The interesting taboos of Africa
Taboo (also tabu) could be seen as a social or religious custom placing prohibition or restriction on a particular thing or person. It could also be defined as those acts, behaviour or tendency that are prohibited or restricted by social custom. A tabu can also be seen as something that is designated as sacred and prohibited.
In a traditional and culturally minded society like Africa’s, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to find out that there are many African taboos which are put in place to control and guide the different individuals in that very community so as to achieve harmony and oneness.
Sometimes these African taboos could be quite ridiculous as you will soon see. Sometimes they really serve as a great lesson because many people who have actually gone against the stated law/s never lived to tell the story.
The unconscious belief and practice of such taboos also stems from the fact that there are many superstitious beliefs associated with Africans. Today, I choose to focus specifically on certain African taboos prevalent in many places in Igbo speaking areas of Nigeria.
Let me first start with the serious ones before I gradually introduce the really ridiculous ones.
Adultery
It is not a question of this being against the Ten Commandments because it is clearly beyond that. Adultery is seriously frowned at in Igbo land and anybody who is caught in the act is in real serious trouble.
But the ridiculous thing about this very taboo is that it is usually understood as a woman’s defaulting alone. In other words, it is a woman’s crime and that means to stop adultery, you must first stop the woman.
In fact, there is a local community where it is believed that if a husband of an adulterous woman knowingly eats her meal, he will die!
So if the man knows that his wife is “tainted”, he will do everything within his power to save his own neck by avoiding the woman entirely, until she gets cleansed which requires a round of sacrifices to be made.
There is also a local community close to where I live where it is believed that any woman who goes against the laws of the land and commits adultery will run mad instantly. Believe it or not, such is the potency of that belief that today many women [mostly from that area] are held down in fear because of the threat of insanity hanging over them to this day!
What about the men, you may ask? Well, how do they say it again? It’s a man’s world, you know? You see why I said it could be quite ridiculous, these taboos…?
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is seriously frowned at due to many reasons.
One, it is one of the easiest ways to identify a very promiscuous and careless girl and no parent wants to be the parent of such a “loose” girl in our Igbo society.
Teenage pregnancy can also cause a lot of hamper for the girl/s involved as regards to her chances of getting married later in life simply because most men will not be so keen to start taking of care of another child whose father is unknown to him. It shows that the girl lacks proper home training which means her mother is at fault for bringing about the devaluation in her bride price.
It can also create serious problems for the unborn child towards inheritance, especially if it turns out to be a boy, because inheritance-wise, there is no way he can become a family member “just like that” since he is NOT a son of the soil.
The stigma associated with teenage pregnancy is quite enough to open any girl’s eyes. The ridiculous thing here is that once again, teenage pregnancy is considered a woman’s problem ALONE!
Marriage blessings
Marriage blessings from the parents of the girl involved is believed to be a MUST if that very marriage is expected to work and blossom.
Such is the belief in this practice that a father can easily put a stop to any impending marriage of he is not comfortable with the man who is asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
It is generally believed that in marriages whereby there was none of such blessings, marital problem such as barrenness, infidelity, divorce and sometimes, even early death are always bound to occur!
So to avoid any of such trials and tribulations, any sensible girl, no matter what, will surely make sure that her father or her family really sanctions the marriage before she steps into her man’s home as a new bride.
This can also save a lot of problems for the girl in the future because if things turn awry in her marital life, the only place she can safely come back to is her father’s house.
Imagine her situation and the type of welcome she will get, if she did not get that all-important blessing from them, in the first place!