It was one of the most colourful wedding receptions I’ve ever attended. Onyekachi and Hassana Chiemeka had just given away their beautiful daughter (Katrina) in marriage. She was wedded to Timipre, her college sweetheart. The Chiemekas were obviously gloating about the radiant bride, the lavish decorations and the resplendence of the festivities. For them, it has been 26 blissful years of marriage. Well, almost. Their love had kept the union strong in spite of the initial resistance from their relatives. The normal challenges of marriage were a bit harder for them because they’ve had to deal with their cultural differences. They’ve worked hard at it and today, they are a stellar example of a successful intertribal marriage.
At one of the rear tables, an attractive, rather morose, banker tried her best to remain inconspicuous. But for the insistence of her parents that she represent them at this wedding, Hadiza wouldn’t have attended. She was still smarting from her tumultuous four-year marriage even a year after the acrimonious divorce that permanently severed her ties with Kunle, her ex husband. She has had to quit her position at the bank to avoid bumping into him.
She watched the new couple, exultantly execute their nuptial dance, supported by jubilant family and friends and hoped things won’t turn sour for them as it did for her.
She’d met Kunle when they were Executive Trainees at their bank’s training school. It was love at first sight. Or so she thought. They didn’t have that much resistance from their cosmopolitan parents, so they were confident the union was headed for bliss. It was great at the beginning, but three years of attrition had almost cost her her sanity. She couldn’t stand the onslaught from her relatives and later, her husband. The fact that she hadn’t conceived, added to the storm.
She gazed at the radiant newly-weds again. The bride was half-Igbo, half-Gbagyi and the groom was Ijaw. Hadiza hoped they’d considered the pros and cons before jumping the broom; otherwise, they may end up in her soggy shoes.
Intertribal marriages are different things to different people. They’re a fair to some and a snare to others. They’re abominable to some; to others, the future for Nigeria. READ MORE @ http://qreatifdave..com/2013/05/intertribal-marriage-fair-or-snare_19.html