Opinion: The 12 top reasons why Igbos and Yorubas should not marry by Vera Ezimora

by Vera Ezimora

Whether you are aware of it or not, many inter-tribal relationships have died an untimely death because of the tribal differences between the couple. Parents, elders, and friends have rained down fire and brimstone to see to it that this sacrilegious union does not get to the altar. The strong couples come out of it beaten, bruised, but alive nonetheless. The weaker ones — well, they inspire me to write this.

Igbo-Yoruba

Advertisement

Couples who are NOT the people I’m talking about (but who look good on my blog)

The most popular union seems to be the one between the Igbos and the Yorubas. With this in mind, I have compiled a list, specially for everyone who is currently in such a relationship.  If you have been pressured into breaking up because of tribal differences and you have no idea why you should – or if you should, then I am here to help you make that decision. Please read, digest, and understand the lists below.

Reasons Igbos Should NOT Marry Yorubas:

1. They’re dirty.

2. All they know how to do is party.

3. They eat too much oil.

4. Their women flirt/sleep around too much.

5. Their men will ALWAYS cheat with a Yoruba woman.

6. They are loud and obnoxious. You can hear them from a mile away.

7.  They are wild. They are the real “Akata” people.

8. They are Nigeria’s problem.

9. They don’t understand the Igbo culture.

10.  They do too much juju.

11.  They betrayed the Igbos during the Biafran war.

12. And to top the list, they are not Igbo.

Reasons Yorubas Should NOT Marry Igbos:

1. They’re rude; they have no respect.

2. All they know how to do is chase money.

3. Their pounded yam is as hard as stone.

4. They don’t put enough oil and spice in their food.

5. Their in-laws are wicked! The husband’s family will always maltreat the woman.

6. They cannot speak Yoruba, and even if they can, they do not know our culture.

7. They will sell their brother for money.

8. They won’t let us play our fuji music at home.

9. They’re Nigeria’s problem. They keep trying to divide us.

10. When their women die, their bodies have to be returned to Igbo Land to be buried.

11. They eat human beings.

12. And the mother of all crimes, they are not Yoruba.

Top 12 Reasons You Should NOT Consider Before Getting Married

1. He/she does not appreciate you.

2. He/she has a turbulent past and a shaky present.

3. He/she can never be faithful to you. And you know this.

4. You have nothing in common, except your tribe, of course.

5. Your dreams, values, and aspirations couldn’t be further apart from each other – even if you stretched them thin.

6. He/she just doesn’t get you.

7. He/she knows how to bring out the worst in you.

8. You cannot quite place your finger on it, but you know that something isn’t right with this relationship.

9. You know that you know that you know that you cannot count on him/her to be there when you need him/her.

10. He/she has no ambition whatsoever.

11. Even with a gun to your head, you cannot vouch for him/her.

12. And the least of all, he/she has done nothing to imply that he/she might be remotely in love with you.

Bonus reason: he/she continuously picks his/her friends and family over you.

If you find yourself confused by the tone of this list, go back to the beginning and read it again till the end.  And just like the tributes in The Hunger Games, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Alternatively, you can find a partner who is Chinese-Iraqi, born in India, and fluent in Portuguese  and Italian. There is no list for that. Yet.

——————————————–

Vera Ezimora writes at VERASTIC

79 COMMENTS

    • Nimi( bufoon) or what is this you call your name? i know that hate for the igbos run in your blood streem otherwise i do not know where this your abuse is coming from, but even the air that we breath, the foul, goat etc know too well about this hate and that is why you sort and found an opportunity to betray igbos. now your people are wispering “we shouldn’t have betrayed the igbos” confirm from asari dokubo and other camelion elders they will wisper it to your ear too

    • This writer is only hunting for notoriety – an attention-seeking article, because it is all a load of rubbish. Forget the surname, he/she may end up not coming from where he/she seems to suggest by the surname he/she has chosen. Okay, you have got the attention you are looking for, next case?

  1. I’m Annang (a small tribe in northern Akwa Ibom State) and current engaged to a Yoruba woman. We love each other so much and although we’ve been discouraged by some people, we don’t let what they think about the relationship get into our heads cos we love and understand each other. I think the first step is to look at people objectively and not with prejudice, and the rest will fall into place.

      • @ Tos or wat is dat ur name? If u are opportuned u would hav form ur own group of killing pple bcos of religion. No reasonable human being can say wat u just said pls next tym dont bring religious issue into dis kind of talk again. If try it Okwu gbakogi make fire burn u.

