Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has stirred fresh debate, claiming that only virgins should attract a bride price. Anything else, he said, is extortion masked as tradition.
In a post shared on Sunday via his verified X handle, Omokri argued that Africans have long confused the concept of dowry with bride price. He insisted that only the latter has any scriptural and cultural basis in Africa and only when the woman is a virgin.
“There is a huge difference between a dowry and a bride price,” he wrote. “A dowry is property given by the bride’s parents. A bride price is payment to the bride’s family for her hand — but only if she’s a virgin.”
Citing Exodus 22:17, Omokri said scripture is clear on the matter. “If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride price for virgins,” he quoted.
He added that some Nigerian ethnic groups, including among the Lukumi Yoruba, had long upheld this principle. “If the bride’s virginity isn’t confirmed on the white cloth after the wedding night, the bride price is returned,” he said.
Omokri said applying bride price to women who are not virgins distorts both religious law and traditional African values. “That’s not bride price that’s extortion,” he said.
He warned that modern African practices are drifting dangerously from their roots. “When you demand money and property for someone who is not a virgin, and call it bride price, you are inventing your own custom,” he said.
Backing his claims with Bible verses, Omokri pointed to Isaiah 62:5, Jeremiah 2:32 and Song of Solomon 4:12, insisting that the Bible consistently links bridehood with virginity.
He also drew a contrast between biblical figures:
“David paid bride price for Michal, who was a virgin. But there’s no record of any bride price for Abigail and she was already a widow,” he argued.
Omokri, known for mixing theology with social commentary, blamed moral decline on what he called the commercialisation of marriage. “If we don’t return to our traditional and scriptural roots, we’ll keep suffering the fallout — STDs, broken homes, weak families,” he warned.
He also took a shot at white weddings, calling them un-African and misunderstood. “It’s not even a Christian tradition. It’s European. And in Europe, the bride’s father pays for it not the groom. If you must copy, copy correctly,” he added.
