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DOWRY PAYMENTS:-

The next ceremony was the taking of the dowry by members of the man's family. The bride price or dowry may be defined as money or goods given to the bride or her family by the groom or his family before or upon marriage. As in many other African societies, it serves such functions as that of symbolising the socio- economic statuses of the families to be united affinally, that of establishing tie between the two families; and that of compensating the family of the bride for the loss of the services of their daughter. In most cases the amount to be paid depending upon on the quality of the bride: whether she came from an influencial family or a poor one; whether she was a school, a high school, or a high university graduate or whether she was totally illiterate. As a result, women university graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to find men who are able to release such exorbitant prices.