I do not believe that you are not uncomfortable
with such a characterization of the Edo. If that is so, you should not make the
assertion that the presence of women alledgedly from Nsukka explains the
monetization of sexual intercourse in Edo land. By the way, whatis the Edo
attitude towards sex? A recreational activity? A sacred activity? A solely
procreative activity? What is the Edo attitude towards a woman's body? As a
temple? An object of play and fun and enjoyment? It is by asking and answering
some of these uncomfortable questions that we can begin to seriously tackle the
social problem of prostitution.
From me to you,
best wishes.
okn .
***************************
Dear OKN,
What the whiteman described as lechery was nothing
but POLIGAMY. OKN, you are smart enough to have known that the Edos are a polyginous
( poligamous) society. The Oba had over 600 wives and some were not his " wedded
wives." Your friend saw a train of women and he was told they were the Oba's
wives. But he did not tell you, how the Oba came to be marrying about 600 wives
or why those who were not his " wedded wives" got there . When you know how
the Obas of Benin got wives then and now, then you would have discovered that
your friend used a wrong term to describe what he saw in Benin hundreds of years
ago.. It seems you need some clarification or lessons about Edos way of life.
Dapper's 600 wives/poligamy and lechery are joined at the hip. Dapper was using
his Judeo/christian values of Europe of his day, to describe what he saw in
Benin-POLIGAMY. I will oblige you this time only.
When an Oba of Benin is on the move, the royal
court is on the move. As he moves from one community to another, gifts of various
kinds including human beings are given to him as pages or slaves ( when slavery
was practiced ) These of course included women. Parents give out their daughters
as a would-be wife to the king. These women are handed over to the chiefs who
are incharge of the Oba' s harem. The train of human beings grows larger and
larger as the Oba moves around. These chiefs actually go out on a recruiting
drive to procure wives for the Obas of Benin since the Obas do not leave the
palace grounds.
Many of these women never go to bed with the King
or even see his bed chamber until he passes to great beyond. Many of these women,
the Obas may never see face to face are put in POOL, to be given out as wives
to loyal chiefs, loyal palace servants, military generals, princes and newly
installed ENIGIES/OBIS/OVIES. To make sure that these women were not defiled,
EUNUCHS were placed in charge of this pool of women. How on earth could the
Oba so described have had sexual relationship with all these " 600 wives "?
According to the British, Oba Ovonramwen had about 80 wives when Benin City
fell in 1897. Tell the whiteman to keep counting.
OKN, you owe me a lot of money for this course
101 on Edo culture and Tradtition. I can understand your problem about Dapper's
quote, since you grew up in the Eastern part of Nigeria, which had no tradition
of kingship. That is why I want you back to Benin City as a chief. That is the
only way you will understand why the Edos do things the way they do it.
Greetings.
Ademola Iyi Eweka.
|