Ex-Presidential Aide Reno Omokri Mentions Only Kind of Ladies That Deserve Bride Price
- Reno Omokri argued only virglns deserve bride price, stating that any payment for non-virglns is extortion, not tradition
- He distinguished bride price from dowry, explaining that the former is for virglns paid by the groom, while the latter is property given by a bride’s family
- Omokri cited the Bible and warns of moral decay, calling for Africans to return to traditional values and stop mimicking white weddings, he claims aren’t Christian or African
Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide and social commentator, has stated that only virglns deserve to be called brides and therefore deserve bride price.
Omokri argued that any demand for money in the name of bride price for a non-virgln is not only improper but also amounts to extortion.
Source: UGC
In a lengthy post shared on Sunday, August 3, via his official X account.
He said,
“The excessive demand for money and property by some Sub-Saharan African ethnicities for a woman who is not a virgln is neither legally nor technically a bride price, it is extortion.”
Bride price vs dowry: Omokri explains the difference
Omokri faulted the general misunderstanding of the terms "bride price" and "dowry" across Africa, noting that the two are not the same.
According to him, dowry refers to property or money given by a woman’s parents to her and her husband at the time of marriage, a practice seen in parts of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
“A dowry is the money and property given to a female child on her wedding day by her parents, which she takes to her husband’s home. It becomes the joint property of both the husband and the wife,” he explained.
He added that bride price, on the other hand, is traditionally a payment made by a man to the family of a virgln woman as part of the marriage process.
“A bride price is the money or property given by a man to the family of a virgln woman to marry her. This is backed by Exodus 22:17...,” he wrote, referencing both African customs and Jewish scripture.
Biblical brides were virglns, Omokri insists
Omokri cited numerous Bible verses to support his argument, claiming that the term “bride” in Scripture is used exclusively for virglns.
“Scripturally, the term ‘bride’ is never used for a woman who is not a virgin,” he stated, quoting Isaiah 62:5, Jeremiah 2:32, and Song of Solomon 4:12 as examples.
He also referenced the marriages of David in the Bible, pointing out that the king paid a bride price for Michal, who was a virgln, but none for Abigail, who had been previously married.
Calls for a return to moral tradition
Warning against what he called a growing moral decay in African societies, Omokri urged a return to traditional and scriptural values to avoid further societal decline.
“If we in Africa do not return to these time-honoured traditions… we will remain at the bottom rung of global development, plagued by high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and broken homes,” he said.
White weddings not part of African or Christian culture
Omokri concluded by dismissing white weddings as a European tradition that has been wrongly adopted and misrepresented in Africa.
He insisted that if Africans must follow the tradition, they should do it properly.
“The White wedding is not African culture, and it is not a Christian wedding. It is a European traditional wedding… In Europe, where the custom originates, it is not the groom or his family that pays for the wedding. It is traditionally the bride’s father,” he added.
UNIZIK student writes exams on wedding day
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) wrote two examinations on her wedding day.
The bride was captured on video arriving at the examination venue in a wedding dress and with her bridesmaids.
Legit.ng gathered that the bride sat for two papers, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
Source: Legit.ng
