries of the western world like America and if the woman is non-Nigerian, I have always always seen that side over rule especially since they are in the womens homeland but if the women is Nigerian it tends to be 50/50 at times. When it comes to black africans marrying other black african countries from other cultures, depending on where they are from, their is a common rule among Africans that who ever the father is that is the culture they follow, especially in the olden days of Africa but in todays age things have changed. For example if a Nigerian marrys a Ghanian women it maybe equal since women roles in that country are different, for example Ghollywood/Nollywood actress Yvonne Okoros mother is Ghanian and father is Nigerian, and her father adapted to the mothers side and lived there, and Yvonne herself leans more toward her Ghanian side then her nigerian side, since she was raised there.

^Ghana and some other W. African countries(CIV) pratise matriarchy so there's nothing special with Yvonne's case. The dad didn't adopt Ghana or whatever, its just a matriarch country. Even in a purely GH marriages, the women owns the child.

@topic, in my side of Nigeria ie Igbo, its strictly Patriarchy. The woman adopts and embraces the husbands culture.

ifyalways: ^Ghana and some other W. African countries(CIV) pratise matriarchy so there's nothing special with Yvonne's case. The dad didn't adopt Ghana or whatever, its just a matriarch country. Even in a purely GH marriages, the women owns the child.

@topic, in my side of Nigeria ie Igbo, its strictly Patriarchy. The woman adopts and embraces the husbands culture.

Well you have a point Ghana is a matriarchy society but I never knew other west african countries followed the matriarchy way, interesting

there are some forces/circumstances that will determine which culture should be mutually accepted and the one to be jettisoned by the couple.
1. If the man is macho or a chauvinist, there is a percentage very close to the maximum that can be attained that the man's culture is going to be retained.
2. The type of religion they practise also plays a role cos most religion gives the man the highest say in the family making the woman dormant in some of the matrimonial affairs.
3. The environment they stay also has an influence. E.g if the family live in the society where the women rules, there is a likely tendency for the couple to try to blend with the society cos they may not want to be odd. E.g if a yoruba(man)-igbo(woman) couple i.e interethnic couple stay in Abba there is a like tendency for them to practise igbo culture.
4. Parental influence also has a little effect. E.g a couple that have one of the parents staying with them will have a little influence on the couples way of life(culture) base on numerical strength(2 against 1) and parental interference.
5. Parental upbring can also affect which one to be adopted between the cultures eg some children have been infected with the mentality that their culture is not good and worthy to showcase. Anybody with that kind of mentality can easily fall for any culture that comes its way, leaving his culture for another person's culture during nuptial knot.

Is it all of Ghana that practices matriarchy? I thought it was just the Ashanti people.

ifyalways: ^Ghana and some other W. African countries(CIV) pratise matriarchy so there's nothing special with Yvonne's case. The dad didn't adopt Ghana or whatever, its just a matriarch country. Even in a purely GH marriages, the women owns the child.

@topic, in my side of Nigeria ie Igbo, its strictly Patriarchy. The woman adopts and embraces the husbands culture.

Its only the arkans in ghana that practices the matriarchy. The others such as GA, EWE do not. I think it depends on the couple and where they live. I'm an arkan my parents are from different areas though and maybe because i do not live in ghana in my family it's not really practiced.

nnenna.1:

Is it all of Ghana that practices matriarchy? I thought it was just the Ashanti people.

Yvonne's father was living there already so he really did not adapt and he had other wife's so they were brought up mostly by their mom but she still acknowledges her nigerian side.

anonymous6:

Only in Nigeria is when they almost always follow the the Nigerian cultural side, and interracial marriages in Nigeria are not high but are alot in Europe and other countries of the western world like America and if the woman is non-Nigerian, I have always always seen that side over rule especially since they are in the womens homeland but if the women is Nigerian it tends to be 50/50 at times. When it comes to black africans marrying other black african countries from other cultures, depending on where they are from, their is a common rule among Africans that who ever the father is that is the culture they follow, especially in the olden days of Africa but in todays age things have changed. For example if a Nigerian marrys a Ghanian women it maybe equal since women roles in that country are different, for example Ghollywood/Nollywood actress Yvonne Okoros mother is Ghanian and father is Nigerian, and her father adapted to the mothers side and lived there, and Yvonne herself leans more toward her Ghanian side then her nigerian side, since she was raised there.

