[b]When Emeka broke the news to his parents that he planned to marry a Yoruba lady, they told him that he was a joker. That would never happen, they said flatly. Was there a scarcity of nubile damsels in Nnewi and its environs or in Anambra State and the entire Igboland that their son would travel across many rivers and many states to marry a Yoruba girl from Ijebu-Ode? Or, had the girl bewitched Emeka with “otumokpo” from Ijebu-Ode? She would not succeed, they concluded. Never!Weeks after that, nothing was heard about the issue again. They assumed that the case had been closed. Emeka had come to his senses, they concluded. But had he?Two months later, like a bad dream, Emeka brought up the issue of this Ijebu girl again! This time, his tone was firm. Despite the threats of the parents, he was not cowed. He was resolute to the point of obstinacy. Even the tears of his mother did not move him. His parents concluded their son was indeed under a spell.



When it became obvious, after many months of dialogue, pressure, threats, pleas, tears and quarrels that Emeka was hell-bent on marrying Lola, his parents grudgingly gave their consent, but the father warned that nobody should run to him if the marriage went awry. The father also refused to accompany him to Ijebu-Ode for the marriage rites, saying that as an elder, it was a taboo for him to travel far away from home. It did not matter that a few months before the marriage rites, he had travelled through Ijebu-Ode on his way to Lagos.

Not only his parents were against the marriage: Out of Emeka’s three brothers and two sisters, only his younger sister was on his side. But Emeka overlooked all that and went ahead with the marriage.

When Lola came into the family, it was obvious that she was not welcomed. She was just being tolerated. Matters were not helped by the fact that Emeka had recently relocated his architecture business from Lagos to Nnewi, to take advantage of the burgeoning building industry in the town. And even though he had built his own house, it was within the same compound where his parents lived. It was a large compound: All the four sons had their portions of land within the compound, even though two of them were not based at home.

Another handicap Lola had was language: Igbo was the language of the family, but Lola spoke only English and Yoruba. So, Lola began forcing herself to speak Igbo. Any time she uttered an Igbo word or sentence, people would laugh. But her determination and sense of humour impressed everyone. She also did something that nobody around her did: she curtsied or knelt down when greeting elders, especially her husband’s parents, no matter how hard they protested against such acts. That act and her accent marked her out as a Yoruba, which made people treat her like an egg and call her “Iyawo.”

Most mornings, Lola would go early to the quarters of her husband’s parents, greet them, tidy up their rooms and collect their clothes for washing. She would ensure that Papa and Mama had their meals. She asked her mother in-law to teach her how to cook all local meals. Mama was eager to teach her, and she learnt fast. Any time Papa or Mama complained of backache, rheumatism or fever, Lola ensured that they got medical treatment. Most evenings, she would spend some time with them, either alone or in the company of her husband, before retiring to bed. Her brother in-law’s wife sneered that she was shamelessly trying to buy love with her boot-licking tactics. But Lola was not bothered about that.

Less than a year after Lola came into the family, the music changed. Emeka’s parents, especially the father, never completed a sentence without mentioning “Iyawo.” He would tell anyone who cared to listen, including the wives of his other three sons, that if it was not for Iyawo, he would have long died.

Today, Lola speaks Igbo, or rather Nnewi, like a daughter of the soil. As far as Emeka’s parents are concerned, “Iyawo” can do no wrong. Even when Emeka complains about her before his parents, they will not let him finish before warning him never to do anything that will hurt that “peace-loving girl.”

Unknown to everyone, before Lola left her parents’ home, she fortified herself for any eventuality, having known that her husband’s family were not happy about the marriage. Her parents had also done all they could to dissuade her from marrying an Igbo man, but their words fell on her like water on the back of a duck. So she knew she had a major battle to face in her new home. Failure was not an option, for if the marriage failed or proved unhappy, her parents would give her the I-told-you treatment. Consequently, before leaving for Nnewi, she boiled herself in a pot of charm. Then, she etched the charm on her face, tongue and heart. The power in the charm was meant to automatically make anyone around her to like her. Anyone she smiled at or talked to was meant to be charmed by her.[/b]

Hahaha. What sort of comic tale is this?

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J12: Hahaha. What sort of comic tale is this?

This is a true story, It is the duty of the wife not to breeze into the family with an antagonistic stance. Rather, she should reassure her in-laws – through her words and actions – that she has not come to “take away” their son and brother or to destabilise the family, but that she has come in – like a new baby born into the family – to increase the family’s love, peace, unity and happiness.

Beautiful story but in a wrong section.

But u urself claimed that she was good to them..even if she used charm on them, it was clear that they were swept off by her desire to please them..

Una neva see where person use charm...

Una don start the hate stories again ba?

Kk

my tenant is narried to a yoruba woman. until their wedding, i didnt even notice she was not igbo. she is quite tidy sha. an exception to the rule.

This is not d full story,stop being mischeavious.this story is even in d romance section

thwarrior72: Marry yoruba girl at your own peril, especially ijebu-ode axis

eeyah,u should ave read d story finish before exposing how dull u are.btw,one of oldest daughter of d awujale of ijebuland is also married to an ibo man from anambra,so not new

thwarrior72: My stance on how fetish yoruba women are & the dangers it poses to any igbo man that marries them is not informed by this story alone, but by empirical evidence I have gathered from my years of living in Southwest.

And who said there are no yoruba married in igboland? I have one right in my family, although, she recently ran away with another man, after 6 children

Stories like this will bring tribal bigots like you out of your caves. We are all Nigerians regardless of tribes and that's coming from a Nigerian/American.

SLIDEwaxie: But u urself claimed that she was good to them..even if she used charm on them, it was clear that they were swept off by her desire to please them..

