Modern wahala for women called anko, asoebi

Celebration is not only part of our culture but also a religious practice. Muslims, for example, celebrate Eidul-Fitr and Eidul-Kabir. On the occasion of these festivals, it is recommended that Muslims should dress in their best attires. Celebration can actually happen for a variety of formal and informal reasons. it could be for someone’s wedding or the birth of a new baby. Celebration gives people the excitement that makes them happy, joyous. In the old African tradition, celebration involved cooking mouthwatering food for friends and well-wishers to come and eat.

In the course of time, the culture of wearing one and same dress by every guest attending a particular occasion evolved; first in southwest Nigeria where it is called  ‘asoebi’. Not until the end of 1980s, the trend was unknown in most parts of the north. It was a trend that was, at a time, popular with Yoruba speaking communities in Nigeria. As a consequence of globalization, however, the phenomenon gradually and ubiquitously spread to every nook and cranny of Nigeria including the southeast where indigenous culture hitherto had strong resistance to foreign influence.

This cultural practice came to beknown as ‘anko’ in the northern part of the country. Today, the sophistication and obsession with which women (especially the elites among them) in the northern parts of Nigeria engage in anko seem to make them more equal than even the earliest promoters of asoebi; the Yoruba. Women from the northern region of the country who only‘plagiarized’ the trend from their southwest counterparts appear to have excessively carried the fashion beyond the limits set by pioneer proponents of the tradition. 

Women are naturally more receptive than men to celebration; anytime, anywhere. This, I guess, is why merriment or fun is mechanically part of the life generally lived by women. Ceremonies, especially weddings, are one occasion many women find pleasure to look their best; appearing cheerful, gorgeous and glamorous. This may also explain why the ankowahala is more of a feminine phenomenon; popular only among women. 

It is worrisome that anko, which should ordinarily be rewarding and fulfilling because of the traditional motive behind it, has, sadly, become a source of animosity, quarrels and indebtedness for many women; and by extension, their husbands. For instance, it becomes a source of animosity among women when the material presented for the anko is beyond the financial strength of some prospective guests expected at the event.

I understand that an anko dress for just one ceremony could cost as much as N40,000 or N50,000.  Haba! This is too much for an average Nigerian woman. It should no longer be called anko if the material selected is so expensive as to preclude others from being part of an arrangement that is supposed to be voluntary. That would have rather made it a “show of wealth”. I will not be surprised if opinionated women look down upon those who could not afford the somewhat big-ticket anko. The smart among women also take advantage of the trend to exploit unsuspecting friends and relations by selling the anko material to the latter at an amount higher than its cost price.

Anko is also employed by some women to discriminate against others. How? They do that by presenting different grades of dresses for prospective guests to choose from. Different grades imply different prices. I am told that even the colour of the headgear (usually huge in size) and the veil to be worn by guests is sometimes defined by the hostess. Needless discrimination is further demonstrated when those who could not afford any of the categories of the anko dress are ignored when sharing of gifts to invited guests.

This unbecoming trend has equally been a source of quarrel not just between a husband and his wife but also among relations particularly women. Some wives put their husbands, for the sake of anko, under intense and unnecessary pressure. But when a wife overstretches her husband, the man would have no option but to react, sometimes in a manner that could threaten their marriage. Similarly, women with limited resources who have to bear the brunt by themselves, most often, suffer perpetual indebtedness even as Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 2:286 that “On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear….”   

Since anko adds value more to those who wear it than it seeks to make conveners of the event happy, one would imagine that participating in any anko arrangement should be a voluntary venture. One would also expect that since invited guests attend ceremonies to honour their hostess,  invitees should have the prerogative to dress in costumes of their choice; to look the way they want. Some readers, I presume, would be burning by now to interrogate me for bothering myself over an issue that is purely feminine. Others would ask: “what’s your own in all of this?” Of course, something is mine in the matter because in nearly all matrimonial homes,“the buck” without mincing words, “stops at the man’s table”.

Were it not for the hysteria for anko among all classes of women including wives of many of our leaders, one would have suggested that lawmakers at the local government level should enact laws that would regulate it. A situation where a woman feels alienated when she is not part of an anko arrangement only suggests that the phenomenon has crept deep into the psyche of the womenfolk in Nigeria. For many women, the vogue is already a wahala; owing to the reasons explained above. The undesirable problems associated with anko phenomenon are far more disturbing than the revelations that emerge from my attempt to rationalize the practice. But how far could an Act of the local government go to stem a widespread tendency such as this?

Nonetheless, a mutual alternative to it must be found. Wives of governors, ministers, senators, Reps and other VIP figures could lead the way in this regard by refusing to present a dress for anko when they have a cause to celebrate. If only Muslim women would equally accept my proposal, jilbab (a loose long garment worn by women, otherwise called jallabiyyah) and hijab both of which come in different exquisite designs could be adopted for anko purposes. Unfortunately, women would excitedly forget about the jallabiyyahs and hijabs when the euphoria for anko comes over them. May Allah (SWT) guide our mothers, aunts, wives, sisters and daughters against becoming puppets to their whimsical desires, amin.