I see but I disagree with the interacial part. Most interacial couples I know who got married followed the guys side.

anonymous6:

Only in Nigeria is when they almost always follow the the Nigerian cultural side, and interracial marriages in Nigeria are not high but are alot in Europe and other countries of the western world like America and if the woman is non-Nigerian, I have always always seen that side over rule especially since they are in the womens homeland but if the women is Nigerian it tends to be 50/50 at times. When it comes to black africans marrying other black african countries from other cultures, depending on where they are from, their is a common rule among Africans that who ever the father is that is the culture they follow, especially in the olden days of Africa but in todays age things have changed. For example if a Nigerian marrys a Ghanian women it maybe equal since women roles in that country are different, for example Ghollywood/Nollywood actress Yvonne Okoros mother is Ghanian and father is Nigerian, and her father adapted to the mothers side and lived there, and Yvonne herself leans more toward her Ghanian side then her nigerian side, since she was raised there.

black_panther25: I see but I disagree with the interacial part. Most interacial couples I know who got married followed the guys side.

Followed the nigerian guys side?, in America I rarely saw that, it was the white or non-black mother that the nigerian men who married them followed, unless they are in Nigeria. When it comes to interracial most of the time it is the mothers who rule the household culturally based on my observation and the father follows, the kids may take the fathers name but the culture they are more influenced by are the mothers(unless raised in Nigeria).

Miss_3v3: Yvonne's father was living there already so he really did not adapt and he had other wife's so they were brought up mostly by their mom but she still acknowledges her nigerian side.

Yeah, I never said she never acknowledges her nigerian side but she is culturally Ghanian though and leans toward that side more

Tolexander:

3. The environment they stay also has an influence. E.g if the family live in the society where the women rules, there is a likely tendency for the couple to try to blend with the society cos they may not want to be odd. E.g if a yoruba(man)-igbo(woman) couple i.e interethnic couple stay in Abba there is a like tendency for them to practise igbo culture.

I agree with this statement

Ok I get you. So what abt nigerian women marrying from outside? Does the same apply?

anonymous6:

Followed the nigerian guys side?, in America I rarely saw that, it was the white or non-black mother that the nigerian men who married them followed, unless they are in Nigeria. When it comes to interracial most of the time it is the mothers who rule the household culturally based on my observation and the father follows, the kids may take the fathers name but the culture they are more influenced by are the mothers(unless raised in Nigeria).

black_panther25: Ok I get you. So what abt nigerian women marrying from outside? Does the same apply?

It depends it isnt clear cut with nigerian women when it comes to interracial but with other african men most of the time they follow the rule who ever the father is, that is where they lie but they have in direct influence. For example kofi annans first wife is Nigerian(yoruba), the women who had his kids. All his kids have ghanain names and are part of Ghanian society but their cultural influence is equal between Nigeria/Ghana to a extent which shows since his daughter ended up marrying a wealthy nigerian man . However i feel if they were raised in Nigeria they would have more affinity to Nigerian culture.

Thats very true. But i was specifically referring to the traditional wedding aspect.

T

ifyalways: ^Ghana and some other W. African countries(CIV) pratise matriarchy so there's nothing special with Yvonne's case. The dad didn't adopt Ghana or whatever, its just a matriarch country. Even in a purely GH marriages, the women owns the child.

@topic, in my side of Nigeria ie Igbo, its strictly Patriarchy. The woman adopts and embraces the husbands culture.

Abiriba people are "matriarchal". Ghana and many other African peoples matriarchy is a bit of an exaggeration. The 'matriarchy' in their society comes from the fact that the woman is the only one who is able to choose a king since she is the only one who can confirm who is and isn't a legitimate child, and there's also that thing about 'the hand that rocks the cradle', apart from that Ghana is still very patriarchal like 99% of Africa.

Agreed

ezeagu:

Abiriba people are "matriarchal". Ghana and many other African peoples matriarchy is a bit of an exaggeration. The 'matriarchy' in their society comes from the fact that the woman is the only one who is able to choose a king since she is the only one who can confirm who is and isn't a legitimate child, and there's also that thing about 'the hand that rocks the cradle', apart from that Ghana is still very patriarchal like 99% of Africa.

It depends on the couple. I have been to a few of these kinds of weddings and sometimes the bride will wear the grooms traditional attire and vice versa or they combine a mixture of both. I do not think it is a set guideline.

black_panther25: Thats very true. But i was specifically referring to the traditional wedding aspect.

black_panther25: Thats very true. But i was specifically referring to the traditional wedding aspect.

I have noticed that when it comes to traditional wedding 99% of the time, it is done for a Nigerian women when she marry's out but with a Nigerian man most of the time it is done when he marry's out, but since traditional weddings, you do what the brides household does you will see it more with nigerian women then men but when it comes to the wedding it depends.