Una neva see where person use charm...

Una don start the hate stories again ba?

Exactly my thought

we yoruba ladies are the best. of course, we fortify ourselves with prayers and good skills. we have to keep our men.

thwarrior72: My stance on how fetish yoruba women are & the dangers it poses to any igbo man that marries them is not informed by this story alone, but by empirical evidence I have gathered from my years of living in Southwest.

And who said there are no yoruba married in igboland? I have one right in my family, although, she recently ran away with another man, after 6 children

abegi tell ur stories to birds,who has time for dat.i guess ur we can label all ibo women loose,money lovers and slutty due to d fact that a lot of them are prostituting all over d country,right?seems u didnt get d mesage of d story.unreasonable block head from d south least.any why would u live in a place u call waste cos it is way better than ur so called paradise

thwarrior72: She might be from some part of Ondo state, they are closer to the igbos & behave better than the rest of yoruba

hehehe mumu like urself,u obviously know nothing about yorubas.ondos are not to close to u blockheads,infact they share no link with u pple(see famzing),where on d map of nigeria does it show that ondo shares with any border south least state?d pple ondo pple share links are d edo and itshekir pple and not u Igbos.and btw:even among d yorubas,ondo women are stereotyped as love peddlers and loose just like ijebu women are stereotyped with juju.again stop exposing ur dull ignorant self,u dont know jack8-)

ChristyG: abegi tell ur stories to birds,who has time for dat.i guess ur we can label all ibo women loose,money lovers and slutty due to d fact that a lot of them are prostituting all over d country,right?seems u didnt get d mesage of d story.unreasonable block head from d south least.any why would u live in a place u call waste cos it is way better than ur so called paradise

We ain't quarrelling, are we?...........I'm simply laying the fact bare.

Slutiness is not exclusive to any tribe, infact It's a Nigeria women factor, so it is out of the equation

ChristyG: abegi tell ur stories to birds,who has time for dat.i guess ur we can label all ibo women loose,money lovers and slutty due to d fact that a lot of them are prostituting all over d country,right?seems u didnt get d mesage of d story.unreasonable block head from d south least.any why would u live in a place u call waste cos it is way better than ur so called paradise

Smh,. The pot is mocking the kettle for a little soot when the pot itself is thoroughly covered in it • Talk of the pot calling the kettle black!!!

banega: Smh,. The pot is mocking the kettle for a little soot when the pot itself is thoroughly covered in it • Talk of the pot calling the kettle black!!!

i think u are referring to urself missy,a chronic bigot like urself,go choke on d1ck,i dont give a phuck about ur du.m.b@$$ opinion:p

ChristyG: hehehe mumu like urself,u obviously know nothing about yorubas.ondos are not to close to u blockheads,infact they share no link with u pple(see famzing),where on d map of nigeria does it show that ondo shares with any border south least state?d pple ondo pple share links are d edo and itshekir pple and not u Igbos.and btw:even among d yorubas,ondo women are stereotyped as love peddlers and loose just like ijebu women are stereotyped with juju.again stop exposing ur dull ignorant self,u dont know jack8-)

I never say the bordered southeast, but closer, compared to other Southwest states. Between, I'm on ground to know between stereotype & fact, the case of Ondo might be a stereotyped, but ijebus fetishness is a proven fact ...............Anyways thank me for educating u about your people christyG

Lucasbalo: Stories like this will bring tribal bigots like you out of your caves. We are all Nigerians regardless of tribes and that's coming from a Nigerian/American.

Sorry sir, I ain't a bigot

tit: we yoruba ladies are the best. of course, we fortify ourselves with prayers and good skills. we have to keep our men.

Are u consoling your self or the usual self-denial?

ChristyG: i think u are referring to urself missy,a chronic bigot like urself,go choke on d1ck,i dont give a phuck about ur du.m.b@$$ opinion:p

Loolx hypocrite!!.. You sound pained Aussie.. Never knew my post was gonna hit a groin .. Plus your response shows you have nothing upstairs.. As for you choking on a d_ick on a daily basis.. I'm not surprised one bit.. After all we all know the smartest thing that ever came out of your mouth was a peni_s .. So bi_tch you have my permission to go suck a 6 inch black peni_s and get satisfied .. !! Enjoy Christy •

thwarrior72: Sorry sir, I ain't a bigot

We are all the same people regardless of tribes. We have enough to deal with and the last thing is to divide ourselves for no reasons. United we stand and the stronger we are. Will say the same thing if anyone says anything discriminatory against south easterners or other tribes. Sorry to call you a bigot because that's not me. Just fed up with tribal bashing on nairaland .

MAGICAL!!!!!!
its true dat lola charm dem.....by showing love, respect and hitting thier soft spot ( understanding igbo) indeed it was a charming that invovle a hardwork.....try what she did u will find out how easy it is.

Even without the charms sha, with the good character of taking good care of her new family alone would still make them love and welcome her later.
Her love and care for her in laws would have taken care of it even without charm in your story to make it moral to your readers.
Cos now, your readers have nothing to learn from the story.
Or are you advising us to go for charm when in need of peace?
Unless, you still have part2 for us.

Nice one...i dont know when all these tribalism will stop. Tribalism stops the country from moving foward.tribalism sucks,lets come together and boko will flee...charm or no charm,lola did it for her good.lol,no blame her

.

berem: Beautiful story but in a wrong section.

interesting story indeed but he spoilt the conclusion. He doesn't' have to conclude it that way.One thing is sure that good deed and loving attitude can put any man at peace, bringing in the issue of jazz (charm)does not make any sense at all.

thought I would only find bigots in politics section