The Very Tradition of Bestowing Full Citizenship Rights on a Male Child Born Out of Wedlock in Igbo land

By Anayo M. Nwosu

Even though a child conceived and born by an unmarried Nnewi daughter belongs to the family of the mother and not to the man who impregnated her, the lovechild, if a male, would still have to perform a ritual before he could enjoy the full rights and privileges available to properly born kinsmen.

There is no such limitations for a female lovechild in the sense that she would automatically become a junior sister to her biological mother and the last child of her maternal grandmother. Her mother father’s will become her known dad just like her mother’s siblings would be regarded as her direct siblings not uncles or aunts.

The custom recognizes the female lovechild as a sister to her mother and she is entitled to become a member, upon marriage, of Ụmụada or meeting of the married daughters of the family without discrimination.

This is not so with a male lovechild even though he is recognised as a brother to his biological mother and also a brother to his mother's siblings. The male lovechild child or Nwa Ime Enete would not be allowed to become the custodian of the ọfọ ụmụnna or okenye. Ọfọ is a wooden revered carving held by the eldest in a family or the first son of the first sons in the extended family.

Also the enete male child is not allowed to become the Obi or the traditional head of his extended family, village or the town. He must be skipped as only a man with all the rights and privileges could discharge such responsibilities.

However, the full traditional rights of a male lovechild could be restored through a ritual called ịsụ ike n'mkpata (translated to mean :guided sitting on the stool of the forefathers).

I had witnessed one as performed by my father's elder brother, Ozuomee when one of his cousins whose mother didn't have a male child but chose to conceive and deliver a son. The concerned daughter had the child to ensure that her mother's share of her husband's inheritance was assured.

The grandmother of the boy approached my uncle, who was the Obi or the head of Nwosu Ezeonwaneti's family, to perform the rite.

It is noteworthy that only the man in the Obi or the traditional head of the extended family can perform the ịsụ ike n'mkpata rite as he is the custodian of the apprachik of ancestral authority or powers of all the Obis before him including the mkpata or the stool of the ancestors.

On the date of the ceremony, the lovechild or his grandmother would present four pieces of kola nuts and alligator pepper, a four litre of palm wine and a big white cock.

The Obi would, while holding the kola nut in his right hand, in between his thumb and the index finger, invoke the ancestors to join the ceremony and to include the name of the candidate as a bona fide member of the ụmụnna or congregation of the malefolks of the family.

The highlights of the ceremony are the pouring of libation to the ancestors and when the male lovechild or the candidate is invited to sit on the mkpata which is a one and half feet tall and one foot wide carved wooden seat made from Ụkpaka or Iroko wood; that very seat used by the projenator of the extended family which, in my case, was the man named Nwosu Ezeonwaneti.

Upon sitting on the ancestral seat, the lovechild's status would change and all the rights and privileges of a full-fledged son are bestowed on him.

Finally, the Obi would slay the white cock, spill the blood partly on the ground and a bit by the side of the ancestral seat or the mkpata. The chicken is cooked right there by the obi and is eaten by only the male children of the extended family. Strangers and women are not served but they could be given a portion of the kola nut and alligator pepper.

That was our tradition as I witnessed it.

But, does it matter anymore when things have falling apart and the centre can no longer hold?