Thread by @VillageParrot

Last night on @NTANewsNow, I watched a really devastating documentary about the Becheve tribe in Obanliku LGA, Cross River. The documentary talked about the “Money Woman”.

Thread.

You see, after watching that documentary (details of which I’ll mention in this thread), it further strengthens my opinion that the gender “fights” you have on Twitter is baseless, stupid and counterproductive. Counterproductive because IT HAS NO INFLUENCE!

Out there, in the Nigerian society, there’s still a huge decay. A serious problem. But guess what you people fight for on twitter? Change of name after marriage, not cooking, splitting bills, and all the other stupid things you people froth about.

May I also tell you that on Twitter, many of you aren’t about the “fight” you portray here. Many of you rant and catch a panic here on these gender issues, but lead a totally different life behind closed doors.

Furthermore, Twitter is NOT a reflection of the Nigerian society. You see that “unlearning” you people yap about, it ends on twitter. Facebook is a total reflection of the Nigerian society.

Guess what, Facebook has 86% of Nigerians, Twitter has 4.6%.

Anyway, back to what this thread is for.

In Obanliku LGA of Cross River state, the “Money Woman” is a scheme where a family gives out their daughters to settle debts.

Yes, you heard right. Underage girls are used as debt repayment.

This is how it works: a rich man is approached for a loan, and it is to be repaid by handing over a daughter to him. In the case of the unavailability of a daughter, the lender waits till they have one. So most debts are incurred before the arrival of a daughter.

As soon as the daughters are born, they automatically become the property of the lender. The purpose of the “Money Woman” is to bear children. The ‘owner’ is NOT obligated to take care of her.

Here is where it gets interesting: in the event that the ‘money woman’ dies without having a child, the ‘owner’ is entitled to a replacement. Yes! The debtor will hand over another daughter to replace the dead one.

While the ‘money woman’ is still with her ‘owner’, her family are free to come there to ask for anything they want - and they’ll be given. Cash items, goats, etc., but they don’t give the ‘money woman’ out of them.

At the very best, the ‘money woman’ is to farm and find what she’ll feed on. No one takes care of her. Most of them had been pledged to their ‘owners’ before their births.

Girls are given out as young as 4 years old. On an occasion, a girl was given out for a loan of N2,000. TWO THOUSAND NAIRA!

Should the ‘owner’ of the ‘money woman’ die, she gets taken over by his next of kin. This means she continues to produce children for him. If she dies, her family will offer a replacement WITH ANOTHER GIRL.

A ‘money wife’ (also ‘money woman’) is NOT allowed to have an education. She is considered dead by her family. She is merely a gateway for their livelihood.

I further decided to check the internet to confirm the validity of @NTANewsNow’s report and I found that @channelstv made a documentary about it three weeks ago.

Here’s the link to a video published by @channelstv:

As gathered, girls aren’t always used to collect cash. Sometimes, they’re used to collect tubers of yam, goats, pigs. Farmlands aren’t part of what can be given. Most times, it’s perishables that are offered.

A ‘money wife’ said in an interview that she was given out for N20,000 and a goat.

Another victim said upon the death of her ‘owner’ she attempted to return to her family, but they chased her back to where her owner’s family.

Again, this evil is perpetrated by the Becheve tribe in Obanliku LGA of Cross River State.

Obanliku is 8 hours from the state capital Calabar.

I can’t express fully how angry I was last night. But you see, let’s quit the charade on twitter and get to work in real life!

Young girls continue to be endangered, deeper than these stupid and fruitless twitter arguments detail.

The society is where the real work is! Not all these stupid chants about “new generation of Nigerian women” because trust me, that phenomenon ENDS ON TWITTER!

Retweet this until we have charity organizations hop on it. I shall be ready to volunteer in any and every activity that helps this cause.

Thank you.