Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has stirred public debate with a provocative statement asserting that only virgins are entitled to receive a bride price. He argued that demanding payment for non-virgins under the guise of bride price amounts to “extortion.”....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Omokri made this known in a lengthy post on Sunday via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, where he delved into the historical, cultural, and scriptural distinctions between bride price and dowry — terms he said are often confused in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“There’s a major difference between a dowry and a bride price. Unfortunately, in this part of the world, we often use them interchangeably, though they stem from different origins and have distinct meanings,” he wrote.

According to him, a dowry refers to property or money given by a woman’s family to her on her wedding day, which she takes into her marriage. This practice, he said, is more common in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and is supported by biblical principles emphasizing that a wife should be a helper, not a burden, to her husband (Genesis 2:18).

In contrast, a bride price, Omokri maintained, is rooted in African customs and Jewish law and is traditionally reserved for virgins.

“In African and Jewish traditions, a bride price is the payment made by a man to the family of a virgin woman he intends to marry. Exodus 22:17 supports this: ‘If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins,’” Omokri stated.

He referenced the Lukumi Yoruba tradition, where the presence or absence of blood on the white cloth (aso funfun) after consummation is taken as evidence of virginity. If the bride is not confirmed a virgin, the bride price is returned, and the marriage may be considered invalid.

Omokri strongly criticised what he described as the commercialisation of marriage rites, especially when applied to women who are not virgins.

“The excessive monetary and material demands by some ethnic groups for a woman who is no longer a virgin cannot be classified as bride price. It is extortion.”

He further argued that scripturally, the term bride is never used for a non-virgin, citing verses such as Isaiah 62:5, Jeremiah 2:32, and Song of Solomon 4:12 to support his claim that biblical “bridehood” is synonymous with virginity.

To strengthen his case, Omokri pointed to the example of King David in the Bible.

“David paid a bride price for Michal, King Saul’s daughter (1 Samuel 18:20-27), but no such payment was made for Abigail (1 Samuel 25:40-42). This illustrates that a man may marry a non-virgin, but such a woman is not a bride in the scriptural sense, and no bride price should be paid.”

Omokri warned that Africa’s deviation from what he called scriptural and traditional standards was contributing to societal decline.

“If Africa fails to return to these timeless values and allows unchecked sexual immorality to continue, we will remain plagued by social crises — from broken homes to rampant STDs — and remain stuck at the bottom of global development rankings.”

In his concluding remarks, Omokri also took aim at the modern practice of white weddings, calling it a misrepresented European tradition that has no roots in African culture or Christianity.

“The white wedding is not an African or Christian tradition. It is a European custom. And traditionally, it is the bride’s father who pays for the wedding — not the groom. If we must copy, let us copy correctly. Industrial Money Obtainers, I hope you have heard?”