“Only Virgins Deserve Bride Price” — Reno Omokri

Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has triggered a heated conversation on social media after claiming that only virgins should be considered true brides and that demanding money for a non-virgin under the pretext of bride price is tantamount to extortion.

Omokri made the statement in a detailed post shared via his official X handle on Sunday, where he also attempted to clarify what he sees as common misconceptions about the terms “dowry” and “bride price” in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“There is a huge difference between a dowry and a bride price,” he wrote.

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“However, in this part of the world (Sub-Saharan Africa), we often use the terms interchangeably — but they are not the same. A dowry is the money and property given to a female child on her wedding day by her parents, which she takes to her husband’s home. It becomes the joint property of both the husband and the wife. Dowry is practised in parts of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This practice aligns with the Biblical injunction that a wife is a helper to her husband, not a burden — Genesis 2:18.”

He further explained that while dowry originates from the bride’s family, bride price is traditionally paid by the groom to the family of a virgin woman — a practice rooted in both African and Jewish traditions.

“A bride price, on the other hand, is different. In African culture, as well as in Jewish tradition and law, a bride price is the money or property given by a man to the family of a virgin woman to marry her. This is backed by Exodus 22:17, which states: ‘If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.’”

“Similarly, among the Lukumi Yoruba, if the bride’s virginity is not confirmed on the white cloth (aso funfun) after the marriage is consummated, the marriage is not considered valid, and the bride price is returned.”

Omokri condemned what he described as the exploitation of cultural practices to justify the monetisation of marriage, especially in cases where the woman is no longer a virgin.

“The excessive demand for money and property by some Sub-Saharan African ethnicities for a woman who is not a virgin is neither legally nor technically a bride price — it is extortion.”

Quoting multiple scriptures, Omokri argued that the Bible exclusively uses the term “bride” in reference to virgins.

“Scripturally, the term ‘bride’ is never used for a woman who is not a virgin. For example, Isaiah 62:5 says: ‘For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons shall marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.’”

“Also, Jeremiah 2:32 reads: ‘Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?’ These verses show that bridehood is synonymous with virginity. Song of Solomon 4:12 is even more explicit: ‘A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.’”

He went on to cite biblical marriages to back his argument.

“By African tradition and Scriptural law, a man may marry a woman who is not a virgin — but such a woman is not a bride, and no bride price should be paid for her. For instance, 1 Samuel 18:20-27 records that David paid a bride price for King Saul’s daughter, Michal. However, he did not pay any bride price for Abigail, as seen in 1 Samuel 25:40-42.”

Omokri ended his post with a warning that abandoning traditional and spiritual principles is part of the reason African societies continue to face moral and social breakdown.

“If we in Africa do not return to these time-honoured traditions and continue the moral decline in our society — where sex and sensuality are left unchecked — we will remain at the bottom rung of global development, plagued by high rates of sexually transmitted diseases and broken homes.”

He also took aim at the popularity of white weddings in Africa, calling them un-African and widely misunderstood.

“Lastly, the White wedding is not African culture, and it is not a Christian wedding. It is a European traditional wedding. If we must adopt that tradition, then we should follow it accurately. In Europe, where the custom originates, it is not the groom or his family that pays for the wedding. It is traditionally the bride’s father who foots the bill.”

“Industrial Money Obtainers, I hope you have heard?”

Veteran Nigerian filmmaker, Kayode Peters, has been buried in an emotional ceremony held on Saturday, August 2, 2025, in Toronto, Canada, more than a month after his passing.

Peters, who was 49 years old, died on June 28 after a prolonged illness that was kept private from the public. In the weeks following his death, the filmmaker was honoured with multiple memorial events held in Lagos, Nigeria, and London, United Kingdom.

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