      • Tos, why do you and like minds always spoil ‘a good fight’? Remember ‘Mine Boy’ by Peter Abrahams? Why is it that we Nigerians lack a decent sense of humor? Is it that we have been so brainwashed by religious and tribal bigots that we see nothing good in us? Vera wrote on a secular topic and you are becoming more Catholic than the Pope on sentiments just because you think the remark is from someone that does not share the same religion with you. Haba! Seize fire.

  2. Then go nd mary frm northern nigeria…..even babangida nd obasanjo could not resist d wisdom in igbo isreal hence they maried frm asaba d igbo tribe of delta…..wise ones goes to d east while fools keeps castigating…nig is in mess tday is bcos ibos hav not ruled….d nort hav only created violence nd bkharam while unemployment plagues d west…..fools

  3. no sincere human will argue d fact that SOME PARTS of the ibo land eat humans. It’s a plain truth.
    My oown stand, however, is this –
    1) every culture is ridden with 1 shortcoming or the other
    2) to be on the safe side, marry from a culture that’s same as urs, or worst, not far from urs!

    U’ve got only 1 life, dnt weary urself out by taking the risk of inter-culture marriage.
    #shikenna#

  4. Despite all of that lies, inuendo, steriotyping about the two tribes you mentioned in your blog, I married an Igbo woman whom I loved very much. Some Igbo men tried to take her away fro m me but God disallowed it. We have 5 grown children now and we are happy because our relationship is as smooth as the surface of a glass. It has been 27years and the association couldn’t be better. If I come back again, I will marry an Igbo woman. If the love is there, one can marry from any tribe in Nigeria. For love doesn’t know tribes.

  5. To be candid, i have different view to what the writer put up. There are so many intra tribal i.e Igbo to igbo, Yoruba to Yoruba, Hausa to hausa,relationship that failed to suvive just as there are many inter tribal too that failed. I tell you, i have seen a yoruba marrying to Igbo,God bless them with children,they live ever happily together. the relationship still exist till tomorrow.I am a blogger too, I think we should get our facts straight before posting them.

  6. I can bet with my life that this passage was written by a primary school pupil, no matured or seasoned writer will descend so low to write this crap………. The individual that wrote this is seeking popularity which he or she is now getting via our comments…………….. What I’m sure of is that the writer is a “tribalistic congenital idiot”.

  7. What are U guys all getting worked up over, can,t u see d. Writer is only trying to make us all see that no ethnic group is better than the other that we all have our presumed faults. Ok who will say he/she hasn’t heard 1 or more of those allegations before?

    • Thank you Sly! I went through the comment and behold yours happens to be the most reasonable in the act of assimilation/comprehension…my heart gladdens as I stumble on your comment lines, for the fact that you were able to deduce the true meaning from all that seems ”A NONSENSE” An applause brother!!!

  8. Well….wether d yorubas re dirty or d igbos eat humans,we re all one under our mother Nigeria,only God knows y we share dis in common,so we shuld just 4get abt all dis nd show luv 2 each oda….as 4 me i dnt care wether she is yoruba,igbo,hausa,nupe,ijaw,esan,wen i LOVE her,i will go 4 her! End of discussion

  9. I wouldn’t think that the writer mean any harm although he did insulted the tribes involved but I bet you he has a focus on the topic even though he drives offlane@some point.

    The write up has an entire different meaning to me…

    He (writer) is actually feeding the awaiting ”excuses box” most people gives nowadays for not getting married to either of these tribe. The writer does not want any of us to take it personal in terms of our tribe after all you and I must have one time or the other heard of any of that negative attributes of the tribes involved; so to him it is NOT A NEW THING….He is mocking those who gives a lot of excuses for not embracing the inter tribal marriage in the country; there telling them that there more than enough reason not to marry.

    It is only the channel and the title that is so wrong about the whole write up….but the provocative method he chose to deliver fetches reactions.

  10. Well,I got an idea that can unite Nigerians from this ‘blog’.
    The truth is that if Nigerians want to really get United in the very sense of the word,then INTER-TRIBAL marriages should be encouraged.When the offsprings of such marriages marry from other tribes different from their parents,they’ll learn to mix well with others.
    Everyone is saying “I’m Yoruba,I’m Igbo,I’m Hausa as though these are countries on their own and yet we all say “I’m a Nigerian”.These won’t work except via inter-tribal marriage.The Process may take time but it will be beneficial to the forth coming generations.

