This is a beautiful paper i just stumble upon while doing some research online. Its titled, Compound Wives (Olóbìnrin-Ilé)in Oyan, Southwest Nigeria written by Oluwakemi Taiwo Olabode. It is a thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for a degree program.

Abstract:

This study is an investigation into the lives of married women (Olóbìnrin-Ilé) in yán Town, Osun State, Nigeria. As in other parts of Yorùbáland, the women married into a particular compound or family by the sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, uncles and nephews of the same lineage, are considered an important corporate group. The thesis focuses on the double belonging of women both as daughters of their natal compound and as wives of their marital compound and explores the institution of the compound wives (Olóbìnrin-Ilé), wives of the compound who are women of diverse origin and whose admission into the group is strictly by marriage. The data for this study was collected
through participant observation as well as through focus group discussions and individual interviews with married women from nine compounds in oyán, most of whom were active participants of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé. Data was analyzed using interpretive analysis, focusing on the way in which the women represent and support the husband‟s compound in their outings and how they are compensated for it.

Iyawo ile, you mean?

Chapter One: Introduction
1.1
Background to the Research Problem
The Yorùbá of southwest Nigeria have a unique way of establishing a family. As in other cultures all over the world, the idea of family among the Yorùbá is basically that of an extended family. If economic ally possible, the nuclear family of father, mother (or mothers)
and their children often live together with uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins. However, the Yorùbá family embraces more than members who are related by blood or marriage;and often a stranger who shares the family‟s residence may eventually become a member of that family. he basis of a family‟s residence is the compound, often a group of rooms or houses facing a shared open space (or spaces) whose male residents are usually related by descent, forming “a patrilineal core group” (LeVine, Klein and Owen 1967:52).

