Why Girls Should Not Choose Husbands for themselves...
There is a little village near the northern border of Nigeria with Niger Republic. In the village lived a man called Isaka and his wife, Murikatu. They have a very beautiful daughter called Mero.
When Mero reached the age of fifteen and ready to be given out in marriage to a very rich merchant in the village, she rebelled. She told her father and mother that she would like to choose her own husband. "I want a tall and handsome husband and I am going to choose one among the boys in the village or from anywhere", she told her mother. This goes against the marriage traditions in the village and her father said so.
When the news of Mero's decision reached the young men of the village, they were delighted. Isaka's house became a Mecca for the string of young men seeking the hands of Mero in marriage. But she rejected all those who came. "None of them is as handsome as I want ", she told her friends.
In a nearby village across the border, lived an eighty-year old medicine-man named Dodo. Dodo was reputed to be a wizard and a magician as well. He learnt about Mero through the many young men who came to him from across the border to buy amulets and charms which will help them to gain the favour of Mero. Dodo was also a charlatan and he made a lot of money from these young men by selling to them worthless amulets and charms.
One day, Dodo said to himself "I should visit the home of Isaka to see this beautiful daughter of his being courted by so many". How could an eighty year old visit a young girl of 15 without arousing suspicion? When he got there he told Isaka that he came to court Mero for his son in accordance with tradition. His son, Musa, he told them had seen Mero and he is in love with her. He is prepared to pay the dowry immediate and arrange the wedding for the next week. He had no son named Musa. But when Isaka heard this, he was delighted and called his wife Mulikatu to call in Mero to see her future father-in-law.
When Mero came in, Dodo was stunned by her beauty and he made up his mind there and then to marry her. He spoke to her kindly and lied that he came on behalf of Musa. Mero replied "I have told my parents that I have made up my mind to choose my own husband. He must be tall and handsome". With that said, she rushed out of her father's hut to her mother's hut.
Seven days after, a tall beautiful young man came to see Mero. When she saw him, her heart palpitated because that was the type of man she was waiting for. His name is Sule. Later Mero introduced Sule to her parents and said that was the man she was going to marry and they should accept the dowry from him.
Isaka was not pleased but as Mero was getting on to sixteen and becoming too old for marriage, according to tradition, he reluctantly accepted the dowry. He told his wife Mulikatu, after collecting the dowry that Sule is too handsome for a real man. "I feel he is not human. I feel he is a fairy". The wife said "I feel so too".
A few weeks after, the wedding took place in grand style. As was the custom, Mero was accompanied to her husband's home across the border. They stayed with her for seven days before returning home leaving Mero in her new and strange environment.
Months passed and there was no news from Mero that she was expecting a baby. Mothers expect to be secretly informed about three months after their daughter's wedding that a baby is on the way. If not, they get worried and start enquiring why it was getting so late. Nine months after the wedding, Mulikatu sent a message to her daughter that she should come home to see her father who was ill. Sule reluctantly let her go.
When Mero was alone with her mother in her hut, she busted into tears and told her that the marriage could not be consummated because Sule is a fairy and not a human being, When she found out he threatened that she will die if she revealed that secret to anyone. Murikatu was downhearted but, as a mother, she was determined to help her daughter.
She consulted another medicine man in the village. She narrated the whole story to him and asked him for help.
To cut a long story short, it was found out that it was Dodo, the wizard and magician, that turned himself to a handsome man called Sule, to court and marry Mero. He turns himself on as Sule and off as he wished and as occasion demanded. The marriage could not be consummated because Mero will not accept an old man, neither will a fairy do. Mero later returned to her parents after many years of a childless marriage and remained on the shelf all her life.
The old people in the village always remind their daughters of this story and say that is why girls should not choose husbands for themselves.
