Evincing the Underlap
The human way of life is determined by gradual day-to-day changes to their activities that sometimes go unnoticed and might take hundreds of years to manifest. It could also take years of studies of historical data and uncovering of archaeological evidence to spot, understand such changes and provide final conclusions that could be accepted as facts for the time being (until superior evidence emerges.)
It is why scientists posit – and every prudent man will agree – that our beliefs, customs and festivities have evolved from when Man was hunter-gatherer to the modern man living in a globalised world with the internet and perhaps thousands of social networking sites. Narrowing it down to marriage, which is believed to have originated around 1250CE and 1300CE as a form of alliance between families, I see it as a human mating ritual that people love to take out of context.
When one strips away religious and cultural norms and picks man; the specie in its raw form, one will have a base with which to understand man’s inherent drivers of reproduction, courtship displays and mating choices. Comparisons can also be made with lower animals’ courtship displays. A courtship display is a set of display behaviours by which different species select their partners for reproduction. These behaviours often include dancing, vocalizations, sound production, or show of beauty, valour, or agonistic ability.
Watching NatGeo Wild sometimes last year, I came across a bird whose male builds a fancy house for the female to come and inspect, they will only mate if she is satisfied with what she sees. Looking it up on the internet lately, I could only find the bower bird which is smaller but does something similar, including painting the walls of and decorating the house which is called “bower”. The Great Crested Grebe uses dances to find a mating partner for life. The Lion, Giraffe, Bison, and Red Kangaroo have their males fight to win mating rights. The hippo uses urine, faeces and farts to attract the female; the stronger the smell, the more its chances of mating.
Courtship displays are also found in insects with the Male Drosophila flies especially famed for having to do a mating dance in front of the female before she agrees to mate. The Peacock jumping spider does the same but if the female is not impressed, she will kill it.
Though there are other instances but the majority and all the courtship displays we have seen shows that in most species, nature has saddled the responsibility of initiating processes of reproduction on the males, with the only difference being what the species hold in great regard.
In humans, it is no different, and research by biologists shows that social competition over resources and reproductive rights that guided our ancestors are still prevalent in modern humans, only that culture and religion (as some are more conservative than the others) have changed the way they are shown.
These ways of “showing our inherent desires” are affected by complexities such as dialogue, family background, social status, societal values, strength, looks, intelligence, cultural, religious identity and many other factors that could be peculiar to a society or an individual; there is simply no universal law that guides human societies.
In the West, which is a very individualistic society, things like “personal touch” “extreme show of emotion” such as giving her one’s mother’s old ring, handpicked flowers, reciting a poem, etc can be enough to earn one reproductive right.
African societies though are more communal and females are trained to create a pool of eligible bachelors before picking one, there are also tales of “late comers” coming, as the name suggests “late” to be the top dog in the pool and win the much-coveted rights. An example of such a selection process is the “Shadi” in Fulani mating rituals that allows only the brave to reproduce.
The Hausas are a “chilling” people, which is evident in their low number of foods but a high number of delicacies, drinks and confectioneries. Looking at it from the marriage angle, they have historically been large, with tons of events and visitors invited from far places to come and enjoy.
A historical check on marriage here would have provided answers to our “why” and “how” but there is no evidence of when it started or how its processes such as “na gani ina so,” “kayan zance,” “kayan lefe,” “kamun amarya,” “sakun lalle,” “daurin aure,” “wuni,” “kai amarya” and “sayan baki.” What we could know of (and doesn’t need huge research) is that the “daurin aure” in its current format came with the advent of Islam and the new festivities such as “kauyawa day,” “Indian night,” “dinner,” “kari,” etcetera could have been borrowed from foreign cultures, the nostalgia of village life or show of wealth and affluence by a few families before they gradually became the norm. All these combine to make a mare mating ritual an extravagant venture with some couples having very little to sustain their homes after it has been contracted.
With increased poverty, illiteracy, unevolved traditional roles and insecurity being the driving forces in post-colonial Africa, most societies lean more towards material factors when a female is selecting a mate and thus the increased demands for a bigger lefe.
In a society that shares the responsibility of setting up the home on both the bride (her family mostly) and groom, it is expected that people will understand why the bride needs to recoup as much of the money she will spend on “kayan daki” and “gara” but that is hardly the case.
The situation is dire, becoming a topic of discuss on Social Media and a hot topic amongst preachers. As the discussions and permutations continue to boil, only Gumel Local Government of Jigawa State has made the effort to officially address the issue. That too, without a serious treatise seems poorly planned, with a poorly drafted bill that from all indications will be poorly implemented if it gets passed. Which will create more problems than solutions and will not be the new social revolution its planners had in mind.
Local Governments can make bye-laws in accordance with the custom and practices of the community as long as they are consistent with the provisions of the constitution. Howbeit, laws are not made overnight and require a stringent process of consultation with stakeholders from all sectors of society. In a place like Gumel, and in a sensitive issue like marriage one has to consult community leaders, youth associations with a balanced representation of both sexes, elders with the understanding of the modern-day environment and most importantly, Islamic Clerics based in Gumel. I say Islamic scholars based in Gumel because they are more familiar with the extent to which the culture of the people of Gumel mixes with Islam.
It is worth noting that Islam has two types of diversity, which are interpretational (of scriptural texts)that led to the establishment of the various schools of jurisprudence, and cultural (traditions and customs) which guides social affairs as long as they don’t contradict Islamic principles. Muslims in Africa, Asia and the West have maintained distinct ways of lives while complying with the Shariah.
Many of these people still have pre-Islamic principles, it is why a Yoruba Muslim’s wedding will be different from a Hausa Muslim’s or a Tiv Muslim’s and it is why you will be left with a culture shock when you witness any Islamic festival by a different race/tribe.
Having understood the cultural practices that don’t contradict Islam, what is left is for the lawyers adept at Legislative Drafting to look at the practicability of the law, the rights of the minorities and the powers of the LG to make and enforce such laws. If everything has been settled they can draft, remove any inconsistency and ensure that the law will not be repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience. Then there you have it, a bill for the people!
To be continued…
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