In a normal compound, there are often three or more generations living together and the most elderly male in the compound takes charge of all family affairs as the head of the family. The historical importance of this practice has been documented by Akintoye, who observed that each of the earliest -(lineage compounds) in Yorùbáland “consists of many dwelling units in one single building. Each building developed as a number of courtyards around which the dwelling units were arranged” ( kintoye 2010:20). he spatial dimensions of family compounds will be discussed in detail in chapters three and four. Although this type of family setting is often modified or even abandoned in modern urban settings, it remains constitutive of the social life in smaller Yorùbá towns. Important elements of compou
nd life, and especially its inclusivity, however continue to shape even more nuclear families in the urban environment. While many
families consist of the husband and wife with their children, they usually also include at least two or three relatives, or even acquaintances, from either side of the couple who stay with them as part of their extended family. The compound system in Yorùbá society is the foundation of the understanding of compound or “family” wives, called Olóbìnrin-Ilé, who are the topic of this dissertation.
As the compound‟s core lineage consists of those related on the paternal side, and as marriage within extended families is frowned upon, the wives of the men who belong to a compound are by necessity born to another lineage. While all women belong to their father‟s compound by
birth, they join their marital families as outsiders. It is these women who are married into a compound, and who therefore belong to it by marriage rather than by descent, who constitute an important group within the compound called the Olóbìnrin-Ilé.
While this group is obviously more important in settings where the compound system still operates, even smaller families in urban settings recognize the wives who married into the family as a category that is distinct from the daughters of the family. As a result, the social relations that shape married women‟s lives throughout Yorùbáland reflect important aspects of the institution of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé.
Research exploring the role of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé addresses important questions in the literature on Yorùbá women,and family and gender relations more generally.
Historically it reflects the importance of marriage and reproduction for women, but also the significance of polygyny for male success and achievement. Sudarkasa comments that, “ frican extended families, which are the normal co- residential form of family in indigenous pre
-colonial frican societies, are built around consanguineal relationships” (Sudarkasa 1986:97). While this dissertation emphasizes that
Yorùbá families are not limited to consangiuneal relationships, the importance of a core group related by descent for the
Yorùbá compound system illustrates this point. However, achievement rested on the ability of a compound leader to draw in additional people, and one way of doing this was by marriage, i.e. the extension of the family through affinal bonds.
In the past, polygamy was an advantage for those (often older)men who could afford it because in addition to increasing the size of a family through bearing children, all wives would work, either in the household and on the farm, to feed the growing family and to expand its control over cultivated land (Caldwell et al 1991:234-235).This logic meant that many Yorùbá speakers believed that the number of
wives determined the wealth and influence of a man and his family. A man with many wives could have a large family under his control, and with a large compound he would be able to play a leading role in town politics and become famous.
Describing compounds from the female point of view, Pearce defines an extended lineage compound as a place where a woman live
swith her husband‟s parents, his siblings and their wives, as well as co-wives of her husband, and which is controlled by the older members of
the patrilineage,both male and female (Pearce 1995:198). Oftentimes, parents would pressure their male children to have more than one wife, simply in order to have many children (or grandchildren), which were seen as the basis for wealth and influence.
Thus compounds with many male descendants could include over a hundred wives or Olóbìnrin-Ilé, which form a group with a distinct social identity within the compound. Especially in northern Yorùbáland, which is the location of the research for this dissertation, there are still some very large functioning compounds, and the Olóbìnrin-Ilé often play important social roles during ceremonies such as burials, marriages or even festivals to provide entertainment and to give moral or financial support to their marital compound.
In the compound, the women who have married into the family, irrespective of whether they were in monogamous or polygamous marriages, may be addressed as „our wife‟ by all relatives on their husband‟s side, including women. his address does not imply a sexual relationship of any kind, and it does not suggest that female members of a Yorùbálineage are comparable to the „female husbands‟ described by madiume for Igbo society. What Amadiume describes is a form of marriage in which daughters can (or could) act as social
sons for their lineages by marrying other women, whose children were then considered their offspring in the male line(Amadiume 1987).
In Yorùbá compounds, the address of a wife that has married into a compound as „our wife‟ by male and female members (by birth) of
that compound simply acknowledges the fact that she is a „wife of the compound‟. Her rights and duties within the compound are shaped by the fact that she belongs by marriage rather than descent.
The difference between women who belong to the compound by descent and those who belong to it by marriage illustrates the
complex way in which gender intersects with seniority within Yorùbáland. Scholars have disagreed over the way in which women‟s
social seniority is or was attained. Crucially, Oyewumi (1997, 1998, 2002)has suggested that in the past, individuals were distinguished from each other by biological age alone, with older women always senior to younger men. According to her, presently existing gender differences were only a colonial introduction to Yorùbá society. Oyewumi is right that the importance of seniority by age among siblings is often independent of gender. However, as Peel (2002) has pointed out, the importance of parenthood and the patrilocal nature of marriage meant that women were nonetheless disadvantaged in attaining seniority after marriage, because a new wife‟s seniority in her husband‟s compound was reckoned by the day she joined it. s a result, a wife‟s age within her marital compound depends on the date of her
marriage –she is considered younger than the baby who was born on the day before her wedding(Fadipe, 1970:14).
