Doubra Collins Okotete was one of three joint winners of the Intercultural Conversations Competition run by United Nations Association Coventry in November 2024. He is Nigerian and he spoke to Mary Muturi, who is from Kenya.

My family’s cultural background:

I am the 8th child from polygamous family of 15 children. I hail from a community called Ogulagha town in Burutu Local Government area of Delta State, Nigeria in Africa. The community is located along the river Forcados and it serves as a host to giant oil multinational companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Chevron Corporation Ltd, Agip Oil Company and others.

My tribe is called Ijaw and we speak the Izon language. It is the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.

For food

The Izon culture have specific delicacies such as Ukodo that is cooked with plantain or yam, Banga soup that’s made with palm-nut oil and these foods are best eaten with cooked starch extracted from cassava plant.

Dressing: our cultural dressing is called Etibor top of different colours and wrapper that’s tied round the waist for both men and women with a hat (cap) and a walking stick complemented with beads round the neck. Both male and females.

Occupations

The primary occupation of the Izon people is fishing and farming and the community is mostly surrounded by water which opens towards the Atlantic ocean.

On Marriage

In exchange of marital vows, the male either from within or outside the community pays a token of about 20,000 naira (10 pounds) to the bride’s family as exchange for their daughter which is sealed with an emphasis that, upon death at old age, the dead bride is returned back to the family by the husband’s family for burial. However this does not require the husband’s presence during the funeral of his wife, although, the wife is not stopped from attending her husband’s funeral. Nonetheless, the Izon culture permits a man marrying (polygamy) as many wives as he can afford but does not allow a woman marrying more than one husband. Moreover, the tradition forbids same-sex marriage but does not not have any specific age restriction for marriage from both sex.

On faith

The Izon people are traditional worshippers, where libations are poured on the ground in worship to the deities called Egbesu and ancestors “Opua-duwei” of our community. Also there is freedom of worship, so many families now tend towards Christian worship and a few others identify with other religions like Islam.

Traditional Institutions

The administrative aspect of the community is headed by a traditional ruler called the Ebenanaowei (King), which means the “owner of the community”. Kingship succession is rotated among families within the community, and so is community leadership headed by a community chairman. Youths are headed by a community youth president which is selected either through appointment or by a democratically elected process as enshrined in the community constitution, which is a guiding document for the community.

Community Life

Members of the community live a communal life, living together and sharing burdens and challenges of one another whenever the need arises. My culture has a high value for respect for elderly and detest criminality and deviant behaviours that are all enshrined in the constitution of the community.

Their family’s cultural background:

The person I spoke to is named Mary Muturi, a female who hails from the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya.

Religiously, she is from a Christian background and her family speaks Kishwahili and English. There are over 52 tribes with different languages and she belongs to the Kikuyu tribe which speaks Kikuyu language. Furthermore, the. Kikuyu is a Bantu derivative which has overlapping words and phrases with other languages spoken in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The Kikuyi culture indulges in dowry payment for their brides, male circumcision and celebrates traditional marriages as their core marital values. Socially, there is coherence and collaboration among tribes in Kenya with differences in population cluster arrangements in rural regions. Kikuyus are considered entrepreneurs with strong business acumen. Politically, there is division along tribal lines with occasional tribal violence during elections and among pastoralist communities in Northern regions. Globally, the Maasai attire, consisting of wrapped fabric, is recognised as Kenyan cultural wear as it has stood the test of time. However, every tribe has their own cultural wear, with Kikuyu attire modernised and worn usually in traditional marriages.

What I learnt from the conversation. Explain as much as possible:

Lessons learnt span across traditional rights, religious belief, marriage rights, political and social aspects.

Traditionally, the Kikuyu operates similar marital rights of dowry payment with my culture and holds in high esteem traditional marriages. It uses male circumcision practices but is against female circumcision which is the same with my family cultural practices.

On religion, the family has a Christian background which is different from mine with an African traditional religious belief system.

Socially, we both share a similar socio-cultural communalism background with togetherness and support for one another. More so, I learnt her family is good at entrepreneurship and business which is lacking in mine and it’s encouraging.

I also learnt about the political divide that exists across tribal groups during elections which I think is not healthy for the society.

Another lesson learnt is the cultural wear “Maasai attire, which consists of wrapped fabric” which is similar to my cultural traditional wear as seen in traditional marriages and occasions.