Golmo The five to seven years traditional way of marriage among the Lelna tribe
The Lelna people porpularly know as the Zuru people, they reside in the southern part of kebbi state. they have a traditional way of marriage known as Golmo.
It is a system in which boys in the region, that is up to seven years of age is initiated into the process of cultivating the farm of his fiance’s parent for five to seven years as dowry, to qualify the boy to marry the girl. It is not until they are up to seven years of age before the parent of the boy goes to secure the girl for the boy. For the boys parent they can secure the girl for the boy even immediately after she is been given birth. immediately the parent of the boy make contact with the parent of the girl that they want to secure the girl for their son if the parent agrees then no one will look for the girl anymore she has already gotten her husband.
The male child is initiated into marriage by their parent who chooses a girl for them to marry. The boy will be sent to the house of the girl’s parent for him to labor in their farm, when he is up to seven years of age. Subjected to the fulfillment of all other requirement the boy must be able to cultivate their farm continuously for five to seven years. The normal practice is for the boy to team up with his colleges in the golmo to cultivate his in-laws farm therefore they go to the in-laws of other member, they will go round communally until they finish cultivating all the farms. Throughout the period of the boy’s time in golmo, he must not smoke, he must not take alcohol, and he must not sleep with woman , and he will be restricted to a camp built by the community that means those in golmo do not sleep in their parent’s house but in the camp built by the community.
The essence of golmo is not only to enhance agricultural production but to entrench culture and traditional norms, build bravery, ability to be able to mobilize others for group work, bravery, self discipline and how to endure hardship. Throughout the labor he may not see the girl he wants to marry.
At the end of a successful completion of the golmo the child will graduate . After his graduation he will now go and present his dowry locally called (uvturkuma) afterward which the parent of the girl will now fix the date for their wedding.