As a result, the distinction between those women who belong to a compound by birth and those who belong due to marriage is reflected in real differences in authority.
This is also illustrated by the fact that daughters and wives of the compound form distinct groups within the compound. As fellow wives of a compound, or co-wives, women of different backgrounds, and indeed sometimes different ethnicities, form a group that is tasked with supporting the compound in various ways, including the provision of manual and emotionallabour and the birth and raising of children. Ideally, the wives of a compound are expected to share such tasks in ways that benefit the compound‟s cohesion, for example by emphasizing
the shared paternal roots of the compound‟s children rather than their diverse maternal origins.
For this activity they are recognized and rewarded.
This ideal form of wifely behaviour is however threatened by rivalry and competition between wives, and especially between wives married to the same husband. In large compounds, the compliance of individual wives with such values, and the general sense that
wives must contribute to the greatness andcohesion of a compound, is ensured by the corporate organization of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé
under one or several leaders from among them.
But despite the importance of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé for the social lives of Yorùbá compounds, and, given the importance of marriage and reproduction (the social experiences of most adult women), studies of this group are extremely scarce. Akintoye recognizes the importance of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé with regard to important decisions on matters such as weddings, and in some festivals,but although he ascertained that women may play leadership roles in the compound, he refers to the group only in passing and does not give details of the types of leadership provided by female descendants or the compound wives (Akintoye 2010:128). In contrast, Fadipe notes that the Olóbìnrin-Ilé area recognized group of people to which admission is by marriage into the compound. He also comments on the women‟s mechanisms for gaining a footing in their husband‟s compound (Fadipe, 1970:116). However, he does not examine the hierarchies and activities of that group in greater detail. Karin Barber has pointed out that little attention has been paid to women‟s performance in the considerable body of academic work on Yorùbá oral literature (Barber, 1991:12). Overall, it seems as if the activities and the cultural relevance of wives in their husband‟s compounds have been taken for granted. This overlooks the fact that as wives, Yorùbá women make important contributions to their husband‟s compound or family, both as individuals and through the collective agency and power of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé. However, it should be noted that the Olóbìnrin-Ilé exist as a closely organized group primarily in the rural areas. As urban living conditions encourage life in smaller section
s or even in nuclear families, some Olóbìnrin -Ilé in the urban centres do not come together as a group often, and some families‟ wives may only have a superficial relationship with each other. Even so, during major family events, such as naming ceremonies,weddings and especially funerals, the Olóbìnrin- Ilé of urbanised families are usually responsible for aspects of the celebration as a group. Thus the lives of women even in very Westernised families continue to be shaped by the historical roles of Olóbìnrin-Ilé. In order to understand the particular role played by the wives of a family in its affairs, it is therefore pertinent to explore the role of the Olóbìnrin -Ilé in the setting of one of southwest Nigeria‟s smaller and medium -sized towns, where compound life is still the dominant form of residential and political organisation. Research in a smaller town can offer a clear insight intoideas about women, gender, and wifely roles that remain widely shared even if they are not practiced as openly or to the same degree. This thesis focuses on the small town of Oyán in sun State, Nigeria, the public life
of which remains dominated by its large compounds. As I have family ties to oyán through marriage myself, my belonging enabled me to draw on existing networks of trust and shared experiences in order to gather observations and experiences.
Despite the growing importance of Christianity and Islam in oyán , traditional practices and celebrations associated with the Olóbìnrin
-Ilé remain widely accepted, enabling me to discuss some practices openly with my interlocutors which might be kept from outsiders in more westernised localities. Overall, my research in Oyán meant that I could observe and participate in the activities of Olóbìnrin-Ilé as a group on an everyday basis. I had good access to local debates and practices, as well as material that further illuminated my research topic, such as video recordings. However, my positionality also meant that I was not as much at liberty as I originally thought to present my interlocutors in this thesis, because they are also relatives, family friends and, last but not least, personal friends. I therefore draw on my data in a mostly indirect way unless I have explicit permission to use material directly . While the practices surrounding the Olóbìnrin-Ilé vary between urbanised areas and smaller towns, and from one region of Yorùbáland to another, the findings from Oyán will
illustrate important practices and attitudes concerning women that are shared throughout Yorùbáland.
Erinosho argues that despite civilization and industrialization, the basic functions of the family unit within the Yorùbá social structure have not been altered. xtended family ties are still strong today. The family compound still retains its importance for rituals and various
social activities among its members, and loyalty to kin has not disappeared (Erinosho, 1978:5). his is evident in yán, the town under study, where many nuclear families come together as a compound on special occasions.
Based on research in Oyán, as well as a careful reading of existing literature, this dissertation will also address the question of women‟s belonging. It has been argued that women‟s agency is primarily shaped by their membership of their own patrilineages, implying that their activities as wives and mothers are not relevant to their success. At the same time, it has been implied that women are subsumed into the identity of their marital compounds, arguments which are discussed in more detail below. This dissertation will illustrate that unlike men, (married) women belong to two compounds –once as daughters and once as wives.
It is as wives that women make many important, and indeed fundamental, contributions to their husbands‟ compounds.
The dissertation is divided into six chapters,which explore following topics:What roles are played by women in the political and social structure of
Oyán What are the gendered roles of Yorùbá women and especially wives? In what ways do Yorùbá women experience marriage? What are the
roles of the compound women (Olóbìnrin-Ilé)?

