It is disheartening that certain dehumanizing and degrading traditional practices still persist in the 21st century, such is the fate of some young girls who are of Becheve origin in Cross River State, where they girl-child are collateral for repayment of loans owed by their parents. Sometimes, the girls are referred to as ‘money wife.’ A situation where a man that is old enough to be the girl’s grand-father is interested in a girl-child that is still very much tender, he would buy his way through by showering the parents of the girl different gift items which indirectly serves as a dowry. The child on her own have no right to object, but will obey all the instructions giving to her, which includes sexual abuse.
This money wives most of the time are usually the second wife of their husbands, and are more or less seen as the family’s property, in other words, they are not considered to be a full-fledged member of the family that enjoys equal rights as others, these set of individuals are usually girls that are poorly educated and are mere baby making machines.
It is usual for a money wife to start making babies at the age of 15 for a 50-year-old husband, who can die at 65, leaving behind an unskilled, unemployable widow of 30 with kids, whose ages may range between 4 and 12, and with no particular person in the family to lean on for support.
At the demise of her husband, the money wife can only remarry within the family. If she is not found attractive by any of her late husband’s relatives, she could sleep around making babies who would belong to her husband’s family.
Yet, another twist to justify this exploitation is the validation by a voodoo called Olambe .
Olambe is believed to be able to trace defaulting money wives and torture them by subjecting them to sickness, striking or killing them.
The way the traditional portion works is that, the husband would have secretly rubbed it on the wife’s body or inserted it into her body or even charmed her. She can, therefore, not be able to abscond. She will always return.”
To activate the Olambe after the man has taken possession of the young money wife, it was learnt that the girl’s name is usually mentioned seven times, and the Olambe, which is like a cord, is tied. It is believed among the people that after tying the object, if the girl refuses to yield to the man or runs away, he could use it to harm or kill her.
“He could insert the Olambe in an open hole in a banana tree, and if he cuts down the tree, it is believed that the girl would die wherever she is. To punish her further , he will place the Olambe beside a fire, and as it is being heated, the girl is believed to undergo severe internal heat before her death. He could as well throw the Olambe into a bowl of water to swell her up physically before she dies.
Some natives opined that to abolish the ugly traditional practice will be very difficult, owing to the fact that it is a status symbol for men and most of the efforts made suffer are often frustrated by highly placed men who are beneficiaries of this wicked act, thus, making all the efforts abortive.
This ugly act needs to be abolished because it has trampled on the rights of the girl-child in many ways. Laws needs to be put in place to discourage the evil practice, policies that protect the rights of girls and women should also made, so that women and girl-children can be saved from slavery, dehumanisation and denial.
“Money wife is one aspect of Becheve culture that cannot stand the test of modernity. It is slavery, a relic of the primitive era that should be eradicated totally in all ramifications.