Wednesday 24 June 2015

Mysterious Islamic tribe where women have multiple sexual partners, don't wear veil & own the property

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Mysterious Islamic tribe where women have multiple sexual partners, don't wear veil & own the property






Behind the ancient way of life for the Tuareg tribe of the Sahara is a culture so progressive it would even make some in liberal western cultures blush. Women are allowed to have multiple sexual partners outside of marriage, keep all their property on divorce and are so revered by their sons-in-laws that the young men wouldn't dare eat in the same room.


What is even more surprising is that even though the tribe has embraced Islam they have firmly held onto some of the customs that would not be acceptable to the wider Muslim world. It is the men, and not the women, who cover their faces, for example.

Photographer Henrietta Butler, who has been fascinated by the Tuareg since she first followed them through the desert in 2001, once asked why this was. The explanation was simple.

'The women are beautiful. We would like to see their faces.'

But this is certainly not the only place the Tuareg, related to the Berbers of North Africa, differ from the Muslim world of the Middle East, and even other parts of their own continent.


Before a woman marries, she is free to take as many lovers as she wants.
'They turn a blind eye,' explained Butler. 'The young girls have the same great freedoms as the boys.'

For years, the men of the Tuareg have been able to ride to a young woman's tent, and sneak into the side entrance - while his well-trained camel stands quietly and waits.
There, they will spend the night together - while the family, who all live in the tent, politely pretend not to notice.

Should the woman choose to welcome a different man into her tent the next day, so be it.
However, there is also a code of practice which none would dare break. Privacy is all important for this centuries old tribe of nomads, who once crossed the desert bringing dates, salt and saffron south, and slaves and gold north.
The idea of breaking the rules of courtship would be mortifying; as a result, the man is always gone before sunrise.
'The Tuareg are utterly discreet. Everything is done with utmost discretion and respect,' said Butler.



The relaxed customs around sexual partners has resulted in the girls getting married later than they may otherwise do, with the age of 20 not being uncommon.
Although, before then, they will have been wooed with poetry written by the men, who spend hours carefully crafting the words which they hope will win their beloved over.

But it is not a one-way street: the women are just as capable of putting pen to paper, using their own alphabet, taught to them by their mothers.
'The women also make poetry eulogising the men,' says Butler. 'There is high romance and idolatry.'

Unlike in so many other cultures, women lose none of their power once they marry either.



Any visitor who goes to a camp would be vastly underestimating the power of the women in the tent if they believe their sole duty is to make the food and look after children.
In fact, she owns the home and the animals. And the animals are an invaluable resource to the Tuareg in the middle of the Sahara.

Journalist Peter Gwin recalled an elderly nomad once telling him: 'Animals are everything to a Tuareg. We drink their milk, we eat their meat, we use their skin, we trade them. When the animals die, the Tuareg dies.'

Many marriages end in divorce among the Tuareg. And when it happens, it is the wife who keeps both the animals and the tent. And it is she who normally decides that she’s had enough.






It is the men who cover up their faces, while the women are happy to show off their faces - although they often cover their hair


The Tuareg women, seen here arriving at the Tuareg Political Party speech in 2006, may not obviously be part of political life, but their opinion is highly valued by the men, who will likely discuss issues with their mother or wife.






It is unlikely there will be any quibbling over who gets what. Pre-nuptial agreements are the norm.
In practice, this often means a man is forced to return home to his mother, possibly with just his camel and nothing else.
His wife, meanwhile, will keep possession of everything she brought to the marriage and that includes the children.

The mother's camp, Butler explains, is the root of the community, the home everyone returns to - and this arrangement ensures it stays that way.
And there is no shame in divorce. Families will often throw their daughters a divorce party, to let other men know they are available once more.

But this is not a matriarchal society, where the women are in charge.
Butler explains it is still the men 'who sit and talk politics'. But even here, the women can be deferred to. They are often consulted for their views by their sons or husbands, and are quietly pulling the strings behind the scenes.

