Renowned veteran Nollywood actor Ebun Oloyede, popularly known as Olaiya Igwe, has opened up about his complex relationship with his traditional tribal marks.
The iconic Yoruba film star disclosed that despite passionately demanding the tribal marks as a young child out of admiration, he grew to deeply resent them later in life.
Speaking extensively on the evolving nature of culture and tradition, the decades-long movie practitioner reflected on how childhood innocence influenced his perception of identity.
Growing up in a polygamous household, Igwe revealed that he fell in love with the facial marks, viewing them as a symbol of beauty and prestige, before reality changed his perspective.
According to the actor, family tradition dictating the application of these markings was highly selective.
He explained that within their large polygamous setup, customs mandated that only the very first child of each wife was permitted to bear the lineage marks.
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“In my family, my dad had six wives but only five gave birth and my mom was the second to the last. Traditionally, only the first born from each wife was mandated to have tribal marks, but because I was very sharp.”
Beyond his personal reflections, the actor strongly questioned the relevance of tribal marks in modern society.
He argued that massive advancements in technology and digital record-keeping have entirely transformed how people identify family ties.
