By Akeem Lasisi
Popular broadcaster, Toke Makinwa, a few days ago commented on Rihanna’s constant show-off of her pregnancy.
The famous singer has been displaying her baby bump and this has been sparking diverse reactions.
In her own case, Toke recalls how many Nigerians invokes taboos when a pregnancy is being so exhibited.
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According to her, if Rihanna was a Nigerian, people would say that her child would be attacked by witches.
She wrote in an online comment:
“If she was a Nigerian, world people would say witches would attack the child.”
Toke Makinwa’s comment indeed brings to memory some taboos that Yoruba culture has concerning pregnancies.
Believing being pregnant demands extra care, they forbid the pregnant women from doing certain things.
For instance, she is not expected to go out in the afternoon when the sun is too wild.
The belief here is that some unusual creations do move about at such a time. It is the same reasons the women is not expected to go about in the night. For one, traditional Yorubas would not want a situation some strange spirit will enter the woman’s womb. They want a normal baby on the delivery date.
The culture also forbids the pregnant woman from sitting on or by the doorway. It does not want people to be walking across her legs – because it is believed that the child might eventually resemble such a cross walker.
The last taboo here is that a pregnant woman is not encouraged to eat an animal with some peculiar body parts. For instance, a pregnant woman is not expected to eat a jankan squirrel so that the child’s eyes would not be as big as those of the animal.