Research Approach and Methodology
In addition to a close engagement with the relevant literature, this thesis is based on qualitative ethnographic research in
Oyán, where I spent three months doing field work.
Ethnographic methodologies vary and some ethnologists advocate the use of structural observation schedules by which one could observe behaviors or cultural activities for the purpose of later statistical analysis (Leedy & Ormrod 2000:147).
This did not work in the context of a small Yorùbá town, because it would have been rude for me to withdraw from social activities according to my own schedule. Instead of following my own schedule, I participated in activities whenever I was called or invited by the usually senior women who supported my research by sharing their thoughts and experiences with me. A commitment to participation and the respect of local female hierarchies meant that I had to be available when others were calling on me. While many people appreciated the importance of my research on married women, the nature of my fieldwork meant that my own status during fieldwork was shaped by my own achievements as a wife to my husband‟s family –and as a mother to his children –rather than my own academic achievements or ambitions. As a result, I was not always able to ask all the questions I would have liked to ask, because it was difficult for me to challenge some of my social seniors. Indeed, under their control I had little privacy and a number of duties, which meant that I was not always able to take field notes with the degree of detail I might have liked. But at the same time, I was able to observe, and draw my own conclusions on, practices which would not have been obvious to, or even shared with, a cultural or social outsider.
In addition to my participant observation in the life of married women in Oyán. I carried out formal interviews and focus group discussions with wives and daughters at nine of Oyán ‟s 72 compounds. All of my interviews were carried out in Yorùbá, both among older and younger
women. Apart from the fact that there are often no directly appropriate terms in English for the activities discussed here,most of
my informants had a low degree of education, as one would expect in a small Nigerian town, and thus did not speak (much) English
. While there were a few women who were only literate to the degree of writing their names, most of my 10 interlocutors had either
completed primary school or junior secondary school and could read or write, if sometimes only to the degree that would support their economic activities. While most young women, and especially those with small children, were primarily housewives who depended on their husbands‟ incomes, many older women were established traders. The majority of the women with whom I interacted were indigenes of Oyán
, while some were from other Yorùbá towns and cities. I particularly encouraged those women who were natives of Oyán, and who could therefore maintain close relations with their families of birth,to relate their experiences in their affinal compounds to that of their patrilineages. While my fieldwork and interviews were very illuminative, I did experience a few problems. One was that many people who were known to be versed in the oral tradition of both the town and the wives‟ groups were too old to be interviewed in any formal way.
Whenever I was lucky enough to interact with someone in that category, I simply tried to learn as much as I could from a few small exchanges and close observation of their language and expressions, and to note it in my field diary later. Another problem was that I was aware that my own relative seniority at the time ofthe fieldwork might have intimidated younger women. I tried to encourage
all informants and respondents to express their views freely. However, due to the importance of respect for seniority in Yorùbá culture, some of the younger women might not have been able to express themselves in public or they might not have felt free to reveal the truth or argue out a point with an older person. Sometimes such embarrassments could be resolved in private conversations or individual interviews, but it is still possible that not all my young respondents were comfortable enough with me not to hold back. In such delicate interview situations I usually did not record conversations and simply added my insights and reflections to my field notes later.
All interviews and focus group discussions covered the same topics, though the nature of the interview varied depending on the seniority
or personality of the interviewee. In all interviews I asked for my interlocutors‟ personal background information, even if I felt I knew it, because it was important to me to see how my respondents defined themselves. I encouraged all female respondents to tell
me both about the nature of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé in their husbands‟ families and to reflect on their experiences as wives and member of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé.
When discussing abstract rules and ideas, I also always asked for an example of how such rules and ideas were enforced, and of whether they had ever been violated. Many of my interview partners agreed to have their interviews recorded with an MP3 recorder, and recorded interviews were later transcribed and translated into English. With the relevant permissions I also recorded a good number of social events and outings that involved the Olóbìnrin-Ilé of various compounds, and transcribed and translated aspects of these events as well.
Another way in which I collected fieldwork materials was the watching and copying of existing cassettes, DVDs and C s on which people had recorded activities of the town‟s Olóbìnrin-Ilé. Most families record the big events and celebrations at which the Olóbìnrin-Ilé perform, and watching such recording together with other women was often both informative, as I learnt from their comments, and enjoyable, as they involved songs and happy memories. Where I was allowed to copy such recordings for the purposes of this study, I could also
make a note of practices or songs that I would not have encountered otherwise, and often I was able to obtain explanations from the original owners of the recording. This was particularly useful as part of my research period fell into a period in which social activities were limited (see below). In order to ensure that my interpretation of the practices of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé in Oyán were not skewed by my own more Westernised life style and educational ambitions, I identified a confidante among my respondents who had a strong interest in intellectual engagement. In order to check and reflect on my own ideas and prejudices, I discussed many of my findings and insights with her. Considering her as a key informant as well as a fellow intellectual, I accepted her corrections of my views on several occasions
. However, I did not do so on all occasions she disagreed with me, and I also made sure not to rely on her comments and views exclusively.
Both my confidante and those women who agreed to formal interviews were given pseudonyms to ensure confidentiality. The timing of the fieldwork was a small problem because it included the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan. During Ramadan some women (and men) were less willing to speak to me than normally because they were tired from fasting or because they felt that Ramadan was not the time to discuss some of the traditional practices I was interested in. Also, I was unable to interview the Ọba, or traditional ruler, of the town because he hadtravelled to Saudi Arabia to observe his fasting there. When he came back, his first wife had died, and he remained unavailable for interview as he observed a mourning period for her.