  11. All of you ranting like d rattles of a gun are either illiterates or of dull mind. no sound mind will need an interpreter before knowing that all the writer is saying is for us to drop inter-tribal sentiments and other irrelevant excuses we give in relationship. if u’ve not fully digested d write up, go n read it again from beginning 2 d end. come 2 think of it; can d writer who’s called VERA be an Hausa girl? No way! n u ppl are gushin out like a broken pipe. wake up n grow up men

    • To all you mega dullards out there, if you didnt understand the write up, go look for a literate person to explain for u.
      If u read d headline, the first thing that comes to mind is prejudice against both tribes, but if u were nt illiterates, you’ll understand that what she’s trying to say in the entire article is that, all ethnic groups in Nigeria have their issues and therefore, we should ignore all these fallacies and focus on the love u have for them. So no ethnic group who is perfect. Mstcheeeew Retards.

  12. I am shocked at d level of dullness and illetracy of those responding to this write-up. No wonder Nigeria is in this STATE! U people cannot read between d lines. The poor writer was only bringing out wat we feel and trying to tell us to marry wherever we find love and forget our HANG-UPS!! And here u are heaping curses on her. Shame on u. Ignoramooses.

  13. Am fron ibadan and i like to get marride to igbo lady bcos i have many of them as friend and they are so nice. I have two brother and they get marrid to igbo lady from enugu. If u are hausa u can marry igbo, yoruba, delta if there is love we can live togethe we are one nigeria. God bless IBADAN, God bless OYO STATE, God bless NIGERIA

  14. Hmmmmn! This is a very interesting discussion. Rather than see the humour in the post, we are busy insulting each other. There isnt a single tribe, clan, ethnic group, or society that does not have one fault or the other. I bet the writer was trying to use a rather sensitive areas to make jokes, in the hope that we will end laughing about all those stereotype issues that tend to come up in ethno-centric cries for ‘war’ against those OTHERS!!

    Its a pity that in addition to our numerous problems, we have also lost our humour!!!

  15. This writer is bereft of ideas.This is purely tales from kindergarten.I am a yorubaman married to Edo woman.My cousin is married to an ibo woman for 8 and 10 years respectively.We can never wish for any other woman. apart .Marriage is a thing of the mind and what you want in a relationship.you must be compatible whether the man or woman is of your tribe or not.

    This type pf yellow journalism should not be encourage .for the fact that some few marriages is undergoing problem should not be misconstrued to mean that it is not worth it.

  16. This write up is out of point, it make no sense I’m an igbo guy from Imo state but married yoruba woman from Osun state we have two kids and we are living happily since we got married. So mr or mrs writer check urself ur the type that causes tribal war in this country. Idiot

  17. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………… i dont know y an elite will post dis kind of irrelevant info when there are better article that people can benefit from is all over the site. if the u dont av any better info for us as nigerian youth, pls go to bed.

  18. Vera, where did u get all this, Ur Dad is a doctor Dr Ben Ezimora and ur mum also Dr(Mrs) Ego Ezimora both studied in St.petersburg ,Russia , U were raised by a russian Nanny, later went to Nigeria. I hope with all this , tribal issues should be the last thing u should support n develop. people should marry the person they think they can stay with .

  19. A confusing post anyway,all the reasons from both side are true, but if we most succeed as a country all this reasons are rubish. I praise the effort of the writer for making us understand where our problem lies (Tribalism)especially we in the south.

    • The problem with the Ibos is outright and brute arrogance especially for those that have a few coins to throw around. They outwardly consider other people as dumb and deaf. They see others as monkeys while the others see the Ibos as bananas.

  20. Yorubas ar d highest human eaters,if a yoruba king want to ascend d throne they wil kil so many non indigene including oda yorubas and if d king eventualy ascend d throne he must av to eat d heart of a dead king (formal king) again if king dies they wil use human beings 4 sacrifices b4 dey bury him.I love Igbos and also wish to come bak tru them

  21. Yoooo, the writer of this piece is racist and full of hate. Why oh why??? I am not Igbo or Yoruba but I am touched deeply by this. Inter-tribal marriage is good, It helps stop hate and educate people to love and accept one another and know people if other tribes as well. We are no longer in the stone age we have passed that era. Stop dividing the good people of Nigeria.