Friday, July 6, 2012 was a day religion intermingled with tradition as Venerable Friday Tamunopekerebia John Eretoru, Vicar of Bethel Anglican Church, Amadi Ama, went through the traditional marriage ceremony known as Okuru Kaka, in Ogoloma, Okrika local government area, Rivers State with his wife, Mrs. Helen Eretorui.
The man of God after going through the traditional ceremony, the highest marriage ceremony in Okrika that sends the wife forever to the husband, went straight to the All Saints Anglican Church, Okochiri, Okrika, to give thanks to God.
The Okuru kaka ceremony devoid of libation or incantation was performed by a priest the Vicar of All Saints Anglican Church, Rev. Canon Enoch Atuboyedia. He simply prayed and handed over the Okuru (raffia cloth) to the woman.
As the Vicar’s wife, Helen Eretoru is the head of all the women of the church in the district.
Speaking to The Newswriter, Venerable Eretoru, a trained accountant, said, “Today is a day I had dreamt of all my life. It is a wonderful day. My wife and I had made efforts to see the fulfillment of our dream of accomplishing this ceremony. We had made a number of attempts but today in Gods own time, He has made it to come to pass. I am very happy for today.
“Okuru kaka is a tradition that has been age-long. It has begun with the origin of Okrika as a nation.
“The Okuru itself is symbolic of the woman reaching her maturity and has got to a marriage level and is fully wed to her husband. It is the woman’s right. The man is not complete until this ceremony takes place. His marriage is not complete. So today I can say I am a full-fledged married man. Whether I am alive or not, my wife belongs to me and whatever I have is her own.
“Even Jesus from the scriptures did not come to destroy the traditions of the elders but the things that are repugnant. The things that are repugnant to our faith are the ones that we stand against. For example, in this Okuru Kaka ceremony, no libation, no incantation, no invocation of spirits, ancestors and all that. The living has no contact with the ones that have dead.”
On whether it contradicted his faith, he said, “African traditional religion tells us that we connect to the Supreme Being through the spirit beings and ancestors. That is a farce. We do the things that are Godly even in the tradition and refuse the things that are ungodly. No contradiction with tradition. Pastors and bishops encourage all to throw away the dirty water only and take the things that are good.”
On her part, Helen said, “I feel very happy, that is what we have dreamt of from the beginning, but because of some irregularities, it was not done till now. So now that it is done, I feel very happy and feel that I am now fully married as it is demanded. There is no contradiction except when it has to do with things that are not in accordance with the scripture. But as it is now, we did everything in accordance with the scripture. (see pix back page).
Kenneth Amabipi