However, Tuareg society is matri-lineal, which means the families trace their lines through the women, rather than the men, right the way back to their first queen.

So, Butler explained: 'Traditionally, the man would belong to the woman's group, rather than the other way around.'
The preference for the women's line goes as far as man leaving his possessions to his sister's son as it 'is considered a stronger link to your family than to your own son'.

In other words, it can be guaranteed that your sister's child belongs to your sister, rather than a man's son, who cannot be absolutely guaranteed to share his genes.

But there is one tradition which is certainly far more unusual: it is highly rude for a man to eat in front of a woman who he cannot have sexual relations with, or any of his elders.

In front of his mother-in-law it is especially shameful.
'I didn't realise this until the I was having dinner with a Tuareg woman, who had brought her son-in-law as her travelling companion,' Butler recalled.
'We were all sitting down to dinner, and the man has his back turned. She said the poor man was completely horrified because he has to eat with his mother-in-law.'

But it is unlikely he would have ever complained about it, or felt sorry from himself. The very idea is horrendous to the Tuareg.
'You would shame yourself. The Tuareg will go to great lengths to maintain personal dignity. They will suffer,' said Butler.

'If they are not offered water, they won't ask for it - even if they are thirsty.'
Perhaps for this reason, the Tuareg welcome is legendary. They never forget to offer water, and travellers who appear on the horizon will always be 'treated like a king'.


Source: UK Daily Mail/ Henrietta Butler's new booking

Kenya's Central Bank governor nominee grilled for being single at 54.

Hello guys,

Kenya's Central Bank governor nominee grilled for being single at 54.When you get to a certain age and not married, people start to wonder.


But when you're 54, very successful and never been married...Kenyan lawmakers grill you mercilessly..


 That's what happened to the man nominated to head the country's Central Bank. The lawmakers wondered, if you can't find a woman, keep a woman and make a home, how can you keep our money? Lol.

54 year old University of Nairobi and Yale-educated economist Patrick Njoroge, who works as an adviser at the International Monetary Fund, is single. Never been married, doesn't have children and when he appeared in front of Kenya's parliament last week, telling them how he can move their economy forward as head of their Central Bank, they were like, really ?

He was so grilled about his marital status that it caused debate online in Kenya with quite a few condemning the lawmakers


The lawmakers asked him about economic policy, why he doesn't have assets in the country and why he isn't married.
"I am single by choice and I am comfortable that way," he told the lawmakers. "There is nothing sinister with that and I am sure this committee has done its due diligence on what sort of a person I am".

Kenya's Daily Nation quoted him as sayingWhy so much interest in his marital status? In Kenya and in most parts of Africa, it's unusual to find a man over 40 who has never been married, so his status will definitely raise eyebrow in the country because the average age of first marriage in Kenya for men is about 30 years old.

Many condemned the line of questioning on twitter though, saying that Njoroge's competence, rather than his personal life, that he should be tested by.

Ex-Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan Loses Son In London.

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Ex-Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan Loses Son In London.


Bayelsa State indigenes and residents are wearing mournful look following the rumoured death of Ariwera Jonathan, the son of the immediate past President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, at a London hospital on Monday, June 22, 2015.
Though no member of the ex-president’s family in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, could confirm the development, Jonathan has not been seen around for sometime.

Ariwera was said to have been sick for a while.

Kenya Mom Whose 22-Year Old Daughter Eloped With Her Husband .

Hello guys,


Kenya Mom Whose 22-Year Old Daughter Eloped With Her Husband .





Her story is so complicated. The mom is only 36. She had her first child at 14, and at 36 she already has six more. Worst part, her new husband started sleeping with her first daughter (his step child) at 8. Now they have eloped together to live as husband and wife, leaving the woman behind with the six children. 

