Seeing double in Nigeria’s ‘twins capital of the world’

On a mean time a visitant mightiness walk Igbo-Ora with small much than a treble take, wondering wherefore truthful galore pairs of residents deterioration matching clothes.

But this play near cipher doubting what makes the municipality successful southwest Nigeria special.

With fanfare, pageantry, endowment shows and adjacent a royal visit, hundreds of radical gathered successful the self-proclaimed “twins superior of the world” to observe its unusually precocious complaint of aggregate births.

“There’s hardly a household present successful Igbo-Ora that doesn’t person a twin,” said visiting Yoruba king Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle, himself a twin.

Yoruba civilization reveres twins and their archetypal names are traditionally fixed – Taiwo meaning “one who tastes the world” for the eldest child, and Kehinde meaning “one who came after” for the 2nd born.

The municipality stands retired adjacent successful the wider Yorubaland region, which boasts an above-average incidence of non-identical twins, according to colonisation experts.

The planetary mean commencement complaint for twins is astir 12 per 1,000 births – but successful Igbo-Ora, it is thought to beryllium person to 50 per 1,000, according to technological studies and infirmary records.

Explanations for the abundance differ.

Many residents enactment it down to diet, particularly okra leafage oregon ilasa crockery with yam and amala (cassava flour).

Fertility experts – and respective residents – are sceptical, saying determination is nary proven nexus betwixt fare and the precocious duplicate rate.

Scientists are looking into familial factors, and however the twins’ peculiar taste presumption mightiness marque them much apt to find partners and person children.

Whatever the reason, everyone successful the municipality agrees the abundance of twins is simply a blessing – adjacent much truthful this twelvemonth arsenic Nigeria grapples with its worst economical situation successful a generation.

Suliat Mobolaji gave commencement to twins 8 months agone and said the household had been showered with gifts ever since.

“It’s changed my life,” the 30-year-old said, clutching a lad successful each arm.

“You can’t springiness commencement to twins and stay down connected your luck,” she beamed.

Taiwo Ojewale, a probe adjunct specialising successful Yoruba civilization astatine the University of Ibadan, said celebrating twins was “rooted successful accepted spiritual belief”.

Twins are seen arsenic a acquisition from the ultimate deity Olodumare, helium explained, and Igbo-Ora’s oral past describes them arsenic a reward pursuing a bid of disasters that befell the community.

The municipality erupted with joyousness arsenic the lawsuit began connected Saturday. At the festival ground, unit rolled retired a reddish carpet for scores of twins some young and old.

They paraded successful immaculate matching outfits – from glamorous sunglasses and patterned adire cloth to a brace of toddlers sporting purple dresses and identical handbags.

Dozens much twins watched from the stands oregon milled broadside by broadside astir town.

The festival’s organisers – themselves twins – accidental they yet privation to effort a satellite grounds for the largest gathering of twins connected the planet.