Nigeria, twins and a love-hate relationship

Upon arriving in the self-proclaimed twin capital of Nigeria to investigate the proliferation of multiple births in the small rural town of Igbo-Ora, we are greeted by the news that a woman has just given birth to a pair of babies healthy in the local clinic.

Their mother is a twin – her twin brother is in the room taking photos of the new arrivals, his nephew and niece. Around the bed are the babies’ grandmother, who is a twin herself, and their great-grandmother, who gave birth to two sets of twins.

“This is how we do it here. We give birth to twins. It makes our city special,” the grandmother of the five-hour-old twins told the BBC.

“It makes us proud and we love them. We love our twins. They bring us success,” she says.

“People are disappointed if they don’t give birth to twins.”

It is true that Igbo-Ora, in southwest Nigeria, seems to have a higher number of twins than usual: walking around the town, it is easy to spot younger twins, who have tendency to wear matching clothes.

The global average birth rate for twins is about 12 per 1,000 births, but in Igbo-Ora it is said to be about 45 per 1,000.

In Yoruba culture, predominant in the southwest of the country, twins are a blessing and their names are predestined.

Regardless of gender, the older twin is called Taiwo, meaning “the one who tests the world”, the younger is called Kehinde, meaning “the one who came after”.

The next day, at Igbo-Ora high school, we discovered that these names tended to dominate roll call. When we ask a group of about 1,500 students at morning assembly to raise their hands if they are twins or have a twin in the family, almost everyone raises their arm.

So why are there so many twins in the area?

According to oral folklore, the village was founded in the 14th century by an exiled prince of the Oyo Kingdom, who was asked to make specific offerings to the Yoruba gods in pairs and in return the village was blessed with have twins.

Many locals, however, attribute their fertility to a dish called “ilasa”, made from okra leaves. These spinach-like leaves are added to a pot of boiling water with salt and spices, carobs and melon seeds.

The reason for Igbo-Ora multiple births is a real subject of study in Nigeria.

Only a minority of twins born in Igbo-Ora are identical: when an egg is fertilized and then divides.

The majority of them are not identical, meaning that multiple eggs are released and fertilized at the same time.

Researchers are studying whether natural chemicals found in local foods, like ilasa or perhaps even local yams, could prompt women to produce multiple eggs.

Professor Akinola Kehinde Akinlabi, Rector of Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology based in Igbo-Ora, believes genetics may have more to do with it.

The academic, who is a twin himself – and father of twins – says someone born a twin in these areas will have no trouble finding a wife or husband.

“Twins are worshiped almost as deities who bring luck and protection. People give twins and their families gifts, money and offers of help. All of this encourages people to marry those from twin families ” he told the BBC.

The town’s traditional leader, called oba, eagerly awaits the results of the scientific studies.

Jimoh Olajide hopes that in a country that loves setting Guinness World Records, the Igbo-Ora will soon be officially recognized for its phenomenal fertility – given that almost every house in town has at least one set of twins.

“My vision for this city is to see us hold the world record for the most multiple births in the world,” says Oba Olajide, who is of course the father of twins.

“The things that will follow will be tourism, hospitality.”

With this in mind, the city launched an annual twin international festival several years ago.

Professor Akinlabi hopes the focus on twins will also lead to investment in the wider community to tackle issues such as its dilapidated and poorly equipped health centers.

The status of the twins is such that, despite the adoption of Islam and Christianity in this region, their traditional Yoruba worship is still widespread.

Kehinde Adeleke, our local guide and younger twin, takes us to witness a ritual offering, including palm wine and beans, to the twin gods at a shrine in her family’s community.

“I feel particularly lucky as a twin,” says Ms. Adeleke, who has two children, but no multiple births yet.

“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t have twins. These are the twins I need,” she admits amid the drumming and singing of the ceremony.

Such attitudes were a total anathema to some members of the Bassa-Komo minority community near the capital, Abuja. The twins are a source of fear for them.

In the mid-1990s, Nigerian missionary Olusola Stevens heard villagers in this remote, undeveloped area think the twins were evil and dying mysteriously.

Such beliefs were not uncommon in Nigeria, particularly in the southeast of the country, where different communities once killed twins, although such practices have long ended.

Pastor Stevens, based in Gwagwalada, about 600 km northeast of Igbo-Ora, decided to investigate.

“We started going from community to community asking, ‘Where are the twins?’ » The normal answer was that the gods had killed them. In fact, in some cases the mother did not breastfeed them and they died naturally,” he says.

The missionary discovered that sometimes babies were given a herbal decoction which prevented them from gaining weight.

It is not clear why these children were considered bad luck, but it may be that in the past they were associated with deprivation and an increased risk of maternal mortality.

Pastor Stevens and his team began rescuing these children and established The Vine Heritage Home orphanage, which currently cares for approximately 200 children.

To change attitudes, they began by providing villages with medical care and wells to access drinking water.

The orphanage is also working with the charity Action Aid on an awareness program funded by the European Union, while the government has also run a major awareness initiative.

As a result, many residents of Bassa-Komo now keep their twins, but if the parents are still worried or in difficulty, they entrust the children to the orphanage and go to visit them.

In fact, 27 of these children have grown up and accepted invitations to return to live in their family’s village – even though it’s not always an easy decision for them.

“The first time I saw my biological father was when I was 18. I was angry because he had abandoned me,” says Olufemi Stevens, known by his nickname “Wonder Boy “.

He grew up in the orphanage after his mother died in childbirth, but he is happy to have had the courage to return home: “When they saw me, they realized that these children were not bad .

“And when I returned, I was amazed to see twins with their own mother. My plan is to return to their home and create a school for them. Education is the key.”

In some ways, the children of the orphanage are highly sought after because they have received a level of education unattainable for most members of their own community.

Pastor Stevens acknowledges that the twins will never be as welcome as they are in Igbo-Ora, but he hopes that one day his services will no longer be needed.