The story;
A woman in Kibera is searching for her 22-year-old daughter who ran away with her husband in a bizarre case of husband snatching. Caroline Achieng, 36, has been in agony for the past one year during which her efforts to trace her missing daughter whom she conceived as a teenager have been fruitless.
The daughter went missing after a family altercation that ensued from a revelation that she had an
affair with her stepfather, got pregnant and procured an abortion, all paid for by her mother after a well-choreographed trickery by the duo.

Achieng’s daughter was last seen at the Kibera District Commissioner’s office when the family had been summoned over rape allegations that she had filed against her stepfather.
“We have had our low moments as a family and at some point it got so bad that I fought with my husband and he moved out of our house carrying his and my daughter’s clothes,” Ms Achieng told Nairobi News.

The family drama started in September 2013 when Ms Achieng’s daughter was unwell and frequently complained of stomach pain.

“I told her to go for a checkup and when she came back from the clinic she told me she had been given ulcers medication,” said Ms Achieng.

The girl’s illness kept recurring and at one time the stepfather proposed that he takes her to a better hospital for checkup and to which Achieng obliged.

“He told me that he had identified a doctor at Kijabe Hospital where the girl would be treated and since I was the sole family breadwinner, running a charcoal business, I financed them and they went to the hospital,” she said.
Achieng also financed the follow-up trips to Kijabe Hospital for the treatment of her daughter as her illness kept getting worse until she closed down her charcoal vending business because of the huge hospital bills.

“It was months later after she (daughter) had filed the rape case that she narrated to the officers at Kilimani police station what had happened. That’s when I learnt that all this time when she was ‘ailing’ she was trying to procure an abortion,” said the mother.

Achieng felt cheated as the girl revealed that her step-father had impregnated her and sourced for a clinic where she was given abortion pills that made her stomach pains worse at first but later flushed out the eight-weeks-old foetus.
“She told the officers that she was sexually assaulted repeatedly by my husband since when she was 8-years-old and was impregnated later but she never wanted me to know since her father threatened her,” narrated the mother.

The mother of seven resolved to divorce her husband but before he moved out of the house, her daughter went missing.

Ms Achieng says she searched for her at her relatives’ houses in vain and it is only after her husband of 15 years moved out that she heard that the two had reconnected and were living in an estate unknown to her.

She has been living in agony over her failed marriage as well as being unable to trace her first born daughter who lives with a man who broke her heart and left her with six other children to fend for.
Achieng has managed to secure a casual job with the National Youth Service but she owes her landlord six months’ rent arrears due to her meager earnings that she splits to cater for children school fees and food.

Pics: Petroleum tankers back on Apapa-Oshodi expressway, cause traffic gridlock

Pics: Petroleum tankers back on Apapa-Oshodi expressway, cause traffic gridlock




Few weeks after the Lagos state government ordered them to stop plying the busy Apapa-Oshodi expressway, petroleum tanker drivers have resumed parking their tanks on the highway. The drivers say they park on the road because they have limited parking space at the Apapa petroleum depot where they collect fuel to distribute to different parts of Nigeria. More photos after the cut...












David Beckham carries his daughter through the streets of London

Hello guys,

David Beckham carries his daughter through the streets of London







The sexy former footballer was seen carrying his 3 year old daughter Harper through the streets of London after lunch. His oldest child Brooklyn was with the pair. See more pics after the cut...














Photo credit: Vantage News

Federal Government lifts ban on importation of furniture, textiles.

Hello guys,


Federal Government lifts ban on importation of furniture, textiles.


The Nigerian government today announced that it has lifted the ban on importation of furniture and textiles materials. This was confirmed by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko. He said Nigerians can now import them but will pay 35% duty.

"Textile, furniture and others have become dutiable as both commodities have been removed from the Import Prohibition Lists and it is going to be implemented” he saidFG reviews banned products every year and recently they removed a lot of stuff from the prohibition list but they said that poultry products still remains banned.