4. After the bride is fed well and prepared for the wedding, she has to inform her groom about her readiness to become his wife. She needs to do this with the help of tom-tom, the traditional Nigerian musical instrument. She has to call the name of her loved one, informing him that she is prepared for marriage.
5. There is one obstacle to the marriage in the Igbo tribe: if there are a few sons in the family, the younger sons are not allowed to get married until their eldest brother does. Every man has to pay a sum of money, which can be a lot and not everyone can afford it. This has become a real problem for some of young men. However, in order to help young people to start a family of their own, some Nigerian leaders have introduced a fixed sum of money that the groom has to pay. This sum of money is widely known as “bride price”. If these rituals have not been completed, the marriage officially has no power, no matter how many children they have.
6. After the bride price is paid, the wedding day is chosen. The bride and groom should make this choice carefully because some days may contradict with other events: the deaths of relatives, harvest, or natural disasters. On these days, it is forbidden to have a wedding celebration.
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