Chapter Two: The political and social structures of Oyan

Throughout southwestern Nigeria, Yorùbá-speakers share an essentially urban form of settlement which is ruled by a king, or
Ọ , who rules in close interaction with other local leaders, often chiefs installed by him. Lloyd suggests that while Yorùbá peo
ple are divided into many sub-groups,they nonetheless share a wide range of practices, including a mutually intelligible language, the
names of deities, titles of chiefs and their installation ceremonies, political structures and even individuals‟ names (Lloyd 1955:235).
Indeed, Yorùbá people share similar beliefs and practices, such as greetings, respect for seniors,modes of dressing, naming ceremonies, marriages, burials and so on.
The origin and behaviour of many things in their environment and daily life are often explained through myth (Oso 1977: 367). This chapter will introduce us to those practices and beliefs that are relevant to marriage and marital life. Like in other societies, marriage reflects wider social practices and institutions, and the lives of married women –the Olóbìnrin-Ilé that are the focus of this thesis –unfold not in privacy but in close engagement with these structures.

An introduction to Oyán is one of the biggest towns in Odo-Otin Local overnment rea of sun State. It is located at a distance of roughly 50 kilometers from Osogbo, the state capital, and it is surrounded by many villages within and outside the state.
Oyán is also clearly identified as a Yorùbá town. While there are some Yorùbá towns in Benin and Togo, the majority of the Yorùbá people lives in the south-western part of Nigeria (Bascom 1951:490; Lloyd 1955:235; Mabogunje 1962:56; Eades 1980: 1; Watts 1983:683; Smith 1988:
3). However, it is perhaps pertinent here to explain that the Yorùbá identity is the result of a particular historical development. Constituted by a wide range of urban-based kingdoms and alliances, including the powerful Oyo Empire, all Yorùbá-speakers share similar social and economic institutions, but they are not likely to have ever been politically united. The modern Yorùbá identity is a result of cultural and political processes of the late 19th and 20th century. In fact, there are some controversies over the origin of the word “Yorùbá” for reference to all speakers of the language (Eades1980; Abimbola 2006; Adegoke 2005, Law 1976). Eades (1980: 6-7, citing Law 1977:5) opines that the word “Yorùbá” was introduced by the missionaries and linguists in the middle of 19th century to refer to the whole area where people speak Yoruba. According to bimbola (2006: 30) the word “Yorùbá” today refers to the people, their culture, their languages and their religion. However, the fact remains that the word “Yorùbá” can be used both to describe the people, their language and their religion as a whole, but also to differentiate between those who were part of the Oyo Empire and those who were not. One belief widely shared among Yorùbá-speakers today is the centrality of Ile-Ife, a historically important Yoruba town. It is often believed to have been the first town, from which other towns were formed as colonies. However, some Yorùbá groups, such as the Ijebus, claim that they originated from other places than Ile-Ife.This illustrates that existing myths of origin are not entirely consistent, and that ideas about
Yorùbá origins and identity remain contested (Akintoye 2010:3). Like many Yorùbá settlements, Oyán was founded by a cultural hero linked to Ile-Ife. There are various accounts of the origin of Oyán which I cannot explore here. However, there is an agreement on the following facts:
yán‟s founder, Epe,was one of the sons of dùduw , recognized in myth as the legendary father of the Yorùbás in most parts of Yorùbáland. Epe
was a prince who had migrated from the town of Ile-Ife, where Odùduwa reigned, to oyán. The name of the town oyán was derived from the nickname given to Epe, who was also called oyánnu, meaning someone who is prone to hunger (Adegoke, 2005:13). he descendants of pe, the town‟s founder, constitute the royal family. It is from the members of the royal family that the rulers,or Ọ s,of the town are chosen. Before the arrival of colonial rule,oyán‟s traditional ruler was regarded as the representative of God on earth and the executive of his domain, although he had to rule with the consent of the , or council of chiefs. Peter Lloyd argues that in the past,Ọbas did not appear to their people frequently (Lloyd 1960:221). Yorùbá Ọbas only left the palace during the town festival that took place once a year. Because justice was executed by the Ọbaor in his name,it was said that whoever sees the king twice must be a criminal. According to Lloyd, the hidden nature of
Ọbaship illustrates its power and sacredness. But the power of the Ọba is also shaped by its interaction with, and support of, other families
within the town, who are settled together in large compounds.
The Ọba‟s chiefs, or advisers, were usually drawn from the compound system. The founding father of oyán, Epe,installed the leaders of some of the immigrants who joined the town later as chiefs. He also ensured that the compounds of all the chiefs so installed were very close to his own compound. Many later immigrants came to oyán during the Fulani invasion of the Igbomina and Offa areas of Yorùbáland in the 1820s, which forced people from these areas to flee to oyán in order to escape conflict. As in their hometowns, the immigrants settled in compounds. The descendants of those migrants –as well as of course those of oyán‟s earlier settlers –still
refer to their families as being originally from Ile-Ife, Ekitiland, Ijebuland, Oyo and Igbominaland. Some of them became influential and hold important chieftaincy titles. Each of oyán‟s family compounds is made up of family houses that belong to brothers, uncles and (paternal)
cousins.Lloyd (1974:30) explains that the core descent groups that make up the compounds are the antithesis of the nuclear family upon which industrial society is often based. As pointed out above, among the Yorùbá, descent is predominately agnatic, i.e. through the father (Comhaire-Sylvain 1950:234). But that does not necessarily mean that women are only members of the compounds of their birth: as wives, women are important members of their marital compounds. Many compounds in oyán have more than a hundred (or several hundred) members. Today the town has 72 compounds, each of which has its own land and a distinct cognomen or appellation
.Many compounds hold a chieftaincy title. The holder of such a title is installed by the ruler and expected to advise him. In this way, the Ọ has access to the important socio-political institutions of his town, and the town‟s important families/ compounds share in local decision-making.

19
2.2 Oyan compound structure

Sudarkasa (1986:95) observes three categories of kin groups in West Africa, namely corporate unilateral descent group or lineages
;domiciled extended families made up of certain lineage members, their spouses and dependent children; and conjugally based family
units which are subdivisions of the extended family and within which procreation takes place and primary responsibilities for socialization
are held. Oyewumi (1997:81) states that among Yorùbá, it is the lineage that was regarded as the family. he lineage is a consanguinally
-based family system built around men and women descended from the same ancestor. In oyán as in other Yorùbá towns, lineages shaped by paternal descent are at the core of the compound system. However, as marriage was exogamous, no compound could reproduce itself by relying on its core lineage or lineages. Upon marriage, couples did therefore not normally establish separate households, but joined the compound of either the groom.
But if the Yorùbá concept of family is shaped by the descent group or lineage, family is also defined by the importance of shared residence and activity within the compound (Barber 1990 :146). Paternally related husbands and their wives were not the only adults living in the
compound, and other related adults, distant relatives and even acquaintances with a challenging life situation might live with them. Extended families were often very large (Kolade 1999). Often a lineage outgrew its compound in a few generations (Marris 1961:13)
, or rifts between compound members undermined the compound. In that case a new compound was usually founded by one or two sections of the family, who would usually settle nearby. Traditional compounds are made up of long chains of rooms,often between thirty and forty, which are arranged around a central courtyard or courtyards. Lloyd, citing Stone, describes a Yorùbá compound in the following way:
... a compound is an enclosed space (generally in the form of a square) bounded by a wall about seven feet high, there is but one entranc
e to this enclosed space..., against this wall, the rooms are built... the compound of the chiefs are very large sometimes covering several acres of ground‟ (Lloyd 1955:236).This observation is slightly flawed as in most compounds, only the main entrance is visible to visitors, but there are always two or more entrances known to the inhabitants who serve as a way of escape when enemies invade. This form of settlement clearly reflects the widespread violence of the 19thcentury, but it also points to the importance of living together as a basis of for the production of a corporate identity. The fact that the residents of a compound often had a hereditary occupation or specialization (LeVine, Klein, & Owen1967:22)
also points to the importance of shared practice in the constitution of identity .Like the Ọ , the head of a compound, or Baálé, had wide disciplinary responsibilities. The baálé was usually the compound‟s oldest male.
Disrespect to elders, theft, disturbing the peace or sexual impropriety were usually punishable by flogging and warnings against
recurrence (Fadipe1970, 108-109). Among the women, there was a partly parallel administration. The , the oldest wife married into the compound,adjudicated women‟s crimes and misdemeanors. However, if a case was beyond her authority, she reported to the . A complex system of further authorities ensured that any problem that could not be resolved successfully was eventually reported to the Ọba
‟s palace. Historically, polygamy is closely linked to compound life. A large number of wives would be able both to bear children and work hard, thus increasing the numbers of a patrilineage. A man with many wives and children would be able to preside over a powerful section of his compound, and would empower his compound to play an important role in town politics. As a result, wives were valued both as workers who contributed to the compound‟s productivity and as bearers of children who increased the compound‟s size.

