Nigeria's love-hate relationship with twins

On our accomplishment successful Nigeria's self-proclaimed superior of twins to analyse the proliferation of aggregate births successful the tiny agrarian municipality of Igbo-Ora, we are greeted by the quality that a pistillate has conscionable delivered a steadfast brace of babies astatine the section clinic.

Their parent is simply a duplicate - her duplicate member is successful the ward taking photos of the caller arrivals, his nephew and niece. Surrounding the furniture are the babies' grandmother, who is herself a twin, and their great-grandmother, who has fixed commencement to 2 sets of twins.

"That's however we bash it here. We springiness commencement to twins. It makes our municipality special," the five-hour-old twins' grandma tells the BBC.

"It makes america arrogant and we emotion them. We emotion our twins. They bring america success," she said.

"People are disappointed if they don't springiness commencement to twins."

It is existent that Igbo-Ora, successful south-western Nigeria, appears to person a higher-than-usual fig of twins - walking done the municipality it is casual to spot younger sets of twins, who thin to deterioration matching clothes.

The planetary mean commencement complaint for twins is astir 12 per 1,000 births, but successful Igbo-Ora it is reported to beryllium astir 45 per 1,000.

In Yoruba culture, which predominates successful the south-west of the country, twins are a blessing and their names are predestined.

Irrespective of gender, the older duplicate is called Taiwo, meaning "the 1 that tests the world", the younger is called Kehinde, meaning "the 1 that came after".

The adjacent day, astatine Igbo-Ora's precocious schoolhouse we find retired that these names thin to predominate roll-call. When we inquire a radical of astir 1,500 students during greeting assembly to rise their manus if they are a twin, oregon person a duplicate successful the family, astir everyone's limb shoots up.

So wherefore are determination truthful galore twins successful the area?

According to oral folklore, the colony was founded successful the 14th Century by an exiled prince of the Oyo Kingdom, who was told to marque circumstantial offerings to the Yoruba gods successful pairs and successful return, the colony was blessed with twins.

Many locals though enactment their fertility down to a crockery called "ilasa", made from okra leaves. These spinach-like leaves are added to a cookware of boiling h2o on with brackish and spices, locust beans and melon seeds.

The crushed down Igbo-Ora's aggregate births is simply a genuine taxable of survey successful Nigeria.

Only a number of the twins calved successful Igbo-Ora are identical - erstwhile 1 ovum is fertilised and past divides.

The bulk are non-identical, meaning aggregate eggs are released and fertilised astatine the aforesaid time.

Researchers are investigating whether earthy chemicals successful the section food, similar ilasa oregon possibly adjacent the section yams, mightiness marque women nutrient aggregate eggs.

Prof Akinola Kehinde Akinlabi, rector of the Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology based successful Igbo-Ora, thinks genetics whitethorn person much to bash with it.

The academic, who is himself a duplicate - and begetter of twins - says idiosyncratic calved a duplicate successful these parts volition not find it hard to find a woman oregon husband.

"Twins are venerated astir arsenic deities who bring bully luck and protection. People contiguous twins and their families with gifts, wealth and offers of help. All that encourages radical to wed those from twin-producing families," helium tells the BBC.

The accepted ruler of the town, known arsenic an oba, is eagerly awaiting the results of technological studies.

Jimoh Olajide hopes that successful a state with a love of mounting Guinness World Records, Igbo-Ora volition soon beryllium officially recognised for its phenomenal fertility - fixed astir each location successful municipality has astatine slightest 1 acceptable of twins.

"My imaginativeness for this municipality is to spot america holding the satellite grounds for highest aggregate births successful the full world," says Oba Olajide, who is of people a begetter of twins.

"Things that volition travel volition beryllium tourism, hotels."

With this successful mind, the municipality launched an yearly planetary duplicate festival respective years ago.

Prof Akinlabi hopes the absorption connected twins volition besides pb to concern for the broader assemblage to tackle things similar its poorly equipped and aged wellness centres.

Such is the presumption of twins that contempt the adoption of Islam and Christianity successful this country the accepted Yoruba worship of them is inactive prevalent.

Kehinde Adeleke, our section usher and a younger twin, takes america to witnesser a ritual offering, including thenar vino and beans, to the duplicate gods astatine a shrine successful her family's community.

"I consciousness specially blessed arsenic a twin," says Ms Adeleke who has 2 children, but nary aggregate births arsenic yet.

"I volition beryllium disappointed if I don't person twins - it's the twins I need," she admits amid the drumming and singing astatine the ceremony.

Such attitudes were a implicit anathema for immoderate members of the number Bassa-Komo assemblage adjacent the capital, Abuja. Twins for them person been a root of fear.

In the mid-1990s, Nigerian missionary Olusola Stevens heard the villagers successful this distant and poorly developed country thought twins were evil and that they were mysteriously dying.

Such beliefs were not unheard of successful Nigeria - particularly successful the south-east of the state wherever antithetic communities erstwhile killed twins, though specified practices ended agelong ago.

Pastor Stevens, based successful Gwagwalada, astir 600km (500 miles) north-east of Igbo-Ora, decided to investigate.

"We started going from assemblage to assemblage asking: 'Where are the twins?' The mean effect was that the gods had killed them. In information successful immoderate cases, the parent would not breastfeed them truthful they died naturally," helium says.

The missionary recovered retired that sometimes the babies would beryllium fixed a works concoction that stopped them gaining weight.

It is not wide precisely wherefore specified children were regarded arsenic atrocious luck, but it whitethorn beryllium that successful the past they were linked to deprivation and accrued hazard of maternal mortality.

Pastor Stevens and his squad began rescuing these children and acceptable up The Vine Heritage Home orphanage, which presently looks aft astir 200 children.

To alteration attitudes, they began by providing villages with aesculapian care, and wells to entree cleanable water.

The orphanage besides works with the foundation Action Aid connected an outreach programme funded by the European Union, portion the authorities has besides tally a large consciousness initiative.

As a result, galore from the Bassa-Komo assemblage present support their twins, but if parents are inactive disquieted oregon successful trouble, they manus the children implicit to the orphanage - and spell to sojourn them there.

In fact, 27 of the children person grown up and accepted invitations to instrumentality to unrecorded successful their family's colony - though it is not ever an casual determination for them.

"The archetypal clip I saw my biologic begetter was erstwhile I turned 18 - I was aggravated due to the fact that helium abandoned me," says Olufemi Stevens, known by his nickname "Wonder Boy".

He grew up successful the orphanage aft his parent died successful childbirth, but is pleased helium was brave capable to spell home: "When they saw maine they came to realise these children are not evil.

"And erstwhile I went backmost I was amazed to spot immoderate twins with their ain mum. My program is to spell backmost and acceptable up a schoolhouse for them - acquisition is the key."

In a way, the orphanage children are overmuch sought aft arsenic they person received a level of acquisition that is unobtainable for astir successful their ain community.

Pastor Stevens recognises that twins volition ne'er beryllium arsenic welcomed arsenic they are successful Igbo-Ora, but helium is hopeful that 1 time his services volition nary longer beryllium needed.

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