''I hate anybody from Anambara, and if any of my kids come home with any potential spouse from Anambara, I'll not support their marriage'' my bitter friend lamented as she spoke.
You cannot do that, it is not right. You cannot judge others based on a previous bad experience or make your kids pay for another's crime, I told my friend as she kept an angry straight face.
'' I really don't care, I have made up my mind and my decision stands'' she said.
Whew! You may all wonder how these discussions came up and all , but let me brief you guys on how all this all started and what formed my friends immense hatred and disgust for people from a particular Igbo tribe Anambara.
Chioma had met Emeka while they served together at the same orientation camp in one of the states in Nigeria.
Emeka had nothing , no job yet etc, but was from a well placed family from one of the states in the eastern part of Nigeria Anambara.
Chioma and Emeka became fast friends and soon , they decided to take their relationship to the next level. Luckily, they both got to serve in the same state.
Their relationship was out of this world, they were so in love, and Chioma had already made up her mind that she would wait till when Emeka was ready, and if he proposed, she would definitely accept.
Soon, service was over, and Chioma got a job in one of the top banks in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, they made an offer for her to leave her current state to relocate to another, but she refused.
Are you a fool? What are your reasons for staying back I quizzed, and she told me, she could not leave Emeka because distance would be a barrier.
My God, I thought my friend had gone bunkers, you mean you are willing to sacrifice a job because of a man? I asked.
Chioma didn't reply, her mind was made up.
Luckily and as God will have it , Chioma finally got posted in the same state as Emeka, and their relationship continued without hassles.
Emeka gave Chioma hopes that he'd love to settle with her and she just couldn't wait for the day.
After about 3 years plus, he began singing a different tune telling her that his parents didn't want him to marry a lady from Imo State, but Anambara, his state of origin.
Heart broken, Chioma left and her heart grew cold and bitter.
I decided to fill in an older aunt of mine who had spent most of her life living and working in Anambara State as to what appeared to be my friends ill fate and she said it was normal, people from Anambara rarely married from other Igbo tribes not to mention Imo State.
Another friend of mine Nkeiru had suffered similar rejection as the guy she was dating nicely made her understand saying '' Mmanyi si'' meaning my mother said/ gave reasons as to why we can't settle.
It appeared he was from Nnewi,in Anambara State and his mother wanted him to choose a spouse from Nnewi as well.
A couple of other chicks I have come across also had similar experiences and I imagined how annoying and heart broken I would be if same happened to me.
Well, there are a few exceptional cases, but after carrying out a research, many claimed that indeed most families from Anambara urge their kids to marry spouses from the same state.
Should this actually be the case?
Note- Names have been changed to protect real Identities of the characters in this story.
Secondly, I have no bias whatsoever against people from Anambara State, I am totally neutral.
Na wah
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