Changes to compound life today
The advent of colonial rule and especially the growing influence of Christianity and Islam has led to significant social change (Adegoke, 2005:3).
For example, it has affected the choice of the ruler in oyán because it has become widely accepted to install a literate or learned person
as a town‟s Ọ . This is in contrast to earlier practices when people were installed because they had been selected by their
deities or the local oracle. The current ruler , Ọba Kilani Adekeye from ẸlmRuling house, ascended the throne in 1999 as the 24th Ọloyan
. The ongoing importance of marriage for Ọbaship is illustrated by the fact that the Ọba can be represented at any occasion by his wife
, who must however be accompanied by his làbà and one of his chiefs or accompanied by the staff of office. Compound life has also changed.
In oyán, there are still a sizeable number of old compounds that are surrounded by a wall. It is interesting to see that in some cases, modern houses are also being built inform of old traditional compounds albeit with additional modern facilities. No matter how modernized (or not), the compound is the place where everybody will gather during celebrations. Even if a person has his/ her own personal house;
s/he will go to his family compound with his family member for a whole day or more if there is something to celebrate.
However, not all members of a family live in its compound today.Adegoke (2005:70) notes that the housing custom of oyán town is typical of any other ancient Yorùbá town, where brothers and sometimes uncles come together to build a single house with many rooms to
house their families jointly. Some descendants of the town‟s old compounds have built houses elsewhere in the town in order to live a more nuclear family life or to be further away from family interference. If in the past, paternal relations used to build their houses in the
same area, nowadays the trend is for individuals to build their houses in different parts of the town. Other members of the town‟s compounds have left oyán for towns and cities where they could pursue their education more successfully. However, it should be noted that the
physical distance between family members often has little or no effect on family ties in the long run. Usually, even those „outside‟ embers of the compounds share in the resources controlled by the extended families, and in the practices associated with the merging of important family occasions. Also, if a family no longer meets at its compound, the house of the oldest or most respected family member stands as a place of meeting to deliberate upon issues concerning their family‟s welfare, landed property and so on . Often successful business or educated people suddenly find themselves in this position of a de-facto head of compound. Similarly, marriage continues to be shaped by the importance of extended kinship ties even in modern settings. This is expressed in the notion that meaning “one can marry a bad wife but it is not good to have a bad in-laws”. his indicates the mutual involvement of the spouses‟ families after marriage. In-laws and indeed the whole family have a role to play in offering advice and guidance to both spouses whenever there are conflicts or quarrels, and they are also expected to felicitate and assist each other. Traditional marriage involves the union of two families rather than two individuals (Ware1979:191). For this reason, even in urban environments, parents‟ involvement in most marriages exists in a man
ner very similar to the past. Thus, the couple may now have the privilege of choosing whom to marry rather than having to marry a spouse chosen for them by their parents. But it is still compulsory for the parents to give their consent and blessing to their wards before
marriage, and also to stand as a caution to both husband and wife. That is why some families do not hand over their daughters to the husband but only to the family: it is still the family that marries the wife for their son. In his study on the practice of polygyny in Ife Division, Driesen (1972:54) looked at the number of family heads and their wives over two periods and concluded that polygyny had also
declined,both in absolute proportion and in degree. This is confirmed by an even greater decline of the practice in more recent decades, especially in urban environments, where the cost of children limits their number. Nonetheless, polygyny continues to exist. For a man, the desire to avoid extra-marital affairs might precipitate him to look for a second wife. This might be due to different types of sexual abstinence within the marriage that are considered to be mandatory in Yorùbá culture (Caldwell et al. 1977, 1991; Ademola et al.1993; Adeokun, 1982; Bamikale, 2010). For example, a man is not expected to have sexual relation with his wife during pregnancy and
until the child is weaned.Sometimes polygamous arrangements arise because the first wife is childless. It is sometimes believed that when the husband marries another wife who starts having children the senior wife may be blessed with children too, hence the saying,
orím‟mwáyé–one child may bring luck to have another. Sometimes the practice works, and when the second wife falls pregnant the senior wife gets pregnant too. In other cases, polygyny may be the result of parental pressure especially by the man‟s mother. When a woman has only one child and it is a son, the belief is that the son should marry and have as many children as possible in order to fill the gap of not having siblings. Apart from such personal concerns, some men still consider a multiplicity of wives as a symbol of wealth and status. The historical prestige associated with a larger number of wives and children is so highly valued among some people
that it is often sufficient to overcome even the strictest religious admonitions.
Finally, it is also not uncommon for a man to take another wife in old age, especially when all the children from an earlier marriage are married and in need of the help of their mother in child care. wife‟s frequent absence may make a man lonely, and the children, wife or the man himself will look for a young lady to be his companion. Even so, marriage is not taken lightly because people believe that when one marries a bad wife, she might be dangerous not only to the person involved but to the whole family. This is expressed in the adage, “if one‟s family member eats a bad insect, the disturbance [arising from his or her digestion problems] will not allow others to sleep”.
Irrespective of the form of marriage practiced, the ongoing importance of family and kinship ties is reflected in the proverb,“Ọrj ‟r”,meaning “Close friends, scattered family, when close friendship (breaks), a person will be left with the scattered family”. his proverb is meant to encourage good relationships among members of the same family by implying that unlike friendship, family ties do not break. If one privileges friendship at the expense of family ties, one may be left with very little. Family members are enjoined to live and work together in unity. Co-operation and family membership are closely linked to each other.This is expressed in another saying, “yi”, “family ties are hard”.
Because a lazy or dishonest child will be seen to reflect badly on her or his parents, indolence and laziness are discouraged first within the family. Older members direct individual behaviour and interaction by outlining the rights and obligations of every member. But they are also supposed to live a life that is worthy of emulation so that at least some of the younger ones are likely to copy them.

Chapter Three: Discussing Gender among the Yorùbá
This chapter looks at relevant debates about gender in Yorùbá society in order to draw out the beliefs and practices that shape the experiences of women. In Yorùbá culture a woman can occupy different and even contradictory positions at the same time, and for the duration of women‟s married lives, they both remain daughters of their own compounds of patrilineages and act as wives (and mothers) in their marital compounds and patrilineages. The importance of women‟s dual identities, and dual forms of belonging, is illustrated by a short preview on my field work in oyán at the end of the chapter.

3.1 Views on women in Yorùbá society
Familusi (2012: 299-313) argues that like many other African societies, Yorùbá society is essentially patriarchal. Women are usually relegated to the background, and socially, politically, economically and religiously men tend to dominate decision-making. Oduyoye
(2001:3) assumes that African culture is replete with language that enables the community to diminish the humanity of women, while Akintunde (1999:74) asserts that African culture has been a long tale of discrimination and injustices to women. Familusi (2012:302) explains that
there are some Yorùbá proverbs that are used to portray women as unimportant and immoral.
However, much more ambivalently, Daramola (2007) notes that when it comes to the realm of spiritual powers women are regarded and esteemed as the owners of the world, the “ ”. This is because of the belief that women possess superior clairvoyant and spiritual
powers, and obligations, to men. For this reason Ajibade(2005:99,103) suggests that although Yorùbá society is patriarchal, women have extremely important roles to play. He argues that Yorùbá men and women are not seen as opposites, but as complementing each
other. Abimbola (1975: 400) examines the status of women in the Ifá literary corpus and notes that woman often symbolize character. In Yorùbá folklore, according to him, women represent the opposite poles of emotional involvement. They are symbols of love, care, devotion, tenderness and beauty. At the same time, they are, especially as witches, the symbols of wickedness, callousness, deceit and disloyalty. Sometimes, women may be regarded as witches and difficult to deal with. This depiction suggests that both the positive and the negative aspects of female power are rooted in intimate relationships. Makinde (2004:165) observes that motherhood carries the highest value among the Yorùbá people, which is reflected in the proverb which describes mothers as very precious; “ ”, other is gold. He also notes that women are considered to be very important in Yorùbá culture because the preservation of individual patrilineages and compounds depends on them. Because of their power to produce children(for others), women are regarded as the most valuable gift any man or his extended family can receive. This is confirmed in the saying that “”, i.e. he/she who gives one his/her child as wife has given the best gift. Makinde explains this further that even the mother of a male child believes that a successful male life cannot really start until her son has a wife or wives. It is generally believed that a man must take care of his character the same way he takes care of his wife. To the Yorùbá, the equivalence is that a man‟s good character brings success in life, just as success rewards a man who treats his wife or wives
with kindness and affection. Indeed, a man without a wife cannot be made king or occupy a position of religious leadership in the society. This is reflected in a Yorùbá adage that says “Ọ„”meaning there is no respect or honour for a king without a wife.
In traditional Yorùbá society, women are seen in every aspect of life. While wives are perceived to elevate the status of a man, female roles of authority are associated with motherhood. In the Yorùbá traditional political sphere, women acted as “Iyalode”, the mother
of the town, and “Iyalaje”, the mother of the market, because of their wealth, influence and wisdom. In traditional religious practice, a woman famous for her devotion to her deity, or, would be called “Iya Olorisa.”However, especially when it comes to high office, the roles of wife and mother blend into one another. In her discussion of gender and colonialism in the Yorùbá kingdom of Kétu, Semley suggests that whether powerful women were primarily seen as mothers or wives often depended on context. As both offices were often entwined, for example as the wives of rulers became “public mothers”, the symbolic distinction became ambiguous in the 19thcentury (2011:49).
Overall, theassociation of motherhood with the generation above points to the importance of age in mediating gender relations (Isike 2012:21
). Certainly older women, just like older men, are privileged over younger male or female members of society because status and
recognition from others reflect age as well as gender. For this reason it is pertinent to explore what forms of age and seniority are open to Yorùbá women.

Chapter Four: Marriage and the Olóbìnrin-Ilé
As set out earlier, in Yorùbá society, married women are not simply wives to their husbands. They are also the wives or women married into a particular compound or extended family by the sons, grandsons, great grandsons, uncles, nephews of this lineage. As members of this
group, they also have an organisational structure and hierarchy, which is discussed in detail in this chapter. While Sudarkasa mentions that
their participation in the affairs of their affinal compound was channelled through an “organizational structure” in which women were
frequently often ranked according to order of marriage (Sudarkasa 1986:28), she does not explain how this organization is formed, what entails in it and how it asserts itself as social sub-group in Yorùbá culture. This is the subject of this chapter.
4.1
The organisation of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé
As explainedearlier, the Olóbìnrin-Ilé are the wives of the sons/male children in a particular compound of a town. But like the male and female descendants of the lineage or compound, the Olóbìnrin-Ilé also forms a corporate group within the compound. Admission to the group is by marriage only, and seniority within the group is also defined by marriage. The Olóbìnrin-Ilé is headed by the most senior wives in order of marriage, who direct and control the welfare and the other affairs of all the wives in the compound. To avoid disputes, some compound leaders keep track of marriage order. In J ‟ compound in oyán the wives have a recording book where they note down all the marriages
in their compound in order to ascertain the dates of marriage of individual wives. Before the name and date is recorded, the mother-in-law, or someone who can act in that position, must buy groundnuts or biscuits for the Olóbìnrin-Ilé. If two wives enter the compound through marriage on the same day, or within a short distance of time, the wife whose groundnuts or biscuits are eaten first is recorded as the senior wife.Like in many Yorùbá towns, the group of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé is organised in a systematic way in oyán. As previously mentioned, the leader of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé is the woman who has been married into the compound for the longest time. She is the Ìyàálé, and she is also the highest adjudicator of the compound wives from among them. She is responsible only to the head of the compound.The Ìyàálé normally has one or two assistants, the and the , who follow her in seniority. It is the ‟s duty to call the attention of the Baálé and the men folk to any trouble
in the family, such as the death of young people; barrenness among the wives and even conflicts between the wives. If such things were to happen in the compound, the would have a meeting with the , who is the leader of the intermediate wives. Both of them will
seek audience with the Baálé and bring suggestions as to how to resolve the problem. The solutions may involve rituals that are particular to the compound. In ẸlmArsink ‟ Compound, once the wives come back from the meeting, they will inform all the wives that
they are going to worship their father in-law outside. Some compound leaders may opt for prayer, and in some compounds, all the important sections of the family pray together once a year irrespective of their faith.The women who preside over such activities are usually very old and wise, and cannot be expected to participate in strenuous activities.For such activities, there are other leaders. The Ìyá Àpis in charge of
the activities of “intermediate” wives, or , who are neither old nor young. The Ìyá Èwe is in charge of the younger wives, referred to as the
. Both leaders direct the outings and performances of wives in their categories. The is a wife who blows the whistle to announce
the women‟soutings. She is usually selected from among the , the group of wives of intermediate age, because hers is a job that requires responsibility and a degree of freedom from the duties of caring for very young children. Often two people are chosen for
the position of to avoid disappointment. In addition these leadership offices, the Olóbìnrin-Ilé also have other officials in line with
associational life elsewhere. One of the wives who knowhow to read and write is usually elected as Treasurer or Secretary. Given that such a title requires important skills and proficiency, it is exempt from the order of marriage. Another category mostly exempt from
hierarchies are the Ọlb, or cooks, who are chosen from each household within the compound by skill. They prepare the food for any
celebration and their activities will be discussed in more detail in Chapter Six. The organizational structure of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé in oyán reflects the wives‟ most important social roles, where the elements of social control and artistic production are closely interwoven. The
Olóbìnrin-Ilé keep close control of appropriate behaviour among the wives in order to ensure that they make a positive contribution to the compound in the ways discussed earlier, i.e.through responsible work and childbearing. Beyond their own affairs, they also constitute a moral force through their performance.The wives of a compound are also the custodians of the oríkìor family praise poetry
, which must be learnt by new wives in the family so they can fulfil their duties towards the husband‟s family and their own children. Lineage wives recite (lineage praise poetry) and lineage oríkì of important personalities within the family to salute and welcomedifferent members of the lineage(Awe 1974; 332-334). This is often done during social occasions or when someone returns from a journey.When a wife has a child, mothers also chant oríkì to their children in order to calm them down. It is believed that a
child or person that never responds to such poetry does not really belong to the family. In this way, play an important role both in celebrating the lineage and its members and in constituting (and even policing) lineage boundaries.The activities of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé include
support for their marital lineage in terms of cooking, fetching of water and firewood during burials, marriages, festivals and so on. On
such occasions, the Olóbìnrin-Ilé also provide moral support through songs, chants and dances which celebrate their marital compound, and which are pleasing and impressive to onlookers. In addition to the lyrics, which will celebrate the lineage, the aesthetic appeal of both songs and actions reflects positively on the members of their marital lineage because it demonstrates to onlookers that this is a family or compound that keeps its wives happy. As I explained above, there is an association between a man‟s good care of a wife and his character, and so the high quality of the Olóbìnrin-Ilé ‟s activities implies that the members of their marital lineage are of good character.
Jegede (2006:258) opines that Yorùbá women have great creative force and power which they exercise in diverse ways, and beyond the celebration of others. Referring to Kolawole (1997:77, in Jegede 2006:258), Jegede explains that women use their creativity also in support of the social order, using general as well as exclusively female oral genres to condemn social problems such as
immorality,unfaithfulness and idleness. They also use such genres to make demands for what they consider is their right, especially from their husbands‟ families. In this way, women, and especially the wives living together in their husband‟s compound, constitute a moral force whose social comments and demands are publicised and